Walgreens, AARP Lead the Way to Well Health
April 29, 2014 – Walgreens has announced the launch of the 2014 Walgreens Way to Well Health Tour with AARP. For six years, Walgreens and AARP have conducted the community outreach program dedicated to providing free preventive and early detection health services to communities across the country. Now through December, Walgreens will use the tour to provide free health tests, assessments, education and consulting services with a renewed commitment to the everyday health of Americans nationwide.
Additionally, the tour will provide important resources and incentives to help participants continue on their way to healthier living. Walgreens will introduce visitors to various aspects of Walgreens Balance® Rewards for healthy choices, which is the first retail rewards program that not only rewards you for your purchases, but also for the healthy choices you make every day such as walking, running, weight management and testing your blood pressure and blood glucose.
The health tour’s bundle of free health tests and risk assessments is designed to provide participants with personal health insights that may indicate symptoms and potential risks for cancer, heart disease and diabetes. Tests include total cholesterol, glucose, blood pressure, body mass index, body composition, skeletal muscle, resting metabolism, visceral fat, real body age and body weight*. Collectively the health tests, valued at over $100, are administered to adults age 18 years and older by certified wellness staff and can be completed in approximately 20 minutes. Afterward, participants consult with a Walgreens pharmacist or certified wellness staff about his or her results. This is a free service – insurance will not be billed.
“The free health tests offered provide valuable insight into your overall health and wellness. They are a great way to learn how to make changes to improve your health and reduce the risk of common chronic illnesses,” said Harry Leider, M.D., Walgreens Chief Medical Officer. “Walgreens purpose is to help people get, stay and live well and by providing these free preventive and early detection health services, we aim to improve the everyday health of Americans nationwide.”
At the tour, not only will visitors learn about how Balance Rewards gives them points for healthy choices, but they also will receive tutorials on how to use fitness devices and digital applications to help track their personal health and fitness goals. Devices will be displayed and visitors will have the opportunity to learn how to use the devices and how to sync them to auto-log their healthy activities into their Balance Rewards account. Once visitors are registered with a Balance Rewards account online, they can visit the Walgreens Mobile App or Walgreens.com/HealthyChoices, where they can monitor their progress, view earned points and connect with a virtual community to stay motivated.
The Walgreens Way to Well Health Tour with AARP is one of the charitable programs that is part of the Walgreens Way to Well Commitment®, which began in 2011 as a four-year, $100 million initiative to improve the everyday health of Americans nationwide. The initiative also is dedicated to providing accessible, affordable resources for prevention and early detection of chronic diseases – heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Heart disease and cancer are the two leading causes of death in the U.S., while diabetes is the nation’s fastest-growing disease over the past decade, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since its inception, the tour has delivered more than four million health tests valued at almost $80 million.
All participants will receive a free, one-year AARP membership. Participants under the age of 50 can pass the free AARP membership on to an eligible adult, and existing members will receive a one-year extension on their current membership. Also available with the tour are educational health and wellness resources provided by AARP as well as other Walgreens Way to Well non-profit partners.
“We are excited to once again work with Walgreens to bring this community outreach program to communities in need nationwide,” said John Wider, President and CEO of AARP Services, Inc. “This tour continues to serve America’s growing population of people over 50, delivering critical insights into their health so that they can live healthier lives.”
The health tour is comprised of a fleet of four customized vehicles that will simultaneously tour separate regions of the U.S. and Puerto Rico.