A selection of healthful foods are made available to associates in the Humana cafeterias.

Two national organizations have given Humana top honors for the company’s work to promote and advance the well-being of its associates.

Humana recently received the American Heart Association’s Fit Friendly Worksite Platinum award for the second year in a row. The award is given to employers that, according to the AHA, “go above and beyond when it comes to their employees’ health” by providing walking and other fitness opportunities as well as healthy-eating options and creating a “culture of wellness.” The platinum distinction is the highest–level award of this type given by the AHA.

“It’s critical for companies to offer employees a wide variety of healthy lifestyle options,” said Ashley Mason, Heart Walk Director for the American Heart Association. “We are pleased to recognize Humana for its dedication to helping employees lead healthy and active lives.”

Humana also recently won the prestigious Best Employers for Healthy Lifestyles (BEHL) – Platinum award from the National Business Group on Health. Winning the BEHL’s top prize means that Humana’s associate well-being initiatives are considered examples of best practices and worthy of emulation by other top employers. The National Business Group on Health works to promote workplace wellness as a way to fight rising health care costs and improve economic productivity.

“At Humana, our pursuit of well-being is much more than an initiative; it is our dream for the customers we serve, as well as for ourselves,” said Human Resources Vice President Tim State. “Every day, teammates across our company are working toward their personal health and well-being goals, and inspiring each other throughout the journey. Our energy and momentum are becoming increasingly visible to the outside world, as shown by this recognition. We can all take pride in these signs that we’re on the right path to bringing our dream to life.”

For more than 100 years, The Anti-Cruelty Society of Chicago has provided stray dogs and cats with love, care and support. Thanks to a grant from The Humana Foundation, the organization has a vital new tool in its efforts to help animals: technology.

“This Humana grant has transformed everything we do to help animals,” says Robyn Barbiers, President of The Anti-Cruelty Society.  In the past, the Society didn’t have the technological resources to keep track of the animals. For example, “We have to do a daily count. And when you have 458 cats and 91 dogs on any one day, which is what we have today, you need a computer,” she says.

The Anti-Cruelty Society received a $100,000 Humana Communities Benefit grant in 2009 and used the funds to purchase computers and a variety of technology applications. One of those is PetPoint, a Web-based shelter management system that allows the staff to track animals as they move through the system from intake and behavior assessment to medical evaluation and eventually adoption.

The Anti-Cruelty Society, founded in 1899, has an open admission policy for dogs and cats, which means no animal is turned away, and the staff places no time limit on how long an animal can live in the Society’s shelter while waiting to be adopted.

The Humana Communities Benefit grant also helped pay for 30 laptops used for educational outreach, such as an afterschool program designed to teach children to feed and care for animals and treat them with respect.  The Anti-Cruelty Society also purchased computers to use for staff training and education, investigations of animal cruelty and for updating the website (www.anticruelty.org) with pictures of dogs and cats available for adoption.

“Now we can manage our population, we can look at trends, we can run reports,” says Barbiers, “and we couldn’t have done that without Humana’s help.”

Supporting The Anti-Cruelty Society ties in with Humana’s dream of helping people achieve lifelong well-being. As studies have shown, interacting regularly with animals can help people live longer, healthier lives. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pets can help lower blood pressure, cholesterol and triglyceride levels; decrease feelings of loneliness and stress; and increase opportunities for exercise, outdoor activities and socialization.

Related links:

• To watch our video about The Anti-Cruelty Society, click here.
• For more information about The Anti-Cruelty Society or to make a donation to the organization, click here.
• Humana grant still benefits nonprofit – 10 years later
• Humana grant helps promote “Healthy Minds, Healthy Bodies, Healthy Communities
• Humana grant helps provide A Safe Place for those who need it most
• The Humana Communities Benefit program has awarded more than $1 million to charitable organizations since its inception in Chicago in 2002. In 2012, the program provided grant assistance in Arizona, Austin, Chicago, Greater Cincinnati, Houston, Kansas City, Nashville and New Orleans.

From left to right, Mark Kent, President and CEO of CAC-Florida Medical Centers; Dr. Sonia Michael; Bruce Broussard, Humana President and CEO, and Dr. Andres Restrepo at the CAC-Florida Medical Center in Miami.

Simple, caring, coordinated and convenient. Those are not words typically associated with our nation’s complex and fragmented health-care system, but they are often used to describe CAC-Florida Medical Centers.

The 15 medical centers, all in South and Central Florida, primarily serve Medicare and Medicaid members who will find a broad range of medical services, from primary care to specialty care, as well as dental, vision and pharmacy.

“CAC-Florida Medical Centers are a perfect example of where we see health care moving – to an integrated health delivery model as opposed to treating sickness,” Humana President and CEO Bruce Broussard said during a recent visit to Miami’s CAC Medical Center, which is a subsidiary of Humana. “We want a holistic relationship with our members.”

Dr. Sonia Michael, CAC’s Chief Medical Officer, has seen firsthand how effective the holistic approach can be.

“One of the unique aspects of CAC is the approach we take when treating our patients, who are predominantly seniors,” said Dr. Michael. “We take a step back and look at all aspects of a patient’s life – medical, social, economic and emotional. It’s easy to write a prescription for a patient who has diabetes, but does he or she have the resources to get the food that they need to live a healthier life or can we direct them to community agencies to help with those issues? Are they struggling with depression? It’s not simply about helping them temporarily … it’s about maintaining wellness. We work together on the long-term functionality of our patients and their quality of life.”

Mark Kent, President and CEO of CAC-Florida Medical Centers, is proud of the fact that the centers’ “outstanding level of coordinated service” to seniors and underserved low-income communities has created a model being replicated across the U.S. The centers’ achievements are being recognized by others as well. Last fall, CAC-Florida Medical Centers achieved NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home Certification because of its long-time commitment to high-quality primary and preventive patient care. Under the Patient-Centered Medical Home concept, primary care doctors coordinate all patient care with a team of providers, who systematically track tests and results to better identify patients at risk, and who provide prompt access to care and follow up after visits.

“By doing all of this, over a two-year period, we’ve reduced unnecessary emergency room visits by 57 percent and in-patient admissions by 42 percent across patients in our diabetes program,” Kent said. “The medical home concept, with a focus on primary and preventive care, has always been at the heart of our approach to quality patient care. We’re proud that our medical centers and our primary care physicians have achieved rigorous standards that physician practices must meet in order to attain this significant accomplishment.”

One of the most important services the centers provide is taking the complexity out of the health care system, said Bert Valdes, Chief Operations Officer at CAC-Florida Medical Centers, which Humana acquired in 2005.

“We are unique because we incorporate a multidisciplinary approach that allows seniors to rely on a single organization to manage the whole gamut of care, from routine to complex,” said Valdes. “And it goes beyond the medical needs. Our Wellness and Activities Centers provide an opportunity for CarePlus Health Plans members who may be alone and depressed to interact with people who have similar conditions and develop a support system, a social outlet.”

Valdes said the medical centers have a genuine culture of caring that has been built through many years of providing services to Florida communities.

“We have tremendous tenure among our associates,” he said. “We’ve grown with the communities we serve. In many cases, our associates have known a patient for 15 to 20 years and sometimes their parents or grandparents are patients.”

Valdes said that his best example of the value that the centers offer patients is based on the experience of a senior in his own family who lived alone and showed signs of anxiety and depression as she dealt with diabetes treatment. But he saw positive health and behavior change after she began attending lectures and exercise classes at the Wellness and Activities Center.

“She was persuaded to attend one educational health lecture at the center, then began attending more and more until it became a daily routine,” he said. “In the space of six months, we no longer received calls related to anxiety and other concerns. She developed a support network and even goes grocery shopping with people she met there. It changed her life, and she is a totally different person.”

Through its long-time commitment of providing coordinated, quality care, CAC-Florida Medical Centers are becoming a model for the future of health care.

Fast facts about CAC-Florida Medical Centers:

• 15 multi-specialty medical centers located in South and Central Florida.
• Achieved certification by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) as a level one Physician Practice Connections Patient-Centered Medical Home.
• Diabetes Recognition Program developed by the NCQA and American Diabetes Association recognized CAC-Florida Medical Centers physicians for providing excellent diabetes care
• Staffed by more than 100 primary care physicians and specialists.
• 130 vans provide free transportation for all CarePlus Health Plans members.
• 13 Wellness & Activities Centers that offer educational programs and group activities that focus on healthy aging, socialization and lifestyle enrichment and wellness.
• CAC-Florida Medical Centers opened its doors to Miami-Dade County’s Hispanic population in 1964 under the name Clínica Asociación Cubana.
•  Acquired by Humana in 2005.
•  Most of the 15 centers offer these services in a single location: primary care, preventive care, cardiology, chiropractic, dermatology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, general surgery, gynecology, neurology, ophthalmology, optometry, orthopedic surgery, podiatry, urology, pharmacies, dental offices, and ancillary services (X-rays, ultrasound).

A military Color Guard opened a ceremony last fall at Humana’s Louisville headquarters in which the company was named a finalist for the Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award. (Photo by Lisa Huber)

In August 2011, President Obama challenged U.S. employers to hire 100,000 veterans and/or their spouses by 2013. As part of the Joining Forces initiative, First Lady Michelle Obama announced today at the White House that U.S. businesses have surpassed that goal by hiring or training 290,000 veterans and military spouses and are now committing to hire or train another 435,000 over the next five years.

Humana earlier this year surpassed its goal of hiring 1,000 veterans and military spouses and has pledged to hire 1,000 more.

But, as Michelle Obama noted today, there is still more work to do as 1 million service members will transition out of the military in the next few years. The First Lady challenged every business that has not yet joined the veterans hiring effort to stand up and take action. Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden joined President Obama and the First Lady for the announcement. Attending the event representing Humana were Tim McClain, President, Humana Government and other Businesses, and Josh Galle, an associate who has been focused on Humana’s veteran-hiring initiative.

The nationwide Joining Forces campaign, led by Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, was launched two years ago to rally the nation to support our veterans and military families. To read an article written by the First Lady and Dr. Biden about the need to hire veterans, click here, and to see a video about Tuesday’s event, click here.

Veterans who want to learn more about Humana’s hiring program should visit www.jobs.net/jobs/Humana-Veterans. To learn more about the White House veterans program, go to JoiningForces.gov.

Related links:

• Humana Surpasses Veterans Hiring Commitment and Makes New Pledge to Hire 1,000 Additional Veterans
• Humana is in Top 10 in Military Times’ Best for Vets survey
• Humana associate receives Patriot Award for support of veterans
•  Military Appreciation Day a highlight of 2013 Humana Challenge

LifeSynch, a Humana subsidiary, offers extensive health behavior resources, including behavioral healthcare, employee assistance program (EAP)/work-life services, behavioral pharmacy services, health coaches and Web-based wellness tools. As part of their commitment to change health behaviors and improve lives, LifeSynch’s health coaches will be contributing a series of articles that demonstrate how easy it can be to make a healthy change.

Earth Day is Monday, April 22, and is the perfect time to look at your surroundings and find ways to make small changes that can result in a positive difference to the environment. A healthier environment will make it easier for all of us to live longer, healthier lives. Here are just a few suggestions to get you started:

• Turn down heat and air conditioner by 2 degrees
• Reuse plastic grocery bags or buy clothe bags to take to the store with you
•  Drink your beverages from a reusable mug or cup
•  Reuse plastic baggies
• Use baking soda and vinegar to clean when you can
• Shorten your shower by three minutes
•  Only run the dishwasher and washing machine when full
•  Air-dry your clothing when possible
• Turn down the water heater a few degrees
• Learn how to make a compost pile
• Go paperless when paying bills
• Use natural light whenever possible
• Shop at a farmer’s market
• Make sure your car tires are inflated correctly to save on gas
• Cut up old T-shirts to use for cleaning instead of paper towels

Earth Day is also about starting new life. Planting trees can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce air pollution, prevent soil erosion, and keep our ecosystem going. Trees create shade which helps with cooling costs in the summer. In the winter, trees help protect your house from cold winds – and reduce heating bills. If you don’t have a place to plant anything outside, put some flowers in a window sill or purchase some indoor plants, which can help clean the air of toxins like formaldehyde, carbon dioxide and benzene.

Before you simply toss out the things you no longer need or use, try to think of alternatives to simply transferring your “trash” into another pile. Can these items be used by someone else? Can it be composted? And to reduce the amount of stuff in the first place, ask yourself whether you can you buy and use less? The following is a list of items and estimated decomposition time (U.S. National Park Service website):

• Orange/banana peels: Up to 2 years
• Cigarette butts: 1 to 5 years
• Plastic bags: 10-20 year
•  Leather: Up to 50 years
• Tin cans: 50 years
• Aluminum cans: 80 to 200 years
•  Plastic six-pack holders: 100 years
• Disposable diapers: 450 years
• Glass bottles: 1 million years
• Plastic bottles: Indefinitely
• Styrofoam: Indefinitely

On April 22, Earth Day, join me in asking: What can I do to be less wasteful? It may be easier than you think.
Lacey Starkey, a learning facilitator and personal health coach/mentor at LifeSynch, a subsidiary of Humana, has a bachelor’s degree in wellness science and a master’s degree in health education. She is also a certified personal trainer and group exercise instructor. In her spare time, she enjoys being outdoors, exercising and staying active in her local community garden.

LifeSynch, a Humana subsidiary, offers extensive health behavior resources, including behavioral healthcare, employee assistance program (EAP)/work-life services, behavioral pharmacy services, health coaches and Web-based wellness tools. As part of their commitment to change health behaviors and improve lives, LifeSynch’s health coaches will be contributing a series of articles that demonstrate how easy it can be to make a healthy change.

There are thousands of health and fitness apps that do anything from record mileage on your runs, to provide reminders to take your medication, to calculate the amount of fat you consume in a day. The options are endless and more come out every day.

How effective are these fitness apps in helping you reach your health goals? Behavior-change studies take time, and there are no statistics to share just yet, but if you find an app that can motivate you to make positive change, it is certainly worth a try. (However, you should always check with your physician with any concerns about dietary changes or fitness regimens.)

Whether you need motivation, information or are simply looking to join a like-minded group of people who will provide encouragement, competition and a social outlet, there is an app for you. Here are some of the most popular apps to get you started:

• Map My Run/Map My Ride – Calculates mileage, pace and calories burned during your work-out.
• Coach to 5K (C25K) – This app will help take you from no activity to running a 5K (3.2 miles) in nine weeks.
• 101 Revolutionary Ways to Be Healthy – A great tool when you just need a little push.
• PocketYoga  - A customizable app offering a range of yoga poses. You choose the difficulty and duration.
• GymPact – An app that provides incentive by asking you to commit to going to the gym a specific number of times a week and holds you accountable by docking your credit card (you determine the amount) if you miss a workout. At the end of the week, GymPact divides the money collected from the slackers among the people who kept their commitment to exercise. This is a free app – unless you skip workouts!

For more ideas, check this list of fitness and health apps: http://greatist.com/health/best-health-fitness-apps

Fitness apps can help you achieve your goals if you choose the right one for your needs. If you go that route, choose one that keeps you inspired, engaged and on the road to success.

Lacey Starkey, a learning facilitator and personal health coach/mentor at LifeSynch, a subsidiary of Humana, has a bachelor’s degree in wellness science and a master’s degree in health education. She is also a certified personal trainer and group exercise instructor. In her spare time, she enjoys being outdoors, exercising and staying active in her local community garden.

Lynece Hand is passionate about helping improve health and reduce hospitalizations, but she also treasures the relationships she develops through her work with the Humana Chronic Care Program.

Navigating our nation’s complex, costly and fragmented healthcare system can be a daunting task for even a healthy person dealing with a temporary minor illness. Imagine how dizzying and hopeless it can seem for those who live with chronic conditions such as diabetes, congestive heart failure or coronary artery disease. How do they cope with multiple doctor visits and medications, transportation issues, potential job loss and, in some cases, living alone?

The national Humana Cares/SeniorBridge Chronic Care Program is helping ease the burden for more than 225,000 chronically ill Humana members by providing personalized, integrated care management services that reduce hospitalizations, readmissions and costs while improving their quality of life.

“Humana Cares/Senior Bridge is such an important part of Humana and our integrated care delivery model,” Humana President and CEO Bruce Broussard told members of the Humana Chronic Care Program team during a recent visit to the national care center in St. Petersburg, FL. “It’s the pride of the company.”

“It’s a perfect illustration of how an integrated approach to lifelong well-being can improve outcomes, lower costs and create a better, simplified healthcare experience,” Broussard added.

Making connections, making a difference
Lynece Hand, a registered nurse, has seen firsthand the positive, empowering effects the Chronic Care Program can have on those with chronic conditions.

“We help educate our members about managing chronic disease; encourage and remind them to get preventive screenings; set goals for improving health; and, with frequent contact, learn what their greatest health concerns are, what motivates them,” Hand said. “We can then guide them to develop and reach goals that bring a better quality – and quantity – of life.”

While talking to a member in Texas, she learned that he was struggling with chronic insomnia and had been unable to work for eight years. Hand reviewed the medications he was taking and discovered that insomnia was a possible side effect of one of them. She discussed the issue with the member’s doctor, who instructed his patient to take the medication at a different time of day. The member no longer has insomnia, has returned to work as a substitute teacher and is working on his teaching certificate.

The Humana Chronic Care Program goes beyond medical considerations, and looks at the whole person and areas of concern that could adversely affect physical or mental health, whether it is financial, social or legal issues. Hand is passionate about helping improve health and reduce hospitalizations, but she also treasures the relationships she develops through her work.

“While talking about a medical issue, such as diabetes, members may identify something else that is going on – whether it is a family issue or a recent death –  that may be affecting their health,” said Hand. In addition to helping the member in Texas with his own health, Hand resolved a concern he had with his son’s health. The previously healthy young man who enjoyed a full life suddenly suffered extreme fatigue, weight loss, several hospitalizations and could no longer work. Hand knew the family enjoyed hunting, and with a little investigation, was able to pinpoint the source of the son’s problem. He had contracted an infectious disease through contact with an animal during a hunting trip. A simple treatment with antibiotics solved the issue, and the son is once again healthy and enjoying life to the fullest.

How it works: Coordinate, connect, simplify
Members who are eligible for the Humana Chronic Care Program are proactively chosen using a predictive model to identify those who have chronic conditions that are the most difficult to manage and may require the most assistance. Once a member is enrolled in the program, an assessment is made to identify the types of services that may be needed: health education and coaching, regular telephonic contact or home visits, medication education, physician care coordination, end-of-life planning, depression screening, post-hospital discharge support, in-home safety assessments, remote home health monitoring, meal and transportation assistance or caregiver training and support.

To meet these needs, the multi-disciplinary Humana Chronic Care Program team, which is one phone call away for members, includes social workers, community health educators, registered nurses and other healthcare workers.

Debra Kleesattel, Director of Operations for Humana Cares/SeniorBridge, has been with Humana Cares, headquartered in St. Petersburg, FL., for several years and has witnessed enormous growth and an expanding national footprint and capabilities with the 2012 acquisition of SeniorBridge.

The Humana Cares/SeniorBridge program helps Medicare Advantage members age at home, the chronically ill stay out of hospitals and all of them navigate a disjointed and confusing system, said Kleesattel, who has a PhD in gerontology.

“We bring all the parts and pieces that don’t seem to fit and put them all together for the individual,” she said. “We look at all areas of life. A caregiver may have diabetes and neglect his own needs because of the demands of being a caregiver to his wife who has Alzheimer’s. We connect the caregiver with a local area agency that can provide a break, change his perspective and improve his own health. Or maybe it’s a financial issue, such as someone who needs a wheelchair ramp but can’t afford it. We connect them to the resources they need, which enables them to focus on better health decisions that keep them out of the hospital.”

“We make sure they know that we walk beside them and are here when they need us,” Kleesattel said.

By the numbers

• To date, Humana Cares/SeniorBridge members have experienced a 26 percent decline in inpatient admissions; and 18 percent drop in hospital readmissions; and 10 percent reduction in emergency room visits.
• Personalized, telephonic care management, health coaching, health education and health support provided by registered nurses and other health professionals across all 50 states.
• Community-based, in-home assessments and care management by nurses, social workers or community health educators in 32 states and Washington, D.C.

My Well-Being.com won the 2013 IMA Outstanding Achievement Award.

My Well-Being.com has won the 2013 IMA (Interactive Media Awards) Outstanding Achievement Award in the “Lifestyle” category.

The Outstanding Achievement award is the second-highest honor bestowed by IMA, which recognizes the highest standards of excellence in website design and development. In announcing the award, IMA said My Well-Being.com “excelled in all areas of our judging criteria and represents a very high standard of planning, execution and overall professionalism.”

My Well-Being.com, which launched in July 2012, offers tools and expert advice to help people take positive steps toward lifelong well-being.

MyWell-Being.com membership is free and includes:

•  A complimentary 72-page “Well-being for Dummies” book.
• Original and third-party content including expert articles, videos and daily well-being tips. Topics include fitness trends, cooking healthier meals, travel, music, scrapbooking and more.
• The ability to save content and share it easily with others, follow favorite authors and suggest topics for future discussion through new social media pages.
• Interactive online games designed to challenge and increase mental strength.
•  Access to content across devices (computer, tablet and smart phone).

For Chicago’s WITS tutoring program, the real benefit of a Humana Foundation grant isn’t just the money, it’s the message.

In 2003, WITS (Working in the Schools) received a $100,000 Humana Communities Benefit grant to support the organization’s work matching volunteer tutors with struggling students in 27 Chicago-area public schools.

WITS Executive Director Brenda Palm said that, in addition to the money, “Humana activated their workforce to come out and volunteer in WITS programs. Establishing that partnership served as a tremendous launch pad that allowed us to go to our other members of the corporate community and say, ‘Humana has done this, they’re in a leadership role when it comes to helping our students. Join them. Join us.’”

Among the ongoing WITS initiatives the Humana Foundation grant helped fund:

Power Lunch: WITS sends a yellow school bus to the entrance of a corporate partner’s building, picks up volunteers and takes them to a designated elementary school. Each volunteer works with the same student throughout the year, primarily focusing on reading skills, but also, as Palm said, “To be another positive adult voice in that child’s life. So many of these kids need that.”

Workplace Mentoring: Students in fourth to sixth grade ride a school bus to the offices of a corporate or community partner. Students get help at their tutors’ desks or in a conference room. For some kids, it’s their first time visiting downtown Chicago, riding in an elevator or seeing Lake Michigan. “They’re also, for the first time, sitting at a big fancy conference table and imagining themselves working for one of these corporations,” Palm said. “Teachers tell us kids often act a little more mature, a little more professionally in the classroom after these visits.”

The rewards of the tutor-student relationship work both ways. “I hear from a lot of WITS volunteers that they’re not sure if the student is getting more out of the relationship or if the volunteer is,” Palm said. “That’s the foundation that this organization is built on.”

Ten years after the Humana Communities Benefit grant helped bolster that foundation, WITS’ budget has more than doubled, and the organization now has 48 business and community partners and serves 2,500 students.

“So much of the success we’ve had with our corporate partners we trace back to that initial investment from Humana,” Palm said. “To have a company like Humana say, ‘We believe in the WITS model, we believe in this program, we’ve seen the impact and we’re going to help take WITS to the next level,’  - it’s been invaluable.”

Related links:

• Watch a video about WITS above or by clicking here.
• To learn more about WITS or to find information about volunteering, click here.
• Humana grant helps promote “Healthy Minds, Healthy Bodies, Healthy Communities”
•  Humana grant helps provide A Safe Place for those who need it most
• The Humana Communities Benefit program has awarded more than $1 million to charitable organizations since its inception in Chicago in 2002. In 2012, the program provided grant assistance in Arizona, Austin, Chicago, Greater Cincinnati, Houston, Kansas City, Nashville and New Orleans.

Dr. Thomas Van Gilder uses a “standing desk” (similar to this one) to help reduce the time he sits each day.

Dr. Thomas Van Gilder, Humana’s National Medical Director for Wellness, is passionate about helping people achieve lifelong well-being. As part of his efforts to encourage greater participation in well-being activities, he will contribute regular blog posts on health and wellness issues and share ideas and insights to lead us forward on our journey to better health. This is his second post. If you missed his first blog post, click here.

We’ve all become familiar with a growing list of things that we shouldn’t be doing if we want to live longer, healthier lives: Don’t smoke! Don’t drink and drive! Don’t overeat! And now …. don’t sit? Are our chairs a health hazard, too? What’s up with that?

Research points to far-reaching negative effects on health
A recent study in the Archives of Internal Medicine compared the mortality risks among those who sit 11 or more hours a day with those who sit for less than four hours a day. It found that adults who sit 11 or more hours a day have a 40 percent increased risk of dying in the next three years, regardless of physical activity, weight, and health status. Another recent study suggests that people who have the “highest sedentary behavior” (that is, those who sit the most) have significantly increased risks of diabetes, heart disease, and premature death.

It is not entirely clear why sitting appears to increase the risk of disease and death, but the benefits of standing and moving more throughout the day are clear: more calories burned; increased energy, improved muscle health; and enhanced metabolism and lower cholesterol.

Taking action
For most of us, the longest periods of sitting occur at our jobs, making the workplace an area of focus for small changes that may make a big difference in your health – and your life.

• Get a pedometer or an activity tracker (such as a FitBit) and use it to measure and motivate yourself
• Take all phone calls standing up (pacing when possible)
•  Take stretching breaks throughout the day
•  Stop relying solely on technology: Meet face-to-face instead of texting, emailing and calling
• Switch to a standing desk or chair that includes active sitting (such as exercise ball or Swopper)

Now that you know the risks and know how to reduce those risks, don’t just sit there. Stand for something—your health, for example!

Dr. Thomas Van Gilder, MD, JD, MPH, is board-certified in internal medicine and general preventive medicine and public health. He currently serves as Humana’s national medical director for wellness, providing medical direction to HumanaVitality and other Humana wellness initiatives.

He previously served as vice president and medical officer for Humana’s Wisconsin market. He has served in a number of leadership positions with other leading companies, and spent more than nine years in the U.S. Public Health Service at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr. Van Gilder obtained a Masters in Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health and is also an attorney specializing in intellectual property. He has written and spoken nationally and internationally on various public health and law topics, healthcare reform, primary care transformation, prevention and wellness, value-based benefit design and onsite clinics.