Do your part for
your healthy heart
February is the perfect time to listen to your heart — not just because of Valentine’s Day, but also Heart Health Awareness Month!
There are many factors that can increase risk of heart or cardiovascular disease — including tobacco use, high blood pressure and cholesterol, excessive alcohol use, lack of exercise and more. Whether you’re looking to make a significant lifestyle change or just add a new healthy habit to your daily routine, here are a few ways Clorox is here to help you keep your heart healthy and strong:
Did You Know?
In the United States, heart disease is the leading cause of death, with 1 in 5 deaths directly related to cardiovascular disease.
Know the warning signs
Learn the most common signs and symptoms of heart failure — including shortness of breath, persistent coughing or wheezing, swelling in your extremities or abdomen, fatigue, lack of appetite, confusion, increased heart rate and sudden weight changes. Often, these symptoms can be minor, which is why it’s so important to know what your body is telling you.
Review this article from the American Heart Association to learn more about what the symptoms mean and why they occur. You’ll also find a Self-Check Plan to help you track heart failure symptoms.
Kick tobacco use with personalized support
According to the CDC, smoking causes 1 in every 4 deaths associated with cardiovascular disease and increases the risk for coronary heart disease and stroke by 200-400%. Your risk drops rapidly within the first 1-2 years of quitting.
Clorox’s well-being program tracker, powered by Personify Health (formerly Virgin Pulse), includes personalized tobacco cessation coaching to help you quit. Personify Health gives you human support every step of the way and a variety of digital tools to kick the habit. For each coaching session you complete, you’ll earn 500 points (up to 3 sessions). Even after 3 sessions, you may continue to participate in coaching sessions, as needed. Visit join.personifyhealth.com/clorox or download the Personify Health app to get started today.
You also have access to a host of resources through your Clorox medical coverage. To learn more about what’s available, visit myuhc.com for the HSA (Partnership in Health) plan, benefits.surest.com for the PPO (Surest) plan or kp.org for the Kaiser plan.
Heart-Healthy Resources
Want to make your heart heath part of your daily routine? Here are some helpful hints from our partners at Teladoc Chronic Condition Management:
Manage your high blood pressure and/or diabetes with Teladoc Health
Another key to ensuring a healthy heart is by staying on top of chronic conditions. Clorox partners with Teladoc Health to support our teammates and dependents who have prediabetes, diabetes or high blood pressure. Participants enrolled in the program receive appropriate support tools like a blood glucose meter with unlimited test strips and lancets, blood pressure monitor, cellular connected smart scale, tracking tools, personalized one-on-one support from expert coaches and more.
The Teladoc Health Chronic Condition Management program is available to all eligible teammates, spouses/partners and dependents enrolled in a Clorox medical plan. You are eligible to earn Personify Health points for participating in the program.
Go for your annual physical/well visit
Routine checkups are critical to your long-term health. Even if you “feel” healthy, statistics show a decline in preventive care correlates with a rise in people discovering critical illnesses once they finally visit the doctor. In fact, high blood pressure is called “the silent killer,” as it commonly does not present any symptoms.
Remember — in-network preventive care is covered at no cost to you. Click here to learn more about the many preventive care resources Clorox offers, and schedule an appointment with your Primary Care Provider (PCP) today. If you don’t have a PCP, find a provider through your medical plan; visit our preventive care resources page for links to “Find a Doctor” tools for UHC, Surest and Kaiser.
Build your healthy habits
Habits aren’t built overnight; according to Calm, it can take anywhere from a couple weeks to several months to build a habit. So, start small and focus on taking tiny steps each day to improve your health — for your heart and the rest of your body and mind. Here are some Clorox resources to help:
- Mental health: Stress, anxiety and depression have physical effects on your heart and lead to unhealthy habits. Clorox partners with Spring Health to provide teammates and family members support for all aspects of mental and work-life wellbeing, including coaching, confidential therapy, work-life services and much more. Click here to learn more.
- Nutrition: We all know the common saying “you are what you eat.” Between Mar. 10-31, we’re partnering with Personify Health to offer the “Food Around the World” wellness challenge to all teammates, which will get you moving and provide healthy recipes from around the globe. Log in to Personify Health to register on or after Feb. 10.
- Exercise: Creating new exercise habits takes time and effort, but you don’t need to start training for a marathon to improve your heart health! Find ways to incorporate exercise into your daily routine, like penciling in a brisk walk during lunch, scheduling a walking meeting or attending a Clorox-sponsored virtual fitness class (available to teammates).
If you need some extra motivation, log in to Personify Health to discover the rewards you can receive when you participate and log activities to track your healthy habits.
No matter how you plan to focus on your heart in February, remember a healthy heart starts with you. Keep it top of mind not just in February, but all year long. Clorox is here to help you every step of the way.
February 7 is National Wear Red Day!
Join your Clorox teammates in wearing red to raise awareness about heart disease and promote heart health. It’s even an activity in Personify Health’s Road Trip to Well-being, so when you wear red, it counts toward earning rewards!
Join Our Discussion About Heart Health and Wearable Tech
Attend our webinar with Jason Liu, MD from John Muir Health on Tues., Feb. 25 at 10:30am PT to learn about wearable technology and how it helps monitor heart health. Find out the pros and cons of these smart devices, as well as how wearable technology has evolved from fitness tracking to personal preventative healthcare. Click here for event details.
