When HonorHealth CEO Todd LaPorte had a heart attack 12 years ago, he knew he needed to commit to a healthier lifestyle, but he was unsure where to start. To help himself — and others — he turned to Blue Zones, an organization that studies the principles of longevity across the globe, and encourages natural movement, plant-based diets, strong social connections, and purpose, rather than “genetic luck.”
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“I was inspired on a personal level, and our organization was inspired to do more for the community to help improve health and well-being,” LaPorte said. “We wanted to be active on the front end, rather than just reacting on the back end.”
Blue Zones began simply. Founder Dan Buettner and his team observed where people live the longest and where no one is “trying” to be healthy. Buettner identified five organically occurring Blue Zones, including Sardinia (Italy), Ikaria (Greece) and Nicoya (Costa Rica).
Their environments naturally nudge them toward better choices — walking because it’s the easiest way to get around, eating “peasant food” like beans, grains, and garden vegetables because it’s the cheapest and most delicious option, and socializing in person rather than through devices. These communities also share a sense of purpose and responsibility to one another, a quality Buettner noted the United States has been “losing progressively since about the 1960s.”
Blue Zones has since expanded its efforts to promote longevity and healthy lifestyles into local communities, in roughly 50 cities, with Scottsdale emerging as its largest project through a partnership with HonorHealth. LaPorte’s initial inquiry was mutually beneficial.
“It evolved into a sponsorship,” LaPorte said. “They wanted to sponsor a community project in the west, and we wanted to make that impact in our community. So, the principle of Blue Zones was appealing – it was a marriage waiting to happen.” Buettner credited LaPorte for approaching healthcare differently — not by maximizing revenue, but by improving community health from the ground up. At HonorHealth, that means offering healthier food options, moais for social connection and creating workplace environments that encourage moving more.
Dr. Shad Marvasti — executive director of the HonorHealth Whole Health Institute and former medical director of HonorHealth Integrative Medicine — echoed LaPorte’s sentiment.
“Through our partnership with Blue Zones, we have a unique opportunity to move beyond traditional health care and truly reshape the environments where people live, work and age,” Dr. Marvasti said.
“At HonorHealth, we are translating these evidence-based principles into clinical care through the Whole Health Institute — connecting lifestyle, community design and medical practice in a way that is both scalable and sustainable.”
The HonorHealth team knew that, to be successful, schools, restaurants, and grocery stores also needed to be educated. They had to address tobacco and alcohol use, food systems, and even basic infrastructure like greenbelts and bike paths.
“We have now engaged with 94% of the schools that we have targeted,” LaPorte said. “We’ve engaged with almost 50% of the restaurants that we’ve targeted. We have some work to do with grocery stores.”
Internally, HonorHealth’s cafeterias were upgraded after adhering to recommended dietary guidelines.
“It’s healthier food, so healthier choices, if you will,” LaPorte said. “Now it’s available not only to our patients, but to our employees. We’ve also sponsored ‘purpose’ workshops where our employees can rekindle their connection with not only our mission but also their own sense of purpose.”
HonorHealth — which has one of the Valley’s largest primary care clinic networks — has also engaged 60% of its targeted worksites. About 4,300 people have participated in the purpose workshops, and 4,700 employees have volunteered. HonorHealth’s Ambassador Movement has 6,500 brand advocates out of 18,000 employees.
“They engage with community outreach activities that resonate with them,” he said. “So, we’re really excited about that. We want to walk the talk. The clinics are talking lifestyle medicine principles — good nutrition and sleep, and ways to maintain an active lifestyle.”
When patients come in for their traditional clinical experience, they often get referrals to specialists. The dream is they may also get a fresh produce prescription and a lifestyle medicine perspective from trained caregivers, according to a statement. HonorHealth has engaged about 250 medical professionals who have completed a Food is Medicine course that was designed by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. About two dozen caregivers are now American College of Lifestyle Medicine certified.
“It’s rooted in nutrition. We don’t even understand the full implications. And America, through our advanced use of technology, is also becoming more idle. Remote controls and other devices can cumulatively hurt us because we’re not staying active. Those things take a toll, and it’s all contributing. And we see it from a medical perspective. We see it manifest in the intensity, the acuity of cardiovascular cases, of neurological cases, orthopedic cases and even oncological cases.,” LaPorte said.
The initiative isn’t going to go away. Employees can receive counseling on lifestyle medicine so they too may understand how food impacts their health, how to incorporate exercise or physical therapy, or how to engage with things that impact their mental health.
“It’s about impacting our worksites and conveying these principles through our clinical practices. Blue Zones is a great thing for HonorHealth and for the community.”
