The Role of Business in Promoting Health

Behind the mic with Marty "The Healthy Guy" Menard... 

Individuals, community organizations, and governments all have roles to play in improving political health. However, one cannot underestimate the role of business either. This post will not be focused on the pros and cons of capitalism, but rather on areas where businesses can contribute better than governments. 

To help make this case, I have done a Q&A with Marty the Health Guy – owner of Elite PersonalTraining Studio and spokesperson for BestLifeRewarded – in response to his podcast on Incentivizing Health with former CFL linebacker & University of Toronto Clinical Researcher Marc Mitchell dated May 11, 2013.

The Need for Tone at the Top

In my previous post, “Political Health in Action,” I provided examples on how grassroots movements are effective in influencing change and therefore, a key component of political health. However, political leaders need to set good examples as well, for they can be a source of inspiration for others to follow. 

Not to mention, good political leaders need to reach out to their adversaries and grassroots organizations to ensure policy is drafted in the interests of all stakeholders. But what happens when political leadership is absent from a critical issue?

Political Health in Action

At the beginning of the month, I outlined the three principles of political health, those being citizen participation, social justice, and institutional integrity. Of these three, citizen participation is by far the most important, yet the most neglected.

Too many people in Western society tend to believe our opinions do not matter and/or we do not have much time to be informed of current affairs, let alone take action. These beliefs could not be further from the truth, and I will briefly describe some examples and a few action items on what you can do to improve your political health.