Whirlpool Corporation and other organizations in the Benton Harbor/St. Joseph area are attempting to improve worker health and productivity through an innovative "Communities of Health" pilot program.
The group of employers, health stakeholders, educators, political and faith leaders was brought together by Whirlpool along with the Consortium for Community Development and health insurer Cigna. They hope to identify and break down community and social barriers that affect the health of local residents. By broadening the conversation to go beyond the traditional scope of health care payment and access, they hope to improve the health and overall wellness of workers and the population at large.
The premise is that employees live and breathe in a community beyond the work space; therefore, they are affected by that environment, which carries over into health and productivity costs.
Since the pilot began two years ago, Communities of Health has successfully educated citizens about myriad health issues and begun setting measurable goals for residents of the Benton Harbor area.
"Our strategy is to move individuals to take personal responsibility for their health, which means trying to help them understand their present health conditions while moving them toward preventive care, building a personal relationship with a physician in the community and understanding how their surroundings affect their health," explains Susan Pavlopoulos, manager, global medical management at Whirlpool.
Pavlopoulos says that Whirlpool would not be able to meet the same goals if they relied solely on the company's health benefit plan design. By utilizing resources in the larger community, and by partnering with other business, faith and health care leaders in the area, the firm believes it will be able to have a much greater impact on the Michigan community.
"From an employer standpoint there hasn't been much of a connection between employer plans and the home, the community itself," she observes.
To change the equation, Communities of Health recently hosted a Town Hall two-day event that brought together 500 participants to learn how the community affects their health. The following day, a group of health stakeholders and faith leaders drafted a plan of action which included steps such as having faith leaders set and measure a body mass index goal for their congregants.
To learn more about such projects being started in Detroit and other parts of the nation, visit http://www.communitiesofhealth.org/.
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