Council Member News

An interview with Dr. Cathy Baase, Global Director of Health Services for The Dow Chemical Company

PCPFS News: Corporate health promotion is finally getting some attention.  Why do you think it took so long?

CB: Corporate health promotion is now certainly seen in a different light than it was in the past.  The change is driven by several factors.

First, there is the development of more robust business case analysis related to health and the importance of prevention.  The economic impact is much better understood.  In turn, the clarity of the connection between health and organizational success has driven the integration of health promotion as an important business priority rather than an optional “nice to do” activity.

Second, the importance and role of worksites as critical partners in achieving public health objectives, particularly health promotion elements, has significantly evolved in population health management and public health insight.

Third, the heightened concern about the affordability and sustainability of healthcare for society has triggered much reflection about health and healthcare.  Drastically rising healthcare costs have made industry realize that they need to be an active partner in improving the health of employees, and prevention offers one of the largest opportunities for long-term impact.

PCPFS News:  As a trained physician do you feel medical schools need to focus more on prevention, or do you feel they are addressing it as much as is necessary? 

CB: This is a difficult challenge because there is an enormous demand to add information to the curriculum, and the competition for education time is intense.  Although some real progress has been made in the last couple decades, there is more opportunity for improvement.

There are several actions that practicing physicians can take to increase their emphasis on prevention.  Use of electronic medical records can help physicians track and promote prevention actions with their patients.  Involving the entire office staff in health promotion, as outlined in the “practice of the future” concept from various medical professional specialty societies, is an option.  A newer movement supporting a “medical home” concept offers another window to emphasize and improve prevention in practice.  Various initiatives like “Exercise is Medicine” are also wonderful in establishing and emphasizing a mindset among health care providers.

Some health plans are now offering coverage and/or reimbursement for a greater variety of prevention services which should lead to increased engagement of prevention services by providers.  Recognizing the enormous time pressures on practicing physicians, perhaps a different model where physicians make referrals to allied health professionals for more in-depth prevention counseling and services would be more effective.

PCPFS News: What might you say to a CEO if you were trying to convince him or her to invest in a worksite health promotion program?

CB:  When making an argument for investing in worksite health it is important to have a well documented business rationale and to measure and report the impact over time.  You must be accountable for results.

I would share the following:

• There is a compelling business case illustrating the link between healthy people and success of the organization. 
• The evidence supporting the benefit and effectiveness of worksite health promotion programs is strong and improving.  The prudent course of action is to invest wisely in health promotion.  We cannot afford to ignore this important business priority.
• Investing in health promotion is highly aligned to the corporate strategy and priorities.
• The evidence of our impact to date.    

PCPFS News: What advice would you give to someone just getting into worksite health promotion or someone who is not trained in the field and has been tasked with developing a program?

CB: For those just starting out in worksite health promotion there is plenty of good news.   There are enormous numbers of resources, materials, guides and tools available - many from public sources.  Don’t worry about trying to do everything at once.  Organize your actions in a logical fashion and build your program piece-by-piece. Craft a clear business case and rationale as to why you are undertaking your program.  Perform a needs assessment (even a simple one) and select the most important interventions for initial investment.  Determine your key target health improvement areas and focus your efforts around improving those target areas.  Gather feedback from employees regarding what types of programs would be most valuable for them.  Also, assemble a team of dedicated individuals to help create and drive the program.  Integration and support from other areas of the company – HR, communications, leadership – is crucial to success.  Recognize that you are making an investment and need to measure progress and success.  Everyone who has a successful health promotion program has stumbled along the way, so if you hit some barriers don’t every give up.  Be persistent!

PCPFS News:  You oversee programs that are taking place throughout the world.  Do you think other countries have a better handle on worksite health promotion? 

CB:  Evaluating health promotion on a global scale reveals that there is great variation from country to country.  Singapore is one example of a country that has a strong focus on prevention and health promotion.  Country health advocacy creates a culture or environment that supports healthy behaviors and reinforces messages that can be promoted in the work environment.  That culture affects worksite health promotion programs.