By Kirstin Q. Siemering, DrPH, RD
Population health can be a hard sell for the business sector, where the nature of the work has historically meant a focus on profits to the exclusion of most if not all other priorities. Although we applaud the current expansion of worksite wellness programs, we recognize that these efforts represent only a fraction what is needed for broad and lasting change. For broad population health improvement, we need to get beyond individual knowledge and behavior to effect policy and environmental changes that make the healthy choice the easy choice.
As we consider tangible roles for businesses to play in population health improvement, it might be helpful to think of a continuum, with worksite wellness as a starting point. Many potential roles remain unexplored, but we should all take a vested interest in shaping how work on the other end of the spectrum might look.
Starbucks is one company that’s going far beyond worksite wellness. In October 2011, Starbucks announced a new model for doing business that they're calling "community stores." The first two community stores are in Harlem (New York City) and Crenshaw (Los Angeles). For this effort, Starbucks has partnered with the Abyssinian Development Corporation and the Los Angeles Urban League respectively. At the core of the model is local profit sharing, with Starbucks committing to donating at least $100,000 in the first year to each of these communities. In announcing the initiative, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz explained, "Starbucks is partnering with two organizations doing heroic work to address the economic, social, and educational challenges in their communities. These two partnerships are intended to help us learn how our company can successfully join with change-making community organizations in a localized, coordinated, and replicable way."
A Christian Science Monitor article quoted Los Angeles Urban League President and CEO Blair Hamilton Taylor on the effort: "It's not going to be a million dollars a year, but if McDonald's decides to do this next week, and then Wendy's decides to do it, and Burger King decides -- now all of a sudden you have a million dollars. My hope is that is what this triggers."
Partnering with well-established and trusted organizations with successful track records helps Starbucks make sure every dollar counts. In Crenshaw, for example, the funds will be used in part to bolster the Urban League's Neighborhoods@WorkTM model, which has so far seen a 51% rise in graduation rates at Crenshaw High School and a 34% decrease in Park Mesa Heights violent crime since 2007 baseline measures.
Earlier this month, in partnership with HealthPartners (based in the Minneapolis/St. Paul suburb of Bloomington, MN) our MATCH Group at the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute hosted a fascinating meeting that brought together a small group of health leaders from several major U.S. corporations to discuss the role of business in population health improvement. The comments of this small group were extremely eye opening with regard to the breadth of values and action reflected. We are just beginning to sort through what we learned with the expectation of broadly sharing key findings.
It may be some time before we can determine the degree to which Starbuck's grand partnership vision plays out on the ground, but we'll be watching with interest and cheering from the sidelines. In the meantime, we'll be keeping our eyes out for how businesses across the country -- both large and small -- are taking up the mantle of population health. If you know of other examples of businesses looking beyond their concerns about health care costs and working to improve community health, please let us know.
Kirstin Q. Siemering, DrPH, RD is a Researcher with the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.
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