The Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease to Participate in Third Annual National Employee Wellness Month

Washington, D.C. (March 30, 2011) – Today, the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease, a national coalition committed to raising awareness of chronic disease, announced that it is joining forces with Virgin HealthMiles, the Strategies to Overcome and Prevent (STOP) Obesity Alliance and the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation to sponsor the 3rd annual National Employee Wellness Month this June.

Founded in 2009, National Employee Wellness Month was created with one sole purpose in mind: to help business leaders learn how to develop successful strategies around prevention and good health. As part of this month-long initiative, the partners will aim to showcase both how social communities – such as the workplace – can help to improve employee health and productivity and lower healthcare costs and how leveraging an individual’s social connections helps create and sustain a workplace culture of health. Together, the supporting National Employee Wellness Month organizations, their employees and partners understand that intelligent health decisions and supportive social communities can create a healthier, more productive workforce.

“The workplace plays a key role in preventing and managing chronic disease,” said Ken Thorpe, Ph.D., Executive Director, Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease and Professor and Chair, Department of Health Policy and Management, Emory University. “Supporting employee wellness can mean a healthier bottom line. Well-designed wellness programs can not only lower workdays missed for illness but also cut medical costs by helping employees improve their health.”

Information and resources about workplace wellness, along with suggested ideas for celebrating National Employee Wellness Month, can be found at www.fightchonicdisease.org or at www.nationalemployeewellnessmonth.com.

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About the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease
The Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD) is a national coalition of patients, providers, community organizations, business and labor groups, and health policy experts committed to raising awareness of the number one cause of death, disability, and rising health care costs in the U.S.: chronic disease. For more information, log-on to www.fightchronicdisease.org or follow the PFCD on Facebook (www.facebook.com/ThePFCD) and Twitter (@KennethThorpe).

Media Contact
Karyn Barr Amin
(202) 223-9260
pfcd@allisonpr.com