The Whirlpool Corporation and other community organizations in the Benton Harbor/St. Joseph, Michigan area are taking steps to control health care costs for their employees and the greater community with a pilot project, known as Communities of Health.
The group of employers, health stakeholders, educators, political and faith leaders, brought together by Whirlpool Corporation, the Consortium for Community Development and Cigna, is hoping to identify and break down community and social barriers that affect the health of local residents.
By broadening the conversation to go beyond the traditional scope of health care payment and access, they hope to improve the health and overall wellness of the population at large, including their employee population.
After all, as employees live and breathe in a greater community beyond the work space, their health is significantly affected by that environment, which can carry over to employer health and productivity costs.
One participant at a December 2008 meeting explained that “as goes Whirlpool, so goes the community…And as goes the health of the community, so goes Whirlpool,” says Daniel Hopp, senior vice president, Corporate Affairs, and general counsel for Whirlpool Corporation.
Since the pilot began two years ago, the Communities of Health initiative has succeeded in educating citizens about a surrounding’s affect on health and have begun setting measurable goals for inhabitants in the Benton Harbor area.
“Our strategy is to move individuals to take a personal responsibility for their health, [which means] trying to help them understand their present health conditions, while moving them toward preventive care, [building] a personal relationship with a physician in the community and understanding how their surroundings affect their health,” says Susan Pavlopoulos, manager, global medical management at Whirlpool.
Pavlopoulos stresses that Whirlpool would not be able to meet the same goals if they were relying on their company’s health care plan design on its own. By utilizing resources in the larger community along with partnering with other business, faith, and health care leaders in the area, they will be able to cover a great deal more ground than if they went it alone.
“From an employer standpoint there hasn’t been a lot of connection between employer plans and the home, the community itself,” observes Pavlopoulos.
To change this antiquated relationship, the Communities of Health recently hosted a Town Hall two day event, which brought together 500 community participants to learn how their community affects their health. The following day, a group of health stakeholders and faith leaders drafted a plan of action. One idea is to have faith groups set and measure a BMI goal for their congregants.
To learn more about the Communities of Health initiative, visit Cigna Communities of Health Web site.
