Health Education Wanted

A Gallup poll suggests that when a company takes an active role in health promotion, employees listen.

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A recent Gallup poll reveals how strongly U.S. Workers associate health care with employment; the Clinton proposal, of course, would formalize the association. The same survey suggests that when a company takes an active role in health promotion, employees listen. At companies with health-education programs, 19% of workers could identify, for instance, two signs of diabetes, versus only 11% of workers at companies without programs.

Who should have primary responsibility to educate and inform a worker about health-related issues? (by percentage of respondents)

Self 35%

Employer or insurer 29

Primary-care doctor 20

Government 11

Other 5

Source: "Are Working Americans Taking Responsibility for Their Own Health Care?" a poll of 1,004 workers conducted by the Gallup Organization, Princeton, N.J., for Intracorp and Employee Benefits News, August 1993.