Wondering how to support your team even after Heart Health Month ends?  Here are a few strategies to help your employees make the changes they need to their health. 

As Heart Month comes to a close, are you wondering what’s next? You can use this time as a springboard for helping your employees make lasting changes to their health. 

The key is to turn awareness into action. With wellbeing programs that provide education and encouragement, you can empower employees to take heart health into their own hands year-round. These programs should be holistic, since heart disease is caused and aggravated by a complex set of factors.   

Here’s what you can do to help your employees prevent heart disease and mitigate its effects.

Promote sustainable healthy habits

Maintaining heart health depends on the small, daily choices that add up over time. From the foods we eat to to the way we manage stress, sustainable habits are the foundation of long-term wellbeing. 

You can keep heart health in focus with wellbeing programs that promote long-term behavior change. For example, we developed the Healthy Weight Suite to deliver lasting weight management for employees no matter where they are in their wellness journey. It’s a non-restrictive program that includes nutrition, fitness, sleep, and emotional wellbeing into a comprehensive plan.

Programs like Healthy Weight Suite enable employees to adopt healthy habits that they can use every day. Instead of bouncing around between fad diets or participating in short-term fitness challenges, they can develop consistent, manageable routines that support lasting cardiovascular health.

What you can do

Pair short-term challenges, like step competitions or nutrition weeks, with long-term programs designed to build sustainable habits. Look for flexible, inclusive programs that meet employees where they are, whether they’re managing a chronic condition or trying to get in better shape. The key is offering programs that adapt to different needs and goals, ensuring that every employee has the support to make heart-healthy choices part of their daily routine.

Take a holistic approach to wellbeing 

The connection between mental and heart health is undeniable. Chronic stress, anxiety, and depression don’t just take a toll on the mind. They also contribute to inflammation, high blood pressure, and other risk factors for cardiovascular disease. 

Young adults who feel depressed are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease than their peers. They also have higher rates of heart attacks, strokes and risk factors for heart disease compared with their peers without mental health issues.

People in underserved groups are more likely to experience negative impacts of mental health on their hearts. Black men are 27% less likely than white men to have optimal cardiovascular health, while Black women face even greater disparities, with 55% lower odds compared to white women. Researchers found that stress from discrimination explained 11% of the racial disparity, and neighborhood conditions accounted for another 11%.

On the upside, mental health support can help reduce the impact of heart disease. A study conducted by The Ohio State University found that heart disease patients with anxiety or depression saw up to a 75% drop in hospital visits with mental health therapy, medication, or both.

What you can do

Mental health challenges exist on a broad spectrum, from temporary stressors to chronic conditions requiring ongoing medical intervention. A comprehensive approach should encompass the full continuum of care, including clinical treatment and self-guided resources such as meditation and mindfulness programs to address the diverse needs of your workforce.

Financial wellbeing

Though financial stress is intertwined with mental health, it’s such a significant stressor that it demands a targeted approach. American adults cite money as one of their top sources of stress, nearly tied with health issues and work. 

That stress impacts heart health. For older adults hospitalized for a heart attack, severe financial hardship raises the risk of death by 60% within six months.

Financial stressors come from all sides, ranging from economic factors like inflation to more personal matters like overspending. Financial wellness resources should emphasize resilience in addition to smart budgeting and spending. 

What you can do

Adopt financial wellness programs that provide year-round support, just like any other wellbeing initiative. It should go beyond basic budgeting tips and combine financial education with practical tools that help employees take action. The goal is to build a healthy relationship with money, reducing the stress that leads to poor heart health outcomes. 

Keep the momentum going

Heart Month may only come once a year, but that doesn’t mean that heart-healthy habits have to be confined to February. Let this month be the start of lasting lifestyle changes, not just a short-lived effort.

By providing year-round support, flexible wellness programs, and resources that address the full spectrum of heart health risk factors, you can help employees build sustainable habits that last. Now is the time to move from awareness to action, because when it comes to heart health, every day matters.