美国有近 1.3 亿人患有一种或多种慢性疾病，而心理健康问题在各代人中普遍存在。随着劳动力老龄化，对适当的预防性医疗保健的需求最为迫切，尤其是对于受健康状况影响不成比例的边缘化群体。在加利福尼亚州拉古纳尼格尔的财富最强大的女性峰会上，强生公司全球企业事务执行副总裁兼执行委员会成员瓦妮莎·布罗德赫斯特表示，优先考虑健康公平应该被视为高管的必要商业利益。

😄 企业应该重视健康公平，因为这关系到更多人能够照顾自己的家庭。他们需要额外的帮助，这对我们生活的整个生态系统来说都是一种负担。健康保健和公平的健康保健都很重要。

😊 企业可以通过提供包容性的福利来缩小医疗差距，例如支付长途通勤费用以接受必要的护理，因为人们需要去看住在他们所在地区以外的专家，或者被列入漫长的等待名单。这可以帮助解决我们面临的年龄歧视问题。许多人难以去看医生，但老年人尤其如此。

🤔 员工往往不知道他们的雇主提供了哪些福利，而且很少在健康问题出现之前寻求福利。企业需要从上层有意地进行教育，让员工了解公司提供的福利，因为员工的需求会因其是否处于夹心层而有所不同。

🙂 企业领导者必须营造一种支持在生病之前照顾健康的文化，这意味着鼓励员工使用现有的医疗保健服务，做出行为改变，以减少随着年龄增长而变得更常见的慢性疾病的风险。

😉 除了教育之外，企业还可以提供灵活的工作时间、带薪休假、健康保险等福利，帮助员工更好地照顾自己的健康。

Nearly 130 million people live with at least one chronic condition in the U.S. Mental health cases are pervasive across all generations, and as the workforce ages, the need for proper preventative health care is most dire—especially for marginalized individuals who are disproportionately affected by health outcomes. In a session at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit in Laguna Niguel, Calif., exploring how to bridge the health care gap, Vanessa Broadhurst, executive vice president of global corporate affairs and executive committee member of Johnson & Johnson, said prioritizing health equity should be seen as an essential business interest for executives. “We should all care about health equity because that is one more person who is going to have a challenge to care for their family. Being employed, they are going to need additional assistance, and that is a tax on the entire ecosystem that we live in,” she says. “Health care and equitable health care [are] important.” Stephani Long, chief talent officer at Deloitte U.S., said bridging the health care gap can start in workplaces with inclusive benefits, like paying for long commutes to receive necessary care when people need to see specialists who live out of their region or are put on extensive waitlists.“I think that can help with the age bias problems we have going on,” Long said. “Lots of people struggle to get to the doctor, but certainly elderly people do.” However, far too often, employees don’t know what their employers offer and seldom seek out benefits before a health issue arises, the panelists agreed, including Megan O’Reilly, vice president of health and family government affairs at AARP, and Karen Hale, chief legal officer at pharmaceutical company Novartis. “It’s not just about having the long list of benefits,” Long said. “It’s really hard to get people to pay attention when it’s not the need time or the crisis time.” It takes intentional education from the top about what companies offer, as needs depend heavily on whether or not someone is in the sandwich generation—caring for both aging parents and children simultaneously—or in need of fertility benefits for family planning. Beyond education, Broadhurst said leaders must foster a culture that supports taking care of your health before you get sick—which means encouraging the use of available health care to make behavioral change that counter the risk of chronic conditions more common with advanced age.