Citing research and recommendations made over the past year by the Vitality Institute, the American Heart Association (AHA) is encouraging the expansion of evidence-based workplace wellness programs through the establishment of national benchmarks, a program to recognize workplaces that prioritize health, and the sharing of best practices for workplace wellness programs. The AHA hopes these recommendations, issued today in the form of an AHA Presidential Advisory, will address gaps in common standards around comprehensive workplace wellness programs, further contributing to a culture of health.
Derek Yach, MBChB, the executive director of the Vitality Institute, was a member of the peer review panel for the AHA’s Presidential Advisory. He says, “A national recognition program for workplace wellness programs will advance the evidence-based standards that are needed to help employers deliver the highest-quality health and well-being programs to their employees. The workplace is the optimal place to start to improve the overall health of Americans and the Vitality Institute thoroughly supports the efforts of the American Heart Association to encourage a greater adoption of workplace wellness programs in the United States, and to integrate other major causes of ill-health at work – especially those related to mental health and cancer – into these programs .”
In today’s Presidential Advisory, the AHA cited the Vitality Institute’s report, Investing in Prevention: A National Imperative, which was issued last June and summarizes the key findings and recommendations of the Vitality Institute Commission on Health Promotion and the Prevention of Chronic Disease in Working-Age Americans. The AHA also cited research sponsored by the Vitality Institute that published last November in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine that describes how to make the workplace a more effective site for preventing non-communicable diseases.
