Actions for Employers

This document is also available in Portable Document Format (PDF - 577K). Learn more about PDFs.

Why should local officials promote heart–healthy and stroke–free communities?

Employers hold an important and valuable position for protecting the health of the people in their community. This document provides a range of actions you can take to promote heart–healthy and stroke–free communities, which revolve around four central themes:

• Demonstrate leadership.
• Implement policies and incentives to make healthy choices the easy choices.
• Promote coverage for and use of preventive health services.
• Implement life–saving improvements in health services and medical response.

Demonstrate leadership

• Establish and support a worksite wellness committee.¹
   
• Hold a physical activity or health promotion day, month, or season spearheaded by a wellness committee and supported by the CEO.¹
   
• Sponsor campaigns to promote awareness of the risk factors for and signs and symptoms of heart attacks and strokes and the importance of calling 9–1–1 immediately when someone is having a heart attack or stroke.²
   
• Disseminate heart disease and stroke prevention messages to employees (e.g., post signs reminding employees to get their blood pressure and cholesterol levels checked, eat 5 fruits and vegetables per day, quit smoking, and avoid exposure to secondhand smoke).²

Back to Top

Implement policies and incentives to make healthy choices the easy choices

• Create opportunities for physical activity and good nutrition by
  * Promoting healthy options in cafeterias and vending machines.²
  * Providing access to a gym at the workplace.³
  * Providing walking trails with mile markers on or near the building property.²
  * Placing signs by elevators that encourage people to use the stairs.³
   
• Provide shower and locker room facilities and bike racks to encourage physical activity and alternative forms of transportation.¹
   
• Prohibit all tobacco use in indoor areas and near building entrances and exits. Reduce exposure to secondhand smoke by establishing smoke–free campus policies.³
   
• Promote office–based team incentives such as gift certificates and lower insurance premiums for employees who participate in health risk assessments, competitions, and support groups that promote disease prevention measures (e.g., logging miles walked, quitting smoking, getting blood pressure checked, getting cholesterol checked).²
   
• Provide a health club membership or reimbursement for a health club membership for employees.²
   
• Partner with food vendors and cafeteria managers to provide low–cost, healthy food choices for employees, along with point–of–purchase nutrition information.²
   
• Provide heart–healthy nutrition, weight control, and tobacco cessation classes through a worksite health promotion program.²

Back to Top

Promote coverage for and use of preventive health services

• Provide health risk assessments, medical screening, and effective follow–up education and counseling to help employees control their blood pressure, blood cholesterol, and blood sugar levels and quit smoking.²
   
• Negotiate health benefit plan designs that provide coverage for preventive services and emphasize quality, cost–effective medical care.²
   
• Provide tobacco cessation counseling or access to counseling services (e.g., refer employees to quitline service provider). Provide coverage for FDA–approved medications to help employees quit using tobacco.²

Back to Top

Implement life-saving improvements in health services and medical response

• Install automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) as appropriate. Train employees to use AEDs. (This training can be coordinated with annual CPR training.)²
   
• Ensure that you have an emergency response plan.¹

Back to Top

To view some examples of policies that promote heart–healthy and stroke–free communities, click HERE.

Date last reviewed: 05/12/2006
Content source: Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion