Recommendation 2

Strengthen and expand leadership to deliver a unified message for health and prevention.

Why is this important?

Advocates for prevention have not coalesced around a position or agreed upon key messages but come from disparate realms representing different interests and priorities. Stakeholders for prevention have not historically seen value in working together and, to date, have rarely joined in common cause. Leaders in prevention must be equipped with the best evidence from prevention science that is relevant to their own fields. It is essential that they develop coherent messages that make a compelling argument for the economic value of a healthy workforce, and they must speak with a unified voice.

 

Pathways

Generate frequent references to and advocacy for prevention as a op priority and strategic asset by leaders from the public, private, and social sectors.

 

Establish trusted collaborations between public, private, and social sectors that catalyze investment in prevention.

 

Develop and disseminate clear and compelling messages for government and business leaders (through private-public consortiums) that convey the human and economic value of prevention.

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Measures of Success

Short Term (2017)

  • Business groups and convening platforms covering different industries and small, medium, and large companies have formed councils to share best practices and work to integrate health as a core value in their corporate charters.
  • A Culture of Health has become part of the policy and leadership lexicons, with new and established voices from diverse sectors referring to it in public statements and documents.
  • Health has been incorporated as a core attribute within existing corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability leadership strategies, metrics, and annual reports.

 Medium Term (2020)

  • A credible and influential multi-sector network operates synergistically, using evidence-driven advocacy for the value of prevention in public policy, business, and society.
  • Workforce health is expressly articulated as part of the organizational strategy of a majority of Fortune 500 companies.
  • Half of the regional Federal Reserve Banks across the US explicitly support investment in prevention as essential o economic growth.

Long Term (2025)

  • The business community has adopted a C-Suite position or a Chief Health Office, who is responsible for the systematic health of the workforce through programs that have conventionally been part of human resources, occupational safety, and facilities management
  • Prevention stakeholders have as strong and effective a presence as those from the pharmaceutical and biomedical industries in influencing the health agenda and allocation of resources, as expressed through industry collaboration and coordination.
  • Prevention messages are inspired and effective, and integrated into all health information communicated to the public by the media, organizations, and public sector agencies.

Supporting Research

Paper

Improving support for health promotion and chronic disease prevention messages from Institute of Medicine reports.

Institute of Medicine

Paper

Revisiting the disease prevention and health promotion content in US graduate education.

Susan C. Kim, Georgetown University; Aliza Glasner, Georgetown University; Alyson Listhaus, Columbia University; Daryl Berke, Yale University; Tanya Baytor, Georgetown University

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The Recommendations