Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Communities

This story was sent in by Nico Pronk, from HealthPartners in Minneapolis, MN

Hosts:
The "Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Communities" World Café was hosted by HealthPartners in Minneapolis and convened by the Health Enhancement Research Organization (HERO). The World Café dialogue sessions were facilitated by Dr. Cathy Baase, Global Medical Director at Dow Chemical Company, and Dr. Nico Pronk, Chief Science Officer at HealthPartners.

Hosting Org/Sponsor:
Hosted at HealthPartners; Sponsored by HERO and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Location:
Minneapolsi, Minnesota, USA

This World Café was for:
Corporate executives, executive leaders of non-profits and public health agencies

Purpose:
To access the collective intelligence of corporate executives and thought leaders in an effort to identify important elements of a business case for employer leadership and investment in improving community health

Number of People Attending:
60

Questions Used:
Q1: "What are the strongest elements of a business case that will generate higher levels of employer leadership in improving community health?"

Q2: "What are the most important barriers and limitations that will keep employers from playing their critical role in community health?"

Impact:

• This World Cafe identified strongest elements of a business case form investment into community health by business.
• It facilitated the start of a broader conversation on this topic that has gone national and global. It became a critical part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's goal to create a "culture of health" in the US.
• It created the starting point for a website designed to provide resources for employers to engage in community health. See: www.get-hwhc.org
• It brought together several organizations that align around similar goals and facilitated many partnerships.
• It provided the raw data for a scientific publication on the relationship between corporate America and community health.
• It became original input and insight into the work conducted by the CEO Innovation Collaborative of the Obesity Solutions Roundtable at the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) as well as the Roundtable on Population Health Improvement at the NAM.

Comments
The HWHC website referred to above is a result of this effort and other activities coordinated by the Employer-Community Committee of the HERO. The website contains much more in-depth knowledge for employers to use.