Which of the following does NOT belong as a part of
the 5 Key Health Behaviors?

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recently published research regarding chronic disease prevention and 5 health related behaviors. Liu et al. found that these health behaviors include all of the above except preventive care visits¹.

A RAND study published in 2013 portrayed wellness programs as inefficient and unlikely to save healthcare dollars². Many studies involved in this analysis synthesized results of programs that targeted one of these 5 key behaviors. The limitations of these programs are that they do not address the person; typically they only address a single behavior. Disease management programs often find more success as they addressed all domains of health versus targeting one behavior or health issue.

Additionally Liu et al. found that only 6.3 percent of adults were active in all 5 key areas. We at Benefit Performance Associates (BPA) understand the need for a comprehensive approach to wellness and are providing just that approach with the Integrated Health Advocacy Program (IHAP).

IHAP focuses on delivering patient centered care through the use of a multidisciplinary team of health advocates. In doing so, IHAP teams address the 5 key health behaviors as well as other health related issues. With high quality care for their participants, the fragmentation commonly found in traditional healthcare systems is eliminated, and support for these individuals to learn to confidently manage their conditions is provided. IHAP research has also shown this method to be cost effective, benefiting not only the participants, but employers as well, by reducing healthcare costs.

To learn more about achieving these results with IHAP, contact Maria E. J. Kuhn at 630-761-4427 or mkuhn@ihap.com.

REFERENCES:
1 Liu Y, Croft JB, Wheaton AG, Kanny D, Cunningham TJ, Lu H, et al. Clustering of Five Health Related Behaviors for Chronic Disease Prevention Among Adults, United States, 2013. Prev Chronic Dis 2016;13:160054 .

2 Soeren, m., Liu, H., Caloyeras, J., Huang, c., Van Busum, K., Khodyakov, D. and Victoria Shier. (2013). Workplace Wellness Programs Study: Final Report. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation. http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR254.html. Also available in print form