Executive leaders are at different positions along a continuum of insight and business case development related to the intentional and strategic investment in community health.


COMPLIANCE: Early on, the main driver for engagement in population health may be entirely driven by regulatory considerations, such as those mandated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) related to worker safety.

CHARITABLE: Charitable giving provides opportunity for companies to be visible in doing good with benefit to their reputation.

STRATEGIC: Companies may set up systems that connect health and safety to business value and success.

SYSTEMIC: Eventually efforts become systemic and morph into cultures of health, safety, and well-being at the workplace that connect to the community and reflect norms and value systems that appreciate the need to address social determinants of health as a component of organizational priority with direct impact on performance and achievement.

Why invest?

For businesses, the decision to invest is affected by a variety of inputs, basically from three sources: regulatory/legal, financial/corporate priorities, or moral/ethical. The availability of effective programs, services, and policies informs the investment decision. Furthermore, metrics and performance incentives need to be in place to ensure proper implementation and execution of the business plan to improve the population’s health. All this needs to be considered along with the interests of all stakeholders and partner organizations that have come together with shared interests and goals. When all these requirements are satisfied, a well-designed action plan may be ready for implementation.

Source:

Pronk, N.P., Baase, C., Noyce, J., and Stevens, D.E. (2015) Corporate America and Community Health: Exploring the business case for investment. JOEM, 2015;57(5):493-500.