Improvements in an Organization's Culture of Health Reduces Workers' Health Risk Profile and Health Care Utilization.

OBJECTIVE: To examine changes in internal and external cultures of health scores and relate those changes to employees' health risks, health care utilization, and costs for 21 large employers (N = 641,901). METHODS: We measured the relationship between changes in internal and external culture of health scores and changes in employee health risks, health care utilization, and costs. RESULTS: Improvements in a company's internal culture of health predicted lower levels of obesity, poor diet, and tobacco use but higher stress for employees reporting high baseline risk. For those not at high baseline risk, health improved for depression, alcohol consumption, and diet. Improvements in internal culture of health also led to lower prescription drug utilization. CONCLUSION: Investments in internal culture of health predict improvements in some employee health risks and health care utilization.

Baseline characteristics of workers at ten New York City employers recruited for a private-public research collaborative.

OBJECTIVE: To describe a public-private collaborative and present results from the administration of a baseline health risk assessment (HRA). METHODS: A custom-designed HRA was made available to 31,535 New York workers, and 5539 (17.6%) completed the survey. Data from the HRA were used to present a business case to employers urging them to support health promotion efforts at their worksites. RESULTS: Of these, 78.5% of workers in the sample reported poor eating habits, 39.9% were sedentary, and 62.2% were overweight, obese, or extremely obese; 30.4% had high or borderline-high total cholesterol levels, 24.9% reported high or borderline high blood pressure, and 16.8% reported high or borderline high blood glucose levels; tobacco use rates were relatively low (14.0%). CONCLUSION: Results represent a baseline against which future data for the study cohort will be compared to evaluate the health and financial impacts of engaging employees in workplace health promotion programs.