øCorporate Wellness Programs offers contributions from international experts, examining the planning, implementation and evaluation of wellness initiatives in organizations, and offering guidance on how to introduce these programs in to the workplace.

The report investigates the characteristics of workplace wellness programs, their prevalence and impact on employee health and medical cost, facilitators of their success, and the role of incentives in such programs. The authors employ four data collection and analysis streams: a literature review, a survey of employers, a longitudinal analysis of medical claims and wellness program data from a sample of employers, and five employer case studies.

The anthrax incidents following the 9/11 terrorist attacks put the spotlight on the nation's public health agencies, placing it under an unprecedented scrutiny that added new dimensions to the complex issues considered in this report. The Future of the Public's Health in the 21st Century reaffirms the vision of Healthy People 2010, and outlines a systems approach to assuring the nation's health in practice, research, and policy. This approach focuses on joining the unique resources and perspectives of diverse sectors and entities and challenges these groups to work in a concerted, strategic way to promote and protect the public's health. Focusing on diverse partnerships as the framework for public health, the book discusses: The need for a shift from an individual to a population-based approach in practice, research, policy, and community engagement. The status of the governmental public health infrastructure and what needs to be improved, including its interface with the health care delivery system. The roles nongovernment actors, such as academia, business, local communities and the media can play in creating a healthy nation. Providing an accessible analysis, this book will be important to public health policy-makers and practitioners, business and community leaders, health advocates, educators and journalists.

Health Insurance is a Family Matter is the third of a series of six reports on the problems of uninsurance in the United Sates and addresses the impact on the family of not having health insurance. The book demonstrates that having one or more uninsured members in a family can have adverse consequences for everyone in the household and that the financial, physical, and emotional well-being of all members of a family may be adversely affected if any family member lacks coverage. It concludes with the finding that uninsured children have worse access to and use fewer health care services than children with insurance, including important preventive services that can have beneficial long-term effects.

Physical activity has far-reaching benefits for physical, mental, emotional, and social health and well-being for all segments of the population. Despite these documented health benefits and previous efforts to promote physical activity in the U.S. population, most Americans do not meet current public health guidelines for physical activity. Surveillance in public health is the ongoing systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of outcome-specific data, which can then be used for planning, implementation and evaluation of public health practice. Surveillance of physical activity is a core public health function that is necessary for monitoring population engagement in physical activity, including participation in physical activity initiatives. Surveillance activities are guided by standard protocols and are used to establish baseline data and to track implementation and evaluation of interventions, programs, and policies that aim to increase physical activity. However, physical activity is challenging to assess because it is a complex and multidimensional behavior that varies by type, intensity, setting, motives, and environmental and social influences. The lack of surveillance systems to assess both physical activity behaviors (including walking) and physical activity environments (such as the walkability of communities) is a critical gap. Implementing Strategies to Enhance Public Health Surveillance of Physical Activity in the United States develops strategies that support the implementation of recommended actions to improve national physical activity surveillance. This report also examines and builds upon existing recommended actions.

What if the next global crisis is a mental health pandemic? It is here now. One-third of Americans have shown signs of clinical anxiety or depression, and the current state of suffering globally has risen significantly. The mental health pandemic manifests everywhere, not least in your workplace. As organizations around the world face health and social crises, as well as economic uncertainty, acknowledging and improving wellbeing in your workplace is more critical than ever. Increasingly, leaders and managers must support mental health and cultivate resilience in employees — not just increase engagement and performance. Based on more than 100 million Gallup global interviews, Wellbeing at Work shows you how to do just that. Coauthored by Gallup’s CEO and its Chief Workplace Scientist, Wellbeing at Work explores the five key elements of wellbeing — career, social, financial, physical and community — and how organizations can help employees and teams thrive in those elements. The book also gives leaders ideas and action items to help employees use their innate talents and strengths to thrive in each of the wellbeing elements. And Wellbeing at Work introduces a metric to report a person’s best possible life: Gallup Net Thriving, which will become the “other stock price” for organizations. In a world where work and life are more blended than ever, maximizing employee wellbeing takes on greater urgency. Wellbeing at Work shows leaders how to create a thriving and resilient culture. If you and your leaders don’t change the world, who will? Wellbeing at Work includes a unique code to take the CliftonStrengths assessment, which reveals your top five strengths.

Encouraging and maintaining a healthy workforce have become key components in the challege to reduce health care expenditures and health-related productivity losses. As companies more fully realize the impact of healthy workers on the financial health of their organization, health promotion professionals seek support to design and implement interventions that generate improvements in workers' health and business performance. The second edition of ACSM's Worksite Health Handbook: A Guide to Building Healthy and Productive Companies connects worksite health research and practice to offer health promotion professionals the information, ideas, and approaches to provide affordable, scalable, and sustainable solutions for the organizations they serve. Thoroughly updated with the latest research and expanded to better support the business case for worksite programs, the second edition of ACSM's Worksite Health Handbook includes the contributions of nearly 100 of the top researchers and practitioners in the field from Canada, Europe, and the United States. The book's mix of research, evidence, and practice makes it a definitive and comprehensive resource on worksite health promotion, productivity management, disease prevention, and chronic disease management. ACSM's Worksite Health Handbook, Second Edition, has the following features: -An overview of contextual issues, including a history of the field, the current state of the field, legal perspectives, and the role of health policy in worksite programs -A review of the effectiveness of strategies in worksite settings, including economic impact, best practices, and the health–productivity relationship -Information on assessment, measurement, and evaluation, including health and productivity assessment tools, the economic returns of health improvement programs, and appropriate use of claims-based analysis and planning -A thorough discussion of program design and implementation, including the application of behavior change theory, new ways of using data to engage participants, use of technology and social networks to improve effectiveness, and key features of best-practice programs -An examination of various strategies for encouraging employee involvement, such as incorporating online communities and e-health, providing incentives, using medical self-care programs, making changes to the built environment, and tying in wellness with health and safety The book includes a chapter that covers the implementation process step by step so that you can see how all of the components fit together in the creation of a complete program. You'll also find four in-depth case studies that offer innovative perspectives on implementing programs in a variety of work settings. Each case study includes a profile of the company, a description of the program and the program goals, information on the population being served, the results of the program, and a summary or discussion of the program. Throughout the book you'll find practical ideas, approaches, and solutions for implementation as well as examples of best practices and successful programs that will support your efforts in creating interventions that improve both workers' health and business performance. The book is endorsed by the International Association for Worksite Health Promotion, a new ACSM affiliate society. Deepen your understanding of the key issues and challenges within worksite health promotion and find the most current research and practice-based information and approaches inside ACSM's Worksite Health Handbook: A Guide to Building Healthy and Productive Companies, Second Edition. The e-book for ACSM's Worksite Health Handbook, Second Edition, is available at a reduced price. It allows you to highlight, take notes, and easily use all the material in the book in seconds. The e-book is delivered through Adobe Digital Editions® and when purchased through the Human Kinetics site, access to the content is immediately granted when your order is received. Adobe Digital Editions® System Requirements Windows -Microsoft® Windows® 2000 with Service Pack 4, Windows XP with Service Pack 2, or Windows Vista® (Home Basic 32-bit and Business 64-bit editions supported) -Intel® Pentium® 500MHz processor -128MB of RAM -800x600 monitor resolution Mac PowerPC -Mac OS X v10.4.10 or v10.5 -PowerPC® G4 or G5 500MHz processor -128MB of RAM Intel® -Mac OS X v10.4.10 or v10.5 -500MHz processor -128MB of RAM Supported browsers and Adobe Flash versions Windows -Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 or 7, Mozilla Firefox 2 -Adobe Flash® Player 7, 8, or 9 (Windows Vista requires Flash 9.0.28 to address a known bug) Mac -Apple Safari 2.0.4, Mozilla Firefox 2 -Adobe Flash Player 8 or 9 Supported devices -Sony® Reader PRS-505 Language versions -English -French -German