Managed Care - March 2009 - (Page 22) Q&A A Conversation With Dee W. Edington, PhD Changing Culture To Support Wellness Why pay through the nose for tomorrow’s high-tech cures when you can buy an inexpensive ounce of prevention today? As director of the University of Michigan Health Management Research Center, Dee W. Edington, PhD, has been measuring the effects of corporate attempts to help employees live healthier lives for three decades. He’s been called the “rock star of wellness,” seen well-heeled human resources managers jump up and down when telling him about a successful program, and heard that health plan sales representatives keep well-used copies of his charts tucked into their day planners. At the heart of it all is Edington’s data, assembled over the years through a patient, steady trek toward proving that managing employees’ health risk factors can make a difference in the cost of health care. This month, Edington is releasing Zero Trends: Health as a Serious Economic Strategy, a book he says is a culmination of his work so far — and one that offers his newly refined plan for accomplishing the goal of a healthy workforce. “We have to create a culture of health,” he says. “We have to get to the point where people start valuing the energy and vitality that health brings, instead of only thinking they are healthy because they don’t have diabetes yet.” Edington’s background is a combination of training in mathematics, kinesiology, and biochemistry. He completed his undergraduate work and PhD at Michigan State University and his master’s degree at Florida State University. He taught at the University of Massachusetts before joining the University of Michigan’s faculty in 22 MANAGED CARE / MARCH 2009
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