Healthy Beverages Implementation
Implementation Tools
In order to develop a successful healthy beverage program in hospitals it is essential to establish the current beverage policies, practices, access points, and product selection in place within the facility. Once a hospital has an understanding of the facility’s beverage landscape, the food service department can choose how best to initiate a healthy beverage program. This information will give the food service department the framework they need to create a clear and comprehensive plan for developing and implementing their healthy beverage program goals. The following tools will assist in the planning and implementing of a Healthy Beverage Program.
- Healthy Beverage Audit Tool
- Healthy Beverage Purchasing Tracking Tool
- Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Purchasing Tracking Tool
- Rethink Your Drink: Healthy Beverage Toolkit for Healthcare
This best practice guide is an example of strategies and best practices for implementing a successful healthy beverage program in the health care setting. - Hospital Staff Survey Template - Boston Children's Hospital
Create opportunities for employees to be involved in the design of your beverage program development. Use this example of an internal survey developed by a hospital healthy hospital task force to gather information about the views and initial knowledge of the internal hospital staff surrounding beverages and health. - HCWH collaborated with the Minnesota Public Health Law Center to produce a series of guidance materials and facts sheets on healthy beverages.
- Building Blocks for Success: A Guide For Developing Healthy Beverage Programs
- Frequently Asked Questions About Healthy Beverage Programs
- Healthcare Can Lead the Way: Making the Healthy Choice the Easy Choice
- Healthy Beverage Hot Spots: Identifying and Utilizing the Institutional Access Points
- Healthy Beverage Policies: Key Definitions and Sample Standards
- Healthy Beverage Programs, Healthy Bottom Lines
- Sickly Sweet: Why the Focus on Sugary Drinks
- Thirsty for Health: Tap Water and Healthcare
Making the Case
Prior to rolling out a Healthy Beverages initiative, it is important to gather buy-in from the hospital administration and facility staff in order to create the environment of social support. Gathering key clinical advocates who recognize the link between unhealthy beverage consumption and poor health and encouraging their participation in a meeting with upper management is a great way to support these efforts. Health care professionals throughout the country have shown their support by signing on to the Health Care Professional Pledge. Together, with hospital administration, hospitals can announce their new prevention-based initiative to staff through newsletters, electronic communications, or educational events. Innovative approaches to educating staff and visitors about the connection between healthy beverages and the hospital’s mission to promote health will go a long way in supporting the sustainability of Healthy Beverages programs.
Slide Shows
- Showcase of Healthy Beverage Programs in Health Care (pdf)
Health Care Without Harm - Showcase of General Healthy Beverage Campaigns
Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity - Gathering buy-in from senior management, clinical advocates, and other key stakeholders within your organization is a critical step in developing a successful healthy beverage program. This Hydrate for Health Presentation and accompanying talking points may assist you in making the case to your hospital administration.
- Hydrate for Health PowerPoint Presentation (ppsx slide show)
- Hydrate for Health Presentation Talking Points (pdf)
In The News
Recent articles that make the case for Healthy Beverage Programs
- Childrens Hospital Boston supports healthy beverages in their hospital
Boston Children's Hospital - Pediatricians come together to prescribe healthy beverages
Boston Children's Hospital - Is It a Movement? Hospitals Ban Sugar Sweetened Beverages
Food Service Director - Chicago hospital group to drop sugar-sweetened drinks
Chicago Tribune - Mayor Menino and Ten Boston Hospitals Work Together to Reduce Consumption of Sugary Beverages Among Patients, Staff, Visitors
City of Boston Press Release - St. E’s, Boston Hospitals Showcase Success in Reducing Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption
Steward Health Care System - Enlightened Eating, Color-coded labels, rearranged items encourage healthy choices in study
Harvard Science - Diet soft drinks may up risk of stroke, heart attack, vascular death: new study Stone Hearth News
- Brominated battle: Soda chemical has cloudy health history
Environmental Health News - Hospital to urge staff, visitors to drink healthier beverages
The MetroWest Daily News - Fructose consumption increases risk factors for heart disease
Medical Xpress - Saint Anne’s Hospital asking employees to “rethink” their sugary drinks and make healthier choices
The Herald News - Sugar-sweetened food, beverages no longer will be sold at the Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland.com