Business & Public Health

“The Healthy Business Coalition is a collaborative initiative among BSR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and leading companies. [They] exist to reimagine how business can invest in health along the value chain. By building a community of cross-sector leaders, [they] help executives and managers transform their organizations into healthy businesses.”

Howard K. Koh, Former Assistant Secretary for Health, and coauthors discuss how “businesses, together with health and community partners, can promote a culture of health through 4 distinct but interrelated pillars.” These pillars are: consumer health, employee health, community health, and environmental health. Please note that this article is only available with purchase from the publisher.

This article, authored by Nicolaas P. Pronk, Catherine Baase, Jeanette May, Paul Terry, and Karen Moseley, reports on the “emergent priorities that matter most to business when considering active and intentional participation in multi-sector collaborations for community health improvement.” Please note, the article can only be accessed with purchase from the publisher.

“To encourage public health officials and businesses to work together and take advantage of the expertise and resources that can collectively be used to improve population health—workforce, families, and community”, ASTHO, NACCHO, NBCH/CCHI, in partnership with the CDC and the Alliance to Make U.S. Healthiest, worked together at the national level to support the vision for Community Health Partnerships (CHP) across the U.S. This report provides tools and information for development and support of CHP.”

“One challenge that arises in cross-sector partnerships is the set of practical governance tools available to each of the partners, which we argue differ significantly across sectors. Consequently, alliances between companies and non-profits must rely on other partnership structures and governance mechanisms. Our research suggests that similar challenges arise in Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) between businesses and governments.”

“Building on the momentum of previous roundtable workshops on business engagement in building health communities and applying a health lens to business practices, policies, and investments, this collaborative will promote business engagement in strategies for improving population health with an attention to the health and economic well-being of companies, workers, and communities, whether small, medium, or large.”

Columbia University professors Howard W. Buffett and William B. Eimicke discuss how, today, “profit and purpose are converging.” They cite how millennials “no longer believe the primary purpose of business should be to make a profit, but rather to create social value. Customers overwhelmingly prefer products tied to a social cause. [They believe that] for businesses to survive and succeed in today’s globalized, hyper-connected world, business leaders must be willing to embrace collaboration as a guiding principle, more so than competition.”

“Developed in collaboration with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, this report presents a framework for companies to take a holistic approach to their impact on health of employees, families, and communities. It includes 16 Smart Business Practices that influence key health determinants as well as have a positive impact on health and business outcomes.”