Workplace wellness recognition for optimizing workplace health: a presidential advisory from the American Heart Association.

The workplace is an important setting for promoting cardiovascular health and cardiovascular disease and stroke prevention in the United States. Well-designed, comprehensive workplace wellness programs have the potential to improve cardiovascular health and to reduce mortality, morbidity, and disability resulting from cardiovascular disease and stroke. Nevertheless, widespread implementation of comprehensive workplace wellness programs is lacking, and program composition and quality vary. Several organizations provide worksite wellness recognition programs; however, there is variation in recognition criteria, and they do not specifically focus on cardiovascular disease and stroke prevention. Although there is limited evidence to suggest that company performance on employer health management scorecards is associated with favorable healthcare cost trends, these data are not currently robust, and further evaluation is needed. As a recognized national leader in evidence-based guidelines, care systems, and quality programs, the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association is uniquely positioned and committed to promoting the adoption of comprehensive workplace wellness programs, as well as improving program quality and workforce health outcomes. As part of its commitment to improve the cardiovascular health of all Americans, the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association will promote science-based best practices for comprehensive workplace wellness programs and establish benchmarks for a national workplace wellness recognition program to assist employers in applying the best systems and strategies for optimal programming. The recognition program will integrate identification of a workplace culture of health and achievement of rigorous standards for cardiovascular health based on Life's Simple 7 metrics. In addition, the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association will develop resources that assist employers in meeting these rigorous standards, facilitating access to high-quality comprehensive workplace wellness programs for both employees and dependents, and fostering innovation and additional research.

Ken the Movie: Allyship and When KENough is not Enough.

This editorial reviews Barbie the Movie in the context of workplace and community health and well-being. Issues of gender equity, patriarchy, and the role of women in empowering women were all factors that were dealt with thoughtfully and poignantly in the movie's script. A missed opportunity in the movie related to the role men could play as allies in the gender equity movement. Hence, I set out to reconcile this omission by proposing a story line for Ken the Movie. I present gender and health disparities as problems that will require leadership in, and best thinking about, gender equality from both men and women.

Why Not Offer Routine Screenings for Brain Health?

The merits of routine health screening for cancer and cardiovascular diseases are well established given the strong evidence that early detection can lead to effective interventions. Health systems, insurance providers and public health agencies have incorporated systematic approaches to ensuring that preventive screenings for hypertension, hyperlipidemia and cancers are encouraged, readily accessible and reimbursed. Workplace wellness programs intent on containing preventable healthcare costs have also sponsored age- and risk-adjusted health screenings, often including financial incentives to encourage same. Should we also screen for brain health? Is early detection of value for a condition with no proven treatment or cure? This editorial reviews the pros and cons of testing for cognitive decline, Alzheimer's and related dementias and suggests that with nearly every country in the world getting proportionally older, promoting brain health could emerge as a key intrinsic motivation for promoting healthier lifestyles. I conclude that a person-centered approach to deciding about testing is needed given uncertain evidence connecting health behaviors to cognitive decline.

The "Best of 2023 List" of Health Promotion Researchers.

Each year the editorial team of the American Journal of Health Promotion selects our "Best of the Year List" of health promotion studies from the prior year. This editorial features the Editor's Picks Awards, the Editor in Chief Awards, the Michael P. O'Donnell Award and the Dorothy Nyswander Award for the best research and writing published in 2023 in this journal. Our criteria for selection includes: whether the study addresses a topic of timely importance in health promotion, the research question is clearly stated and the study methods used are well executed; whether the paper is often cited and downloaded; if the study findings offer a unique contribution to the literature; and if the paper is well-written and enjoyable to read. Awardees in 2023 offered new insights into legal issues related to obesity and LGBTQ+ discrimination, the role of employers in the use of lifestyle medicine and the influence of Cannabis use on depression and suicide behaviors. This "best of 2023 list" featured studies based in communities, health systems, workplaces and schools and includes case studies and qualitative and quantitative research methods that enabled researchers to better explain what amplifies or hampers well-being.

Fifty Observations About the Health Promotion Discipline: Tributes, Cautions and a Call to Action (Part One).

In observance of having worked for going on five decades in the health promotion profession, this editorial shares fifty observations about the state of our field. In part one, I offer these first twenty five observations that focus on societal trends that have shifted how we frame our work and the movement from wellness to well-being. I reflect on why the wellness term fell out of favor, the roots of the well-being term and attendant definitions of health promotion. Seminal professional text books, popular readership books and key studies that have informed the health promotion discipline are reviewed. I summarize several conundrums that need solving for and conclude with calls to action for health promotion professionals.

What are you Reading? A Glimpse Into What is Captivating Health Promotion Professionals.

Story telling is one of the most time honored methods for conveying ideas, inspiring action and offering insights into the foibles and ferment of the human condition. This editorial offers a glimpse into what is sparking the imaginations and passions of health promotion professionals by simply asking them 'what are you reading?' Those who shared the books currently sitting alongside their reading chairs were not asked to select books that were related to improving health and well-being. Still, it came as no surprise that contributors to this article uniformly described plots, characters and narratives that illuminate how life circumstances can accost health and jeopardize well-being. What's more, you will see that in fiction, non-fiction and fanciful fables alike, health promotion professionals extract inspiration from these books and find ways to apply the moral of these stories toward the improvement of our profession.

Belongingness, Well-Being and an Interview With Dr Pauline Dow.

The Supreme Court decision that race conscious admissions policies in universities are unconstitutional has created questions and concerns about the sustainability of diversity, equity and inclusion programs in many organizations and across sectors. This editorial provides hopeful examples of how belongingness is being embraced as a core value in many organizations. In an interview with education expert, Dr Pauline Dow, we discuss ways that the education sector creates trust and belongingness and explore best practices and leadership development methods that allow teachers to thrive. Lessons learned in the educator sector offer insights into how belongingness can be cultivated in other sectors, organizations and communities.

Fifty Observations About the Health Promotion Discipline: Ambitions, Polemics and Inspiration (Part Two).

In part one of this editorial covering fifty observations about the history and evolution of the health promotion discipline I shared twenty five observations relating to societal trends, definitional nuances and seminal studies and resources that have contributed to the trajectory of the field. In this, part two of the editorial, I list an additional twenty five observations focused on polemics and controversies and on the importance of effective teaching, research and writing. I reflect on the different approaches used by public sector and private sector health promotion experts respectively. I also share inspirational quotes that I consider closely aligned with the vision and mission of our profession.

Research Findings Journalists Cannot Resist: A Tale of Three Mental Health and Well-Being Studies.

Addressing employee mental health needs and fostering organizations that enable thriving has become a priority for most workplace health and well-being initiatives. While mental health issues for the nation were of growing concern before COVID-19, the pandemic amplified concerns about loneliness, burnout and deaths of despair. A recent study that garnered attention from the popular press found that participants of individual-level mental health interventions were no better off than non-participants. This editorial reviews that study, summarizes limitations and beneficial learnings from the research, and argues that organizational factors have been shown to mitigate or amplify the effectiveness of mental health services. Tenets of 'patient-centered care' and the principles behind Total Worker Health® will need to be more broadly embraced so that the voice of employees can better inform workplace well-being strategies and strategic plans.

The Stare Decisis Doctrine and Total Worker Health®: Prior Precedent and Continuous Improvement in Health Promotion.

What advantages are accruing to companies that intentionally integrate their health, safety and mental well-being initiatives? "Total Worker Health®", using the definition from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), is: "Policies, programs and practices that integrate protection from work-related safety and health hazards with promotion of injury and illness prevention efforts to advance worker well-being." The NIOSH WellBQ is an individual level questionnaire that asks employees about their perceptions related to their quality of work life, circumstances outside of work, supervisor support and physical and mental health status. Total Worker Health® related research funded by NIOSH is intended to "build the scientific evidence base necessary to develop new solutions for complex occupational safety and health problems." This editorial argues that there is an unreconciled tension in the health promotion field relating to the evidence needed to prioritize individual vs social responsibility for health. The NIOSH Total Worker Health® and organizational health scorecards are discussed in the context of honoring the need to balance both lifestyle and environmental oriented interventions.

The Twenty Five Most Important Studies in Workplace Health Promotion.

In what direction has workplace wellness research been evolving over the past 20 years? What proportion of occupational health researchers have been focusing on how health impacts work compared to researchers who ask how work affects health? This editorial poses an audacious, albeit largely subjective, question. That is, what have been the most important research studies about workplace wellness? Readers are invited to respond with their opinions about seminal studies we missed. Readers are also challenged with a thought experiment and exercise designed to organize the past decades of workplace wellness studies into a table that identifies trends in this research domain. Based on trends, I posit that researchers are waning in their interest in how health affects work productivity and healthcare costs and waxing in their considerations of how work affects well-being.

New Obesity Guidance for Pediatrics: Medicalizing Obesity or Acquiescing to Our Obesogenic Culture?

The publication of the American Academy of Pediatrics report on a "Clinical Practice Guideline for the Evaluation and Treatment of Children and Adolescents with Obesity" has been met with considerable debate about the merits of taking a more aggressive treatment approach. Supporters of the new guidance argue that the time has come to treat childhood obesity with more intensive behavior therapy along with, as needed, weight loss medications and bariatric surgery. Detractors of the report believe that medicalizing this condition will lead to greater stigma and increase health disparities. Critics of the new guidance favor a "healthy at every size" approach. This editorial examines the reasoning behind these arguments. Given obesity is a complex issue that demands both clinical and societal solutions, this commentary advocates for multi-disciplinary cooperation and understanding in order to achieve an effective balance between prevention and treatment.

The Most Influential Women Leaders in Health Promotion.

This editorial features 13 of the most accomplished female leaders working in health promotion based on their contributions to health science, their mentorship, and their executive leadership for organizations with far reaching health impact. Meeting and far exceeding these criteria, the American Journal of Health Promotion is pleased to honor: Gail Christopher, Michelle Nunn, Karen Moseley, Kerry Evers, Wendy Lynch, Rachel Mosher Henke, Catherine Baase, Carter Blakey, Kinari Webb, Laurie Whitsel, Jessica Grossmeier, Vicki Shepard, and Michelle McMacken. Other renowned experts in the health promotion profession authored biographies of these amazing leaders and offered thoughts on how their influence will be felt in years to come. I offer reflections on the differential impact women leaders are having on the direction of the health promotion discipline.

Excellence in Total Worker Health® and an Interview With Dr Laura Linnan.

The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) defines Total Worker Health® as "policies, programs and practices that integrate protection from work-related safety and health hazards with promotion of injury and illness prevention efforts to advance worker well-being." This editorial features an interview with Dr Laura Linnan, a leader of the workplace health and well-being movement and a Principal Investigator for one of the ten 'Centers of Excellence in Total Worker Health®' sponsored by NIOSH to study how approaches to better integrating health and safety can improve outcomes. We discuss differences between "comprehensive approaches" to workplace wellness and a Total Worker Health® approach. I also interview ChatGBT to assess whether the latest in artificial intelligence is accurate in its understanding of contemporary workplace based health promotion.

ESG Standards are TBD in Health Promotion: What the ESG Movement can Learn From the Workforce Wellness Movement.

Large organizations produce annual shareholder reports that tout their business success, and many also describe their role in doing well by their employees and communities. What if systemic efforts to improve employee and community health were a reporting requirement on par with the reporting of profits, losses and liquidity? This editorial examines the nascent ESG movement and its potential role in sparking systems changes that improve individual and organizational health. ESG is an acronym for the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) standards that many investment fund managers are considering as a component of evaluating company performance. Today, assessing investments that factor in health alongside other business success measures is commonplace but, recently, ESG factors have become political fodder. How is it that there is growing acceptance of corporate social responsibility principles among business leaders but a growing opposition to ESG standards by many politicians who otherwise identify as pro-business?

The Ten Most Influential Women Scholars in Health Promotion.

This article features 10 of the most influential women scholars in health promotion: Drs Shiriki Kumanyika, Andrea Gielen, Leslie B. Hammer, Peggy A. Hannon, Sara Johnson, Michelle C. Kegler, Laura A. Linnan, Keshia Pollack Porter, Anastasia M. Snelling, and Glorian Sorensen. Other of the most influential researchers specializing in health promotion authored brief biographies of these extraordinary women summarizing what they are best known for and explaining how their influence on this profession will continue to be felt in the years ahead. I reflect on the merits of celebrating women in leadership and how women are shaping the health promotion discipline.

On the Need for an Association for Vaccinated Person's Rights.

COVID-19 has been more difficult to contain in the United States than in other countries due, in part, to our nation's rootedness in preserving individual freedoms, sometimes in defiance of the need for social accountability for health. With growing evidence that anti-vaccination proponents are increasingly organized, funded, and influential, this editorial argues that the right to health should transcend individual freedoms that have a likely probability of spreading harm to others. An association for vaccinated person's rights, much like ANSR, an association for non-smokers rights, may be needed to counter anti-vaccination rights organizers. Advancing a goal of mostly "vaccinated and fully immunized populations' would make members of such a group 'VIP-ers.'".

The "Best of 2021 List" of Health Promotion Researchers.

Each year the editorial team of the American Journal of Health Promotion selects our "Best of the Year List" of health promotion studies from the prior year. This editorial features the Editor's Picks Awards, the Editor in Chief Awards, the Michael P. O'Donnell Award and the Dorothy Nyswander Award for the research and writing published in 2021 in this journal. Our criteria for selection includes: whether the study addresses a topic of timely importance in health promotion, the research question is clearly stated and the methodologies used are well executed; whether the paper is often cited and downloaded; if the study findings offer a unique contribution to the literature; and if the paper is well-written and enjoyable to read. Awardees in 2021 offered new insights into addressing discrimination against race or sexual identity, preferred sources of information about COVID-19 and the impact of community and workplace interventions on healthy lifestyles. This year's award winning research spans from character to culture relative to improving well-being.

Improving Your Odds of Getting Published in this Journal.

Now in its 36th year of publication, The American Journal of Health Promotion (AJHP) is privileged to attract worldwide manuscript submissions from highly accomplished researchers and practitioners. Getting published in this journal has gotten quite competitive with less than 20% of submissions making it through our review process and into print. Our current impact score of 2.870 makes getting research published in AJHP well worth the effort for those with a goal of wide dissemination and frequent citations. This editorial aims to increase your chances of getting published in this journal by summarizing those issues that most often lead to a paper's rejection, even for an otherwise well executed study. Though our submission guidelines are detailed and clear, we find contributors, particularly those with less publishing experience, often neglect fastidious adherence to our author instructions and writing standards.

The Twenty Five Most Important Studies in Health Promotion.

Which are the studies, special reports and commentaries that have been most influential in shaping the health promotion profession? This editorial poses that question to many of America's most accomplished researchers. Each was asked to name one or two 'must read' studies from other scholars as well as to feature one of their own research projects that has had the greatest reach. This review of seminal studies focuses on community health, patient education and behavior change research and a future editorial will focus on workplace based health promotion research. Readers are challenged to review the four decades of research represented by this list and consider whether trends can be identified with respect to the relative attention researchers are giving to individual, interpersonal, community and societal factors influencing health behavior. How clear is the evidence that the choices we make are determined by the choices we have?