A county's health affects its economic competitiveness. Achieving lower health care costs, fewer sick days, and increased productivity are all critical to economic growth. Here are some basic ways you can help:
· Make your business a healthy place to work, e.g., offer physical activity plans and smoking-cessation programs to your employees, offer healthy foods in your cafeteria, and motivate employees to make healthy choices through financial incentives.
· Encourage employee fitness by subsidizing gym memberships, offering onsite gym facilities, and promoting use of stairways.
· Educate all managers about the link between employee health and productivity.
Here are some other ways you can help:
· Get the word out. Reach out to people you know and see every day about the County Health Rankings report, e.g., at a local Chamber of Commerce breakfast or a staff meeting.
· Organize. Meet with other local leaders and community residents to discuss barriers to health and ways to overcome them. Host a town hall meeting or invite people to one.
· Get policymakers to pay attention. Tell them about how their county or counties ranked and open a dialogue about ways to improve health in your community.
· Be an advocate. Step out as a leader in your community’s efforts to prevent illness and promote health.
· Contact your local public health department about participating in a local task force or, if none exists, organize one to tackle these pressing issues in your community.
· Ask your local or state health department about what they’re doing in response to the report to make sure you aren’t duplicating efforts.
· Share your resources. Offer your time, staff, and/or funding with community partners. These are resources that can go toward community plans and programs aimed at tackling factors that affect health.
· Communicate your message. Write an op-ed or talk to local media about the Rankings and what needs to be done to improve the health of your community.
· Start a conversation. Talk to your friends, colleagues, neighbors, and family members about the health of your community and what everyone collectively can do to make it healthier.
