Vascular Health Coalition Healthy Menu Checklist Implementation Guide (Companion to the Healthy Menu Checklist provided separately) For more information please contact; Tracey Carter, Ontario Integrated Vascular Health Strategy, Project Manager 1 Ontario Integrated Vascular Health Strategy

What is Vascular Health? Vascular health; condition of the circulatory system which carries essential nutrients and oxygenated blood throughout the body. Healthy vascular system characterized by unimpeded flow of blood within network of vessels lined by healthy cells (flexible/ elastic and devoid of build ups and blockages). 2

What is Vascular Disease? Stroke, heart disease, dementia, peripheral artery disease, certain kidney, lung and eye conditions are all vascular diseases. May manifest as an acute event e.g. stroke, Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) or a heart attack. Superimposed on or followed by a chronic disease process e.g. dementia, kidney failure or heart failure. Vascular disease is the leading cause of preventable death ¹. ¹Statistics Canada, Summary list of mortality causes, Considering mutually exclusive deaths under cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, renal failure and Alzheimer’s. 3

Why a Vascular Health Strategy? Risk of Vascular Disease:  40% of Canadian population (age 20+) at high risk  50% of Canadian population (age 20+) at moderate risk 4 90% at high to medium risk!

Developing the Vascular Health Strategy 2010, Cardiac Care Network, Heart and Stroke Foundation and Ontario Stroke Network – formed the Vascular Health Coalition (VHC), and committed to work together in advancing vascular health in Ontario. August 2012, Integrated Vascular Health Blueprint for Ontario (Blueprint) document released. Blueprint serves to guide province-wide action to advance vascular health in Ontario. Fall 2012, Vascular Health Implementation Steering Committee (ISC) comprised of vascular health system leaders, was formed. ISC mandate to guide and support implementation of the vascular health strategy at provincial and regional levels, as described in the Blueprint. 5

Blueprint Domain 1; Population Health and Promoting Healthy Public Policy Provide leadership to identify, promote and implement policies and practices that reduce risk factors in our own organizations and beyond = Healthy Catering Checklist The Vascular Health Coalition (VHC) and ISC members recommend consideration of adopting the Healthy Menu Checklist within your organization and disseminating to any parties interested in methods to consistently offer healthy food choices during meetings and events. 6

Healthy Menu Checklist; Background Every year in Ontario, there are hundreds of health related conferences and meetings held and attended by thousands of health care employees and decision makers. Healthy food choices are not consistently offered, in part, due to lack of healthy options from vendors and low demand from conference organizers. As part of our commitment to promoting health and preventing disease, the Vascular Health Coalition will take a leadership role in requesting and demanding healthy food choices at every meeting. The hope is that other organizations will also adopt these guidelines. The increased demand for healthier food choices will help drive greater availability of healthy food from vendors. 7

Healthy Menu Checklist; Purpose The Healthy Menu Checklist will help provide healthy food to employees, partners or the general public during meetings, training sessions, conferences, or events. Helping to improve the health of Canadians by decreasing their risk factors for vascular disease is part of the mission of the Vascular Health Coalition. Providing healthy foods and messaging consistent with Canada’s Food Guide at events can help empower Canadians to live healthy lives. 8

Implementing the Checklist in 4 Steps Step #1 – Senior Management Engagement/Endorsement Healthy Menu Checklist shared with senior management purpose and background material reviewed and discussed with senior management  seek senior management approval to adopt and implement the Checklist  embed in company policy 9

Checklist Implementation Step #2 - Staff Engagement  provide the Healthy Menu Checklist to all staff responsible for arranging food catering  review the details of the Checklist with staff and address any questions  follow up with staff post catered events to address any questions/challenges 10

Checklist Implementation Step #3 - Catering Vendor Engagement  provide the Healthy Menu Checklist to all catering vendors  advise catering vendors of requirement to follow Checklist and inquire as to their capacity to do so  source new venders if necessary to support Health Menu Checklist guidelines – healthy food should not be cost prohibitive! 11

Checklist Implementation Step #4 - Apply the Healthy Menu Checklist  utilize the Healthy Menu Checklist when selecting food for each event  use a poster* to inform meeting attendees regarding menu choices  follow up with both attendees and vendors regarding feedback and track menus/feedback over time  report results to senior management * sample follows 12

Healthy Catering is Here! We are pleased to provide healthy food chosen based on the Healthy Catering Checklist* With the goal of providing healthy food choices to support healthy living and reduced risk of disease. *jointly developed by health system leaders across Ontario including the Cardiac Care Network, the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Ontario Stroke Network 13