American Heart Association Recognizes Companies for Health Culture

The American Heart Association (AHA) released the results of its annual Workplace Health Achievement Index, highlighting 540 companies that met the organization's criteria for a positive workplace health culture.More than 800 companies submitted their workplace health initiatives in order to become recognized for taking significant steps, according to the organization.“The Index asks companies to be proactive about employee health, benefits, programs and incentives,” said Terry Lundgren,  and co-chairman AHA’s CEO roundtable and Macy’s Inc. executive chairman. “By challenging participating companies to actively prioritize employees’ health and well-being – we can effectively build a culture of health and wellness across America.”The Workplace Health Achievement Index allows companies to measure the effectiveness of their workplace health programs, as well as the overall heart health of their employees, according to the AHA.it also scores companies on the heart health of their employees. The key factors contributing to optimal heart health include smoking cessation, maintaining a healthy weight, staying physically active, eating a healthy diet, managing blood pressure, lowering cholesterol and keeping blood sugar at a healthy level, according to the AHA.The association created the Index with its CEO Roundtable members, a leadership collaborative of more than 30 CEOs from some of America’s largest companies who are committed to applying evidence-based approaches to improve their employees’ overall health.“Our CEO members have collectively pledged to improve the health of our nation’s companies, their employees, and communities,” said Henry Kravis, co-CEO and co-chairman of KKR and co-chairman of AHA’s CEO Roundtable. “We’re pleased to see more companies join us on this important mission and help share our collective best practices on workplace health initiatives with all America’s employers.”