Preventive Medicine

  • Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention – Solving the Weight of the Nation

    This report is part of a series of publications dedicated to providing accessible and useful information and analysis to policy makers and others working to turn the obesity epidemic around.…

    Downloads: 2

  • Advanced Directives Tool L3-9

    This tool addresses skills that are need to exercise advance directives. For our purposes, the definition of “advance directives” is as follows: “An advance healthcare directive, also known as living…

    Downloads: 7

  • Advice for Doctors to Prescribe Exercise

    Here is a practical set of recommendations and advice for physicians to help them prescribe exercise for their overweight and obese patients who want to lose weight. This short piece…

    Downloads: 20

  • AMA encourages MDs to prescribe physical activity

    Summary: This call to action from the American Medical Association asks all physicians to actively prescribe physical activity to their patients. The epidemiological evidence is used to justify the recommendation.…

    Downloads: 1

  • AMSO Worksheet Tool L2-1

    The worksheet can be used to examine the extent to which a particular behavior or health risk factor addressed by your wellness program meets the requirements of the AMSO approach.…

    Downloads: 46

  • Annual Program Evaluation Survey Tool L1-11

    This tool is a sample of a program evaluation survey that can be used to evaluate a wide range of issues about the effectiveness of an employee wellness program. The…

    Downloads: 79

  • Biometric Health Screening for Employers: Consensus Statement

    This eight-page article just released from the JOEM identifies the current consensus on the use of biometric testing in worksite wellness programs.  This article provides a common perspective on how…

    Downloads: 4

  • Cancer Statistics 2018

    Cancer is the second most prevalent cause of death in the U.S. and is vying for number one.  It is also a major source of morbidity for a large portion…

    Downloads: 6

  • CDC Health Disparities and Inequalities Report; 2013

    This piece provides a backdrop for considering the value to the community from your worksite wellness activities—specifically their contribution to reducing health disparities.  This report to assess disparities across a…

    Downloads: 0

  • CDC’s Definitive Recommendations on Immunizations and Vaccines

    What is this about? This edition of Connections newsletter provides the just-released, definitive guidance on all recommended immunizations over the human lifespan for the U.S. population. The recommendations are in two…

    Downloads: 5

  • Clinical Treatment Guidelines for COVID-19

    What is this about? The 4-month-old COVID-19 Pandemic has directly affected virtually everyone in the world. The absence of science-based, consensus-mediated, clinical guidelines for its treatment has been a sore point…

    Downloads: 17

  • Community Prevention Services Task Force 2012 Annual Report to Congress

    To know what programs, services, and policies are proven to protect and improve health, decision makers in communities, companies, nonprofit organizations, health systems, and at all levels of government can…

    Downloads: 0

  • Community Prevention Services Task Force 2013 Annual Report to Congress

    This  47 page PDF defines the scientific consensus on community, school and worksite prevention strategies. This report provides current scientific consensus and thinking on a wide range of preventive activities. …

    Downloads: 0

  • Concept Paper Tool L4-1

    The purpose of this concept paper is to provide an objective overview of the potential associated with the introduction of a Worksite Wellness program within any organization.  The information presented…

    Downloads: 13

  • Consumer Health Education Tool L3-7

    This tool contains a detailed listing of consumer health education skills. Our definition of Consumer Health Education is: “The set of skills that enables the individual to efficiently and effectively…

    Downloads: 25

  • Data Collection Tool L4-2

    This tool contains a form that was developed in order to help you collect data for both the planning and evaluation of a Wellness program.  Once the data requested in…

    Downloads: 30

  • Declining Health-Related Quality of Life in the U.S.

    Why is this important? This 9-page article provides concrete proof that the U.S. working population is reporting lower quality of life satisfaction due primarily to health-related factors. Another way of thinking…

    Downloads: 16

  • Diagnosis of Diabetes

    This article from the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) identifies the current clinical status of the diagnosis of diabetes.  This article provides the current state-of-the-art of the diagnosis of…

    Downloads: 0

  • Diagnostic Codes Tool L4-5

    This file contains conditions that are generally recognized as epidemiologically associated with specific lifestyle and health risk factors.  The diagnostic codes are from the International Classification of Disease Agreement- 9th…

    Downloads: 9

  • Diseases, Injuries and Risk Factors by State: 1990 – 2016

    Why is this important? This 29-page article includes a great deal of state-specific information about the health status, health risks, life expectancy, premature mortality, and disability burden for a very large…

    Downloads: 15

  • Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the USPSTF

    This compendium of 9 peer review articles published in this month’s edition of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (January, 2018) provides an in-depth look at the USPSTF. The 9…

    Downloads: 10

  • Evidence-Based Recommendations on Reducing Obesity

    What is this about? This edition of Connections newsletter provides an easy-to-read set of evidence-based interventions for reduction of obesity and overweight status among working adults.  It is a set of…

    Downloads: 3

  • Futuristic Look at Wellness Tool L4-13

    This tool is a futuristic scenario about a worksite wellness program. A Futuristic Look at Worksite Wellness: A Morning with Marie. Published 2016.

    Downloads: 22

  • General health checks in adults for reducing morbidity and mortality from disease

    This publication provides scientific review of the efficacy of such preventive services. The authors aimed to quantify the benefits and harms of general health checks with an emphasis on patient-relevant…

    Downloads: 0

  • Genetic Information Doesn’t Lead to Health Behavior Change

    Summary:  This systematic review of the scientific evidence examines the effectiveness of genetic information on health behavior change.  Genetic testing is being increasingly used in a growing number of healthcare settings…

    Downloads: 3

  • Getting to “Yes” in Wellness – A Psychocatalytic Approach

    This 3 page article offers a novel way to open someone's thinking about wellness - either on the personal level or the organizational level.  Written by a Boston-based psychiatrist, this…

    Downloads: 27

  • Glossary of Wellness Terms Tool L1-1

    This tool is a newly expanded glossary of wellness and health terms. With more than 100 different terms included in the glossary it can be used as a source for…

    Downloads: 12

  • Hierarchy of Results Tool L4-11

    This tool contains a table that provides detail about the various possible results associated with worksite wellness programs. The results are presented in a hierarchy with the most foundational results…

    Downloads: 12

  • How much alcohol is “safe” to consume?

    Why is this important? This 11-page article presents a landmark analysis of the health risks associated with alcohol consumption. This global scientific effort applies meta-analysis statistical techniques to derive greater scientific…

    Downloads: 9

  • How to Calculate ROI Tool L2-10

    This tool includes two detailed examples of how to calculate the Return-on-Investment (ROI) of an employee wellness program using primarily health care cost changes. Example #1 is for situations where…

    Downloads: 55

  • HRA Interventions Tool L3-11

    This tool contains a large number of possible follow-up interventions from information collected by a well-being assessment or health risk assessment. in addition to general advice about efforts that would…

    Downloads: 13

  • Ideal Health Plan Design Tool L4-7

    The Ideal Health Plan characteristics suggested here are for use in either public or private organizational settings and are appropriate for large, medium or small size employee groups. The Ideal…

    Downloads: 28

  • Injury Prevention Skills Tool L3-8

    This tool contains a detailed listing of injury prevention skills. Our definition of “Injury Prevention” is as follows: “The set of skills each individual needs to minimize their personal risk…

    Downloads: 4

  • Listing of Biometric Measures Tool L2-7

    The file contains some of the key measures that are typical as components of biometric screening and testing in worksite wellness programs. Each biometric measure is identified along with its…

    Downloads: 1

  • Medical Self-Care Skills Tool L3-6

    Medical Self-Care is an area of health knowledge and capability that addresses the way we consult medical references and use home medical equipment to diagnose and treat minor, self-limiting health…

    Downloads: 6

  • Mental Health Works: Fourth Quarter 2013

    This report from the Partnership for Workplace Mental Health’s Mental Health Works is their fourth quarter 2013 report and contains several helpful articles on mental health in the workplace. This…

    Downloads: 2

  • Modifiable Health Risk Factors for Young Workers

    This edition of Connections provides a focus on the modifiable health risk factors of young employees.  We know a lot about the health risk factors and needs of the older…

    Downloads: 14

  • Modular Program Evaluation Tool L3-13

    This tool provides examples of a modular program evaluation approach that can be used with an employer's wellness program. The idea for permanent or on-going program evaluation identified in previous…

    Downloads: 11

  • Never too early: Tackling chronic disease to extend healthy life years

    This report from The Economist provides chronic disease prevention strategies for working populations. This set of strategies for chronic disease prevention is important to worksite wellness programs. The focus is…

    Downloads: 3

  • New National Guidelines for Physical Activity

    Why is this important? The combined authoritative weight of the federal Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the American Medical Association (AMA) signifies the importance of this national effort. …

    Downloads: 16

  • New Obesity Guidelines: Promise and Potential

    This report summarizes the new NIH physician obesity guidelines published in JAMA.  This very brief summary report addresses the new recommendations from NIH for PCPs in treating obesity in patients. …

    Downloads: 1

  • New Standard for Diagnosis of Hypertension

    On November 13, 2017,  the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA) released a new report that recommends changing the clinical parameters for the diagnosis of…

    Downloads: 12

  • New Study on the Costs of Modifiable Health Risks

    Summary: This new study documents the excess risk premium (additional annual health costs) associated with 10 modifiable health risks from 7 industries and 223,461 employees covering the period 2007 to…

    Downloads: 30

  • Population Health: Behavioral and Social Science Insights

    This is a recently published compendium that highlights new and confirmed behavioral and social science findings that under-gird population health.  This 444 page document contains a large number of summary…

    Downloads: 9

  • Possible Interventions from HRA and Screening Data Tools L1-8

    This tool contains a detailed discussion of 60+ follow-up interventions that can be implemented from information that is collected through the completion of a Health Risk Assessment/ Well-being Survey combined…

    Downloads: 16

  • Possible Metrics Tool L4-12

    This publication provides an overview of a practical metric framework that can be used to guide the implementation and evaluation of an Health and Productivity Management (HPM) approach. It is…

    Downloads: 12

  • Prevalence and Trends in Lifetime Obesity

    Introduction: Estimates of obesity prevalence based on current BMI are an important, but incomplete indicator of the total effects of obesity on a population. Methods: In this study, data on…

    Downloads: 7

  • Prevalence of Obesity by Occupation Among US Workers

    This article provides data on the prevalence of obesity by occupation.  This data can be used to compare your own organization with national trend data on the prevalence of overweight…

    Downloads: 0

  • Program Descriptions of Effective Wellness Programs Tool L1-12

    This tool provides a description of 10 employer programs that have earned the prestigious C.Everett Koop awards. This is the highest honor that can be awarded to employers for their…

    Downloads: 29

  • Reducing Metabolic Syndrome through a Wellness Intervention

    This recently published article in JOEM presents the findings of a 1 year program focused on the reduction of metabolic syndrome risk among a health plan employee population. The aim of…

    Downloads: 11

  • Strategies for Optimizing Results Tool L2-11

    This tool contains a more detailed discussion of the 10 major strategies for optimizing the results and return from your employee wellness program. For each of the 10 major strategies…

    Downloads: 24

  • Summary of Injury Prevention Skills Tool L4-4

    This tool contains key injury prevention skills and related questions for work, home, vehicular and recreational pursuits. Published 2016.

    Downloads: 2

  • Technology Infrastructure for Wellness Programs Tool L1-6

    This tool identified the various virtual interventions that constitute the core of an employee wellness programs. This technology is designed to perform all the basic functions of effective wellness programs.…

    Downloads: 17

  • The Future of Public Health

    Summary: This summary article originally presented at the prestigious Shattuck Lecture at the Massachusetts Medical Society, by the Director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and provides a…

    Downloads: 10

  • The Guide to Clinical Preventive Services 2010 – 2011

    Summarized findings: Findings and recommendations from this Guide are routinely used in a variety of settings to improve the preventive care that patients receive.  This includes the design of employee…

    Downloads: 0

  • The Guide to Clinical Preventive Services 2012: Recommendations of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force

    Full updated 2012 document: Findings and recommendations from this Guide are routinely used in a variety of settings to improve the preventive care that patients receive.  This includes the design…

    Downloads: 0

  • The Guide to Clinical Preventive Services 2014

    This 2014 report provides recommendations used in a variety of settings to improve the preventive care that patients receive.  This includes the design of employee wellness programs.  From the resource:…

    Downloads: 0

  • Trends in Prescription Drug Use in the U.S.

    This 14 page article published in JAMA highlights trends in prescription drug use for adults in the U.S. between 1999 and 2012. This summary data was derived from the National…

    Downloads: 2

  • Update on Status and Clinical Significance of Obesity

    Summary: These two new articles from JAMA provide clear epidemiological and clinical evidence regarding our need to further address obesity in all populations. Recent epidemiological evidence places a new urgency…

    Downloads: 16

  • Updated HERO Data Tool L4-9

    The Health Enhancement Research Organization (HERO), a Birmingham, Alabama based non-profit corporation, maintains a multi-employer health risk and health cost database.  This database has been used to provide invaluable insights…

    Downloads: 10

  • Wellness Metrics Tool L2-9

    The file contains the major organizational goals and recommended metrics for use in a wellness program management dashboard. These are organized around the constructs of productivity, cost reduction and program…

    Downloads: 29

  • Wellness Programming and Preventive Service Use

    Introduction: There is little research at the national level on access to employee wellness programs and the use of preventive care services. This study examined the use of seven preventive…

    Downloads: 11

  • What to Look For During a Walk-Through Tool L2-13

    When planning an employee wellness program it is important to have a good understanding of the physical nature of the work performed by employees throughout the organization and the actual…

    Downloads: 5

  • What’s New in Obesity Management?

    This 13 page Review article provides an excellent overview of the medical issues in understanding obesity and its management. With more than 2/3 rds of Americans over the age of…

    Downloads: 28