It's that Time of the Year to Plan Events from the 2009 Health Observance Calendar

Health observances are special days, weeks, or months used to raise awareness of important health topics. Examples include National Alcohol Awareness Month, American Stroke Month, World Health Day, and National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. December is a great time of year for Human Resources personnel to plan events your company may want to promote throughout the year. The new National Health Observance Calendar for 2009 can be found at http://www.healthfinder.gov/nho/nhoyear.asp?year=2009. Each event has at least one or more websites that can be used to get ideas on educating employees about a particular health observance.

For example, at American Stroke Month the link takes you to http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3026377 where there is reliable information on stroke prevention.

Planning your schedule ahead of time will allow you plenty of time to order the free materials that are available at many of the sites. There is so much to choose from, best to start planning now.

Another great way to choose which events you want to promote is to form a wellness committee. A wellness committee should reflect the diverse departments and people that form your company. Ideally your wellness committee members will take part in role modeling and volunteering for events the company supports.

America's Health Ranking Declines in 2007

Shame on America for showing absolutely no improvement in overall health since 2004! Americans showed a decline in health over the past year despite progress made in several key health indicators like cancer and cardiovascular disease. The most recent National Health Analysis was launched by United Health Foundation, The American Public Health Association and Partnership for Prevention http://www.apha.org. The report analyzes a comprehensive set of 20 related health measures and the results show the harsh reality of a country that does not focus nearly enough of it's efforts on health prevention. You can view the entire report at: http://www.americashealthrankings.org

Analysis showed Vermont, Minnesota and Hawaii as the nation's healthiest states (perhaps due to the progressive health education programs in those states) with Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas topping the least healthy states.

The three key factors to overall health were:

• obesity
• smoking
• the increase in uninsured Americans

Employers are doing there part to help Americans stay insured. It is now time to embrace our working population with incentives for prevention and lifestyle improvement programs. People who work spend most of their time at work. The work environment must address how we are going to help these individuals get healthier! Support must come from the top down and wellness should be integrated into policy and procedures. Start a basic wellness program today! For more information contact: juliet@wellnesscorporatesolutions.com