Our Point of View

August 17, 2009

Kaiser Permanente Joins with Community Health Partners to Include Prevention Measures in Health Care Reform Discussion

Kaiser Permanente has joined with several like-minded organizations to inject prevention measures – healthy eating, active living, environmental wellness – into the national health care reform dialogue.

The Healthy Eating Active Living Convergence Partnership, of which Kaiser Permanente is a member, sent a letter to all members of Congress today that stressed the importance of community-based prevention as a critical part of health reform. These strategies include safe parks and walking trails to encourage activity, and farmers' markets and school cafeteria reforms to make healthy food easily accessible.

Citing proven examples where community-level prevention measures improved health, saved money and cultivated community leadership, the document letter states that "a focus on community prevention will improve health, save money, reduce the demands on our health system, and most important, lead to a nation of healthier people and healthier places to live."

The letter is signed by Raymond J. Baxter, Ph.D., senior vice president, Kaiser Permanente Community Benefit, Research and Health Policy, and CEOs from The California Endowment, The Kresge Foundation, Nemours, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

The Convergence Partnership seeks to change policies and environments to better achieve the vision of healthy people living in healthy places. The Partnership supports equity-focused efforts to create environments that support healthy eating and active living. Joining Kaiser Permanente on the partnership's steering committee are executives from The California Endowment, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Kresge Foundation and Nemours.

Kaiser Permanente recognizes that healthy communities and a healthy environment are fundamental to individual health and wellness; creating them has always been central to its mission. This is also the central goal of Kaiser Permanente's own Community Health Initiative to promote healthy eating and active living. More about that can be found in the organization's 2008 Community Benefit report, which outlines numerous examples of its commitment to the health of the communities it serves.