Integrating Health Promotion into All Sectors of Society
Art and Science of Health Promotion Conference
March 26-April 1, 2007, San Francisco, California

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Workplace health promotion programs have established a decades-long track record of improving health, moderating medical care cost increases, reducing absenteeism, and enhancing morale. Continually rising medical costs and increasingly effective programming have stimulated historical growth in workplace-based health promotion. This growth is likely to continue at least through the end of the decade, but the greatest growth opportunities for health promotion are probably outside of the workplace and will be found in schools, clinics, hospitals, families, health clubs, and other parts of the community. These sectors represent excellent growth opportunities from a business perspective, but the public health perspective is even more exciting. If we can integrate health promotion concepts into each of these sectors, we will come close to creating a living environment that envelops people in health promotion messages and helps each of us maintain long-term healthy lifestyles. For example, the recent decisions of Medicare to cover Dean Ornish’s heart disease reversal program, and to test the feasibility of offering a health promotion to all Medicare recipients¹, has the potential to spawn an industry 10 times the size of the current workplace health promotion industry within the next 7 years and to reach an additional 35 million people. Within 10 years, it has the potential to permeate insurance coverage and traditional medical care and stimulate growth by an additional factor of 10.

Our 2007 conference will explore how to best reach each of these sectors. We have confirmed speakers on health promotion in clinical care, insurance coverage, government policy, food industry, consumer marketing, health clubs, college and grade school settings. This is in addition to four sessions on financial impact of health promotion, four sessions of successful program skills in workplace settings, and four sessions on behavior change strategies. To accelerate this integration, we have invited the following organizations to collaborate on the conference: American Association of Occupational Health Nurses, American College Health Association, American College of Preventive Medicine, American College of Sports Medicine, American Psychological Association, American School Health Association, American Society on Aging, Cleveland Clinic Alumni Association, International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association, National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties, Partnership for Prevention, Society for Nutrition Education. To engage the vendor community, the conference will be held in conjunction with the IHRSA International Convention and Trade Show, which is expected to attract nearly 400 exhibitors.

We have also confirmed some dynamic featured speakers including Michael Eisner, former CEO of Walt Disney Company, Lyn Heward, former president of creative talent for Cirque du Soleil, Sugar Ray Leonard, boxing legend, Stephen Lundin, author of the FISH series, and Frank Luntz, the most quoted pollster in America.

For those interested in in-depth reviews, we are offering five one and a half day Intensive Training Seminars before and after the core conference. These will provide concentrated reviews of program evaluation, program management, positive psychology, motivational interviewing, and creating effective incentive programs.

Finally, during the next few months, we will be confirming nearly 100 more sessions including two featured speakers, as well as panel discussions, program descriptions, research presentations, posters, activity sessions, and connection opportunities. For an up to date list of sessions, see our conference website: http://www.healthpromotionconference.org.

Michael P. O'Donnell, PhD, MBA, MPH
Editor in Chief, American Journal of Health Promotion

1. How Big is the Health Promotion Market? Small but Getting Big With Medicare Leading the Way. O’Donnell, M.P. Am Jour Health Promo 21,1,2007