Corporate and Government Health Accountability Discussed at Vitality Event

In October, the Vitality Institute hosted a roundtable event, “Catalyzing a Healthier Chicago: Innovative Metrics for Measurable Impact” for a diverse group of change-makers in Chicago. The guest list included leaders from key stakeholder groups – business, government, academia and health promotion advocacy – and was designed to bring everyone’s ideas together to discuss the importance of building workplace cultures of health in the nation’s third largest city and across the country.

In attendance was the Managing Deputy Commissioner, Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, for the City of Chicago, Jay D. Bhatt; Medical Director, Chronic Disease and Mental Health, City of Chicago, Arlene L Hankinson; business leaders representing Unilever and PepsiCo; a representative of the Midwest Business Group on Health; and Arnav Dalmia, entrepreneur and the inventor of Cubii: an under-desk elliptical trainer which was  the highest-funded Kickstarter campaign in the design category for Chicago in 2014.

Derek Yach, Executive Director of the Vitality Institute, led the discussion, building on the findings from the Commission on Health Promotion and the Prevention of Chronic Disease in Working-Age Americans. The insights centered on the Institute’s recommendationssurrounding the integration of health metrics into corporate reporting. Derek’s view is that health should be embraced “as a strategic imperative across sectors and as a core value in society.” He encouraged those in attendance to include health metrics as an integrated piece of corporate reporting by 2020. Companies such as Pepsico, Qualcomm, Humana, IBM and Vitality’s parent company, Discovery, have already committed to this pledge.

A similar event, “Investing in a Culture of Health: Innovations and the Workplace,” was held this summer with Dallas community leaders discussing new and innovative opportunities to address health in America’s workforce.

For more perspective on the impact of incorporating health metrics into corporate reporting, download the latest infographic from the Vitality Institute.