Return to Health for Life

Not all illness is preventable. But good primary care, health education, and a healthy lifestyle are essential to improving health. Costs for health coverage and health care can be controlled as health improves. HRET and the Association for Community Health Improvement  are finding ways to encourage healthy lifestyle behaviors on a wide scale.

In the past 30 years, the incidence of obesity among youths ages 6-11 has tripled.The Youth Obesity Learning Collaborative  showcases promising practices at 17 competitively selected hospitals and health systems that are partnering with their communities to prevent and reduce youth obesity. The collaborative brings hospitals together to learn from one another about strategies in education and outreach that are effective in changing behaviors around nutrition and physical activity.

From July 2005 to September 2006, HRET convened the National Steering Committee on Hospitals and the Public’s Health, a group of more than 20 experts in health care administration and public health to reframe the role of hospitals in improving the public’s health. The Steering Committee issued seven recommendations  for hospitals to become more actively engaged in the public’s health.

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