The American Heart Association announced results of its 2020 Workplace Health Achievement Index and Perdue Farms achieved national gold recognition for taking significant steps to build a culture of health in the workplace. Perdue Farms is one of 776 organizations that completed the Index assessment, evaluating the time period of July 30, 2019 to June 30, 2020. Of the organizations that completed the Index assessment, 35 percent earned gold recognition (the highest percentage to date), 29 percent received silver, and 25 percent received bronze.
“We’re pleased that the American Heart Association continues to recognize Perdue’s company-wide commitment to providing our associates with meaningful wellness programs that help them improve their lives, especially amid the challenges of the pandemic,” said Dawn Carey, senior director of Perdue’s health and wellness programs. “Through a network of onsite wellness centers and our innovative voluntary Health Improvement Program (HIP), we’re helping associates get and stay healthy. Through HIP, we can support and encourage them to make positive changes in their lives that will not only affect them, but their families and the communities in which they live. We’re proud of our elevation to gold status after earning bronze recognition in 2018 and silver in 2019.”
Perdue Farms commitment to investing in its associates' growth, safety and well-being is highlighted in its FY2020 Company Stewardship Report.
The American Heart Association, a global force for longer, healthier lives, created the Index with its CEO Roundtable, a leadership collaborative of more than 45 members from some of America’s largest companies who are committed to applying evidence-based approaches to improve their employees’ overall health. The Index is a web-based scorecard that looks at organizational best practices and aggregates employee health data to evaluate the overall quality and comprehensiveness of workplace health programs. Studies show that worksites with a culture of health with comprehensive, evidence-based policies and programs, and senior leadership support are more likely to have engaged employees and a healthier, more productive workforce.
A unique feature of the Index is that it calculates an average heart health score for employees of participating companies that securely submit aggregate health data through Life’s Simple 7®, the American Heart Association’s definition of ideal cardiovascular health based on seven risk factors. Life’s Simple 7® includes smoking status, physical activity, weight, diet, blood glucose, cholesterol and blood pressure. Companies receive benchmarking reports, which allow them to identify potential areas of improvement so that they can advance their annual performance and recognition.
