American Cancer Society Program increases healthy practices in the workplace
Key Points(3)
- The American Cancer Society (ACS) and researchers at the University of Washington reported significant improvements in workplace health practices in the first year of implementing ACS’s The CEOs Challenge program.
- ACS partnered with 26 large companies in its CEOs Against Cancer network, reaching 348,527 employees, to address the three leading behavioral causes of death in the United States — tobacco use, physical inactivity, and unhealthy eating.
- ACS measured before and after scores in four categories: cancer screening, healthy eating, physical activity, and tobacco cessation.
The American Cancer Society (ACS) and researchers at the University of Washington reported significant improvements in workplace health practices in the first year of implementing ACS’s The CEOs Challenge program.
ACS partnered with 26 large companies in its CEOs Against Cancer network, reaching 348,527 employees, to address the three leading behavioral causes of death in the United States — tobacco use, physical inactivity, and unhealthy eating.
ACS measured before and after scores in four categories: cancer screening, healthy eating, physical activity, and tobacco cessation. Scores were based on implementing best practices in supporting cancer screenings during work hours, subsidizing or competitively pricing healthier food options in the workplace, providing access to an onsite gym or offering discount membership to offsite commercial facilities and covering costs of nicotine replacement therapy and cessation counseling
The researchers scored companies’ health practices on a 100-point scale before and after beginning the program. The overall results are reflected below:
- Scores for cancer screening increased from 54.8 to 74.4
- Scores for healthy eating increased from 46.5 to 65.9
- Scores for physical activity increased from 59.8 to 75.8
- Scores for tobacco cessation increased from 68.2 to 77.6
