Health & Fitness
Health and Fitness
Health and Fitness
Fri, December 10, 2010
Thu, December 9, 2010
Beach Cities Launch Initiative to Become First Healthways | Blue Zones Vitality City
REDONDO BEACH, Calif.--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--Today, residents of Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach and Manhattan Beach (the beach cities) and nationally renowned experts assembled by Healthways, Inc. (NASDAQ: HWAY) and Blue Zones, LLC, begin an initiative to redefine community-based public health efforts throughout the country. The Healthways | Blue Zones Vitality CitySM initiative, in partnership with the Beach Cities Health District, is expected to make sustainable changes in the beach cities to improve longevity and well-being that lead to lower health care cost trends, higher productivity and increased economic vitality.
"Community well-being is about physical, social and emotional health, which impact the vitality of citizens and businesses. The Healthways | Blue Zones Vitality City initiative is unique because it strives to put in place comprehensive and sustainable solutions to improve well-being for the entire community"
"Community well-being is about physical, social and emotional health, which impact the vitality of citizens and businesses. The Healthways | Blue Zones Vitality City initiative is unique because it strives to put in place comprehensive and sustainable solutions to improve well-being for the entire community," said Healthwaysa™ Chief Executive Officer Ben R. Leedle, Jr. "We commend the beach cities for taking this important step, which demonstrates forward thinking and real care for their citizens, and trust their good work will inspire communities across America to join the movement to greater well-being."
At the launch event, members of the Healthways | Blue Zones team of experts will provide a sneak preview of the types of improvements to occur in the beach cities, from choosing healthier food options at restaurants to making streets more walk-able and bike-able and increasing social engagement among neighbors through group activities. The Vitality City expert team is led by world-renowned explorer and New York Times-bestselling author Dan Buettner, founder of Blue Zones, and also includes:
- Dr. Brian Wansink, food marketing expert, author of Mindless Eating and director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab;
- Dan Burden, an internationally recognized authority on improving walk-ability and bike-ability in cities;
- Dr. Nicholas Christakis, named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine in 2009, and a social network expert who conducts research on social factors that affect health, health care and longevity at Harvard University;
- Richard Leider, renowned global expert on living with purpose and author of seven books including The Power of Purpose;
- Roy Spence; co-founder of The Purpose Institute;
- Joel Spoonheim, city director of the Healthways | Blue Zones Vitality City initiative; and
- Justin Smith and Janet Calhoun, co-leaders of the Healthways | Blue Zones Vitality City initiative.
aBlue Zones is about unlocking the secrets to live a longer, better life. We accomplish this through enhancements to the community like changes to the physical environment, improving social networks and advocating policy changes,a said Buettner. aIn a pilot project in Albert Lea, Minnesota, we applied Blue Zones principles to improve the vitality, life expectancy and social engagement of a small town. Now wea™re scaling up to establish lasting changes in the beach cities by making healthy choices the easy choices.a Blue Zones is also making available its Vitality Compass and Vitality Coach tools to help people understand and improve their longevity.
In the weeks following todaya™s event, the Vitality City expert team will turn their attention to research, analysis, strategy and planning to develop a blueprint for well-being improvement and focus on how best to implement dozens of innovative solutions in the beach cities.
Healthways, a leading well-being improvement company, is bringing its proven expertise in behavior change and ability to scale health and well-being solutions for populations to the beach cities community. The company will also bring the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Indexa" (WBI) to the initiative, which provides a comprehensive, real-time view of the public's well-being in the United States, giving governments, health plans, employers and communities unmatched insight into the health and prosperity of their populations. The WBI will present unprecedented measurement into the specific challenges these communities are facing, and how well they are improving throughout the three-year initiative. In addition to the WBI ([ www.well-beingindex.com ]), Healthways will provide all employers within the beach cities with its Well-Being Assessmenta", which focuses on employee health and productivity, work environment and its culture of health, enabling employers to more fully understand the impact of well-being on a companya™s business performance.
aThis community-wide approach to improving well-being will change the way people think about preventative health,a said Dr. Lisa Santora, Beach Cities Health District chief medical officer. aOur work with the Vitality City team will result in greater well-being for our residents and serve as a model for other cities seeking improved health and happiness for their citizens. And through its use of the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, wea™ll have measurable results to prove its effectiveness.a
The Healthways | Blue Zones Vitality City initiative will run until 2013, creating healthier, happier and more productive citizens by focusing on the emotional health, overall well-being and instilling healthy habits for those living in the beach cities.
About Healthways
Healthways is the leading provider of specialized, comprehensive solutions to help millions of people maintain or improve their health and well-being and, as a result, reduce overall costs. Healthwaysa™ solutions are designed to keep healthy people healthy, reduce health-related risks and optimize care for those with chronic illness. Our proven, evidence-based programs provide highly specific and personalized interventions for each individual in a population, irrespective of age or health status, and are delivered to consumers by phone, mail, internet and face-to-face interactions, both domestically and internationally. Healthways also provides a national, fully accredited complementary and alternative Health Provider Network, offering convenient access to individuals who seek health services outside of, and in conjunction with, the traditional healthcare system. For more information, please visit [ www.healthways.com ].
About Blue Zones
Blue Zones has rapidly emerged as an authority in the area of human longevity and health principles that lead to improved well-being. The Minneapolis, Minn.,-based Company has integrated the findings from a vast array of scientific research along with a proprietary eight year study of the worlda™s longest living populations. This research was first reported in the third best selling cover story in National Geographic Magazine history and a New York Times bestselling book, The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Whoa™ve Lived the Longest.
About Beach Cities Health District
Beach Cities Health District is a public agency dedicated to enhancing individual and community health through preventive health programs in the cities of Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach. Among its many services are emotional and logistical support for older adults and the disabled; health classes and screenings; school health programs; the Center for Health and Fitness, a full-service gym; AdventurePlex, a health and fitness center for youth and more. Visit [ www.bchd.org ] or call (310) 374-3426 for more information.
