June 2022 HERO Briefs

FOMO and Forum22: A message from Forum22 Director Paul Terry, and HERO President and CEO, Karen Moseley

Smartphone addiction is kind of sad given FOMO, ‘fear of missing out,’ has us checking our phones once every four minutes. That’s 344 times per day! But here’s something that would be REALLY sad, and that’s if you miss out on this year’s HEROForum22 at the resplendent Amelia Island, Florida. Let’s get real about legit FOMO, the kind that transcends worries about missing a zinger tweet. You’ll have three big regrets if you don’t get busy and register for Forum now! For sure, Amelia Island is amazing. And, for real, we have attracted some of the best minds in our field to teach us about what’s working in advancing worksite well-being. But, forever, we’ve heard that Forum goers simply love being a part of HERO’s fun-loving, inspirational, and super smart community. And that’s the kind of FOMO that can’t be satisfied by staring at your phone or computer. Behavioral economics experts tell us that “loss avoidance” is even more powerful than gaining something new. Well, by attending HEROForum live, you get both needs satisfied! You gain new knowledge and professional contacts and you avoid missing out on seeing old friends and making new ones!! We’ve asked that only fully vaccinated people attend and we’ll be following all CDC guidelines on-site to keep everyone safe. As much as we’ve been proud to bring you many meaningful remote learning events during these pandemic years, we’ve missed the advantages of live learning AND we’ve deeply missed seeing you!! Forum will be here before you know it. The HERO team hopes to see you soon!

“How the Choices We Have Influence the Choices We Make: Diversity, Inclusion, and the Integration of Lifestyle Medicine and Population Health Promotion.” 

A tribute from Paul Terry, PhD, HERO Senior Fellow

It was with sadness alongside profound admiration and fond memories that the HERO team learned that Dr. Dee Edington passed away. His family has posted a tribute site, and HERO will be joining many others in offering our condolences to his loved ones. Among Dr. Edington’s amazing list of honors is the Mark Dundon Research Award. In 2014 HERO was proud to recognize Dr. Edingtonx for his extraordinary leadership and groundbreaking research into the benefits of worksite wellness programming. Dr. Edington was a frequent presenter at HERO conferences and in a 2015 Issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion (Vol.30, Issue 1, 2015), an article featured “Twenty Two Health Promotion Pioneers.”

A tribute was authored by Dr. Wayne Burton who was also a HERO research award winner. In honor of Dr. Edington, here is Dr. Burton’s tribute from that article in 2015:

“Dr. Edington is best known for: His over three decades of research and teachings that demonstrate the association of health risk factors with medical, pharmacy, disability, absenteeism, and presenteeism costs for employers. He and his University of Michigan colleagues were first to publish the concept of excess costs associated with health risks and also the landmark Steelcase study showing that changes in costs follow changes in risks, which is a fundamental basis of health promotion. He has taught healthcare purchasers that keeping healthy people healthy is an essential part of the management of the spiraling cost of healthcare. Applying his ideas through over 800 publications and presentations around the world, his research has demonstrated that the management of health risks is the key to the management of population health. Although corporations devote a large percentage of their budgets to employee health care costs, CEOs and other company managers have no training in how to help employees be healthy and high-performing people. Dr. Edington’s research speaks to the importance of helping healthy people stay healthy as well as addressing the high risks of the small percentage of employees who incur the greatest percentage of costs. Furthermore, organizations that have created a ‘culture of health’ are experiencing far more favorable health care cost trends. Yet, he emphasizes that it is important to treat each individual as a whole person rather than focusing on the individual’s health risk factors. Dr. Edington successfully translated his research on the linkages between health risks, which are easily measured by a health risk appraisal and biometric testing, into practical steps for companies, health plans, and other public and private organizations. In his landmark book, Zero Trends: Health as a Serious Economic Strategy, he defines five pillars for achieving a successful ‘culture of health’ in organizations and communities. Dr. Edington enjoys working with organizations committed to reversing the unsustainable trend in rising health care costs and decreasing productivity measures while establishing themselves as a best place to work.”

Leave your tribute to Dee Edington