Georgia's Worksite Health Initiative

Resources

• Cardiovascular Disease
• Diabetes
• General
• Nutrition and Physical Activity
• Preventive Clinical Services
• Sample Policies
• Tobacco
• Other Programs

Resources

Cardiovascular Disease

• Georgia Cardiovascular Health Initiative – The mission of the Georgia Cardiovascular Health Initiative is to prevent unnecessary death, disease and disability by providing carefully planned and appropriately implemented health promotion, disease prevention, treatment and care activities.
• Georgia Stroke and Heart Attack Prevention Program – The Stroke and Heart Attack Prevention Program (SHAPP) is an education and care program. The program seeks to identify people at risk for their disease conditions, and to teach them how to manage their lifestyle to prevent complications. Patient services are provided through the county health departments. These services include screening, referral to doctors, diagnosis, and treatment.
• CDC Successful Business Strategies to Prevent Heart Disease and Stroke Toolkit – The toolkit provides information, materials, and tools to help address heart disease and stroke in the workplace.
• Employers Take a Strike Against Stroke – The Research Center For Stroke & Heart Disease and the National Business Coalition on Health have joined efforts to provide education around stroke prevention. The website includes free information that can be disseminated to employees and health plan members.

Diabetes

• Georgia Diabetes Control and Prevention Program – The mission of the Diabetes Control Program is to educate diabetes patients to control their disease and minimize the risk of complications from the disease.
• Diabetes at Work – Diabetesatwork.org can help businesses and managed care companies to assess the impact of diabetes in the workplace, and provide intuitive information to help employees manage their diabetes and take steps toward reducing risks for related complications, such as heart disease.
• American Diabetes Association – The American Diabetes Association is the nation's leading nonprofit health organization providing diabetes research, information and advocacy. This website has a lot of diabetes information, including the ADA’s Winning at Work resources.

General

• Wellness Council of America – This premier resource for worksite wellness is dedicated to helping organizations of all kinds build and sustain results-oriented wellness programs.
• National Business Group on Health – Since 1974, the National Business Group on Health, has been the nation's only non-profit organization devoted exclusively to representing large employers' perspective on national health policy issues and providing practical solutions to its members' most important health care problems.
• Partnership for Prevention – Partnership for Prevention is a membership organization of businesses, nonprofit organizations and government agencies advancing policies and practices to prevent disease and improve the health of all Americans.
• WellSteps – This calculator allows employers to calculate projected health care costs, the impact of reducing obesity, the impact of reducing employee tobacco use, and the impact of a wellness program.

Nutrition and Physical Activity

• Georgia’s Nutrition and Physical Activity Initiative – Georgia's Nutrition and Physical Activity Initiative, is a joint effort between the Division of Public Health and its partners, to prevent obesity and other chronic diseases through healthy eating and physical activity initiatives across the life span.
• CDC Healthier Worksite Initiative –This site addresses workforce health promotion (WHP), a topic that is receiving a lot of attention in workplaces today.
• East Carolina University Physical Inactivity Cost Calculator – This easy-to-use tool that can provide an estimate of the financial cost of physically inactive people to a particular community, city, state or business.
• Get Outdoors Georgia – This initiative focuses on recreation that highlights the link between participation in outdoor recreation and improved health for people of all ages and abilities; decreased obesity; and an emphasis on children’s early involvement in nature for establishing life-long physical, mental and community benefits.
• Nutritional and Physical Activity: Physical Activity Guidelines Americans Toolkit

Preventive Clinical Services

• A Purchaser's Guide to Clinical Preventive Services: Moving Science into Coverage – Developed by the National Business Group on Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Purchaser's Guide translates clinical guidelines and medical evidence, providing large employers with the information they need to select, define, and implement preventive medical benefits such as colorectal cancer screening and tobacco use treatment.
• US Preventive Services Task Force Topic Index: A-Z – The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) was convened by the Public Health Service to rigorously evaluate clinical research in order to assess the merits of preventive measures, including screening tests, counseling, immunizations, and preventive medications. This list includes all recommendations: active, inactive, and in progress.
• Why Invest? Recommendations for Improving Your Prevention Investment – This report offers an overview of the results of a national survey on employer coverage for clinical preventive services, and comparing the results to key findings from Partnership's most recent rankings of recommended preventive services.

Sample Policies

• Flexible Work Schedule and Breaks – This sample policy encourages employees to be physically active during the workday.
• “No Food Dumping Policy” – Here is a very creative policy. It limits the kinds of food items employees can bring and leave in common areas of the workplace like break rooms.
• Tobacco Free Campus – A policy that eliminates the use of tobacco in buildings and on the grounds.
• Meeting and Function Nutritional Policy – Here is an example of a policy for healthy meetings and functions at the worksite.
• Worksite Wellness: Nutrition Policy – This policy from Clark County Washington is an example of a worksite nutrition policy.
• Policy statements for encouraging healthy food choices at the worksite – Here are five samples of policies encouraging healthy eating at work.

Tobacco

• Georgia Tobacco Use Prevention Program – The mission of the Tobacco Use Prevention Program is to reduce the use of tobacco and the burden it causes from related illness and disease in Georgia by coordinating strategy in tobacco use prevention and control, provide technical assistance and training on policy development, program interventions, communications strategies and serve as a resource center for tobacco issues.
• Georgia Tobacco Quit Line – The Georgia Tobacco Quit Line is a FREE resource for Georgians 13 and older looking to quit tobacco. Callers speak with trained counselors who tailor the quit process according to each caller.
• Georgia Smokefree Air Act – Provides information and resources, including a Guide for Business Owners and signage, for implementing a smokefree workplace and comply with the Georgia law.
• Making Your Workplace Smokefree: A Decision Maker’s Guide – This resource guide provides strategies on implementing a smokefree workplace, including sample policies.
• American Health Insurance Plan Smoking Cessation ROI Calculator – This tool uses your data and default information to estimate the return on investment to coverage, promotion, and encouragement of smoking cessation.

Other State of Georgia Programs

• Live Health Georgia – The Live Healthy Georgia Campaign serves as the umbrella for an outreach initiative that aims to raise awareness about the risk factors associated with chronic disease and to provide Georgians with information about ways to live healthier, and reduce their risk of developing chronic disease.
• Georgia Arthritis Program – The mission of the Georgia Arthritis Program is to identify populations most affected by arthritis and related conditions in Georgia and to develop programs to better treat and prevent the disease.
• Drugs Don't Work Program – By becoming a certified drug-free workplace, companies can help employees towards better health and get a 7.5% discount on their workers compensation insurance premiums.
• Georgia Addressing Asthma from a State Perspective (GAASP) – The GAASP program partners with families, communities, organizations, schools, worksites, childcare providers, and healthcare providers to raise awareness of asthma, its triggers, and how to manage the disease.
• Georgia Office of Prevention Services –Addresses substance abuse and promotes the health and well being of individuals, families and communities through a variety of strategies and activities.
• Georgia Helpline – Provides information and referral for alcohol and drug problems, domestic violence, rape, victims assistance, and other issues.
• Georgia Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Addictive Diseases – MHDDAD provides treatment and support services to people with mental illnesses and addictive diseases, and support to people with mental retardation and related developmental disabilities.