Case Study Coast Guard

1. With the high and rising cost of healthcare, the Coast Guard is doing a great disservice to its members by not proactively promoting health and wellness before possible risk factors evolve into serious and costly health conditions. The Coast Guard has health focused programs implemented such as the Weight and Body Fat Standards Program, Health Promotion Program, and Personal Fitness Plan. However, Reference (a) announced the elimination of all Health Promotion Manager (HPM) billets and no longer requires the duties of the Unit Health Promotion Coordinator (UHPC) in regions where the Regional HPM has been reassigned. Under this policy change, members are still obligated to meet weight and body fat standards and continue physical fitness requirements but lose the expertise and mentoring of HPMs which are vital yet have been underutilized in promoting a healthy

Since heart disease continues to be the leading cause of death in the United States, the Coast Guard, in order to assist members, has to look at increasing health promotion resources, not decreasing them. In Reference (b), the American Heart Association established seven ideal cardiovascular health metrics for heart health promotion and disease reduction which includes smoking cessation, normal body mass index, physical activity, healthy diet, and normal levels of cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood glucose. A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found in Reference (c), suggests that people adhering to six or more of those seven cardiovascular health metrics are roughly 75 percent less likely to die of heart disease and half as likely to die from any disease at all, than those by abiding by only one or none. The Coast Guard must invest in its members presently by developing an effective wellness strategy that involves more cardiovascular health metrics to avoid spending money on medical care in the