Enjoy these health and wellness articles which were written by industry leading wellness experts / wellness consultants to assist you in learning more about corporate wellness programs / employee wellness programs.
Individual wellness programs work only in already healthy organizations. Such wellness programs place all responsibility for health enhancement and risk reduction with the individual, independent of the health norms within the organization. This strategy is not designed for maximum success. In contrast, organizational wellness programs focus primarily on improving the corporate culture and on enhancing the environment in which people work.
Differences in the effectiveness of wellness programs can be attributed to the degree to which the corporate culture supports the comprehensive wellness programs. (1) (2)
MEDSTAT and the American Productivity and Quality Center identified the following effective strategies for wellness programs:
- Wellness programs are aligned with business strategies
- A leader or champion is present for the wellness programs
- Team members are enthusiastic about developing and championing the wellness programs
- Senior management buys into the wellness programs and provides the needed financial resources for the wellness programs.
- Business operations managers are key members of the wellness team
- Wellness Program staff members are heavily involved, supporting a healthy company culture
- Research and outcomes projects are set up to demonstrate the link between productivity and health
- A corporate consensus exists that improving the quality of work life will improve productivity and cost savings will result. (8)
Utilization of wellness programs has been estimated at 20-40% of employees. (3) Successful incentives to influence participation in workplace wellness programs include:
- throwing parties;
- increasing insurance coverage;
- cash bonuses; and
- days off for meeting weight and/or exercise goals. (4)
Johnson and Johnson estimated savings of at least $1.9 million through decreased medical costs, reduced sick leave, and increased productivity. (4)
A retrospective study of 1,325 city employees insured by the City of Mesa, Arizona, revealed a significantly greater decrease in health care costs of employees who participated in a mobile workplace health promotion program, as opposed to employees not participating. Health care costs decreased 16%, resulting in a $3.6 savings for every dollar spent on wellness programs. ROI for the wellness programs was positive in all categories measured.(5)
The wellness program ROI enjoyed by five large companies as a result of their health promotion activities ranged from $2.05 to $6.15. (6)
- Bellingham, R. (1990). Debunking the myth of individual health promotion. Occupational Medicine 5(4):665-675.
- Conrad, K.M.; R iedel, J.E.; and Gibbs, J.O. (1990). Effect of workplace health promotion programs on employee absenteeism: A comp arative analysis. American Associatio n of Occ upation al Health Nurses Jo urnal (AAOHNJ) 38:573-580.
- Gemign ani, J. (199 8). Best pr actices that bo ost productivity. Business and Health March: 37-42.
- DeMoranville, C.W.; Schoenbachler, D.D.; an d Przytulski, J . (1998) . Wellness at Work: Marketing Health Services, Summer.
- Aldana, S.G.; Jacobson, B.H.; Harris, C.J.; Kelley, P.; and Stone, W.J . (1993). In fluence of a mobile workplace health promotion program on health care costs. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 9(6):378-383.
- Pelletier, K.R. (1996) . A review and analysis of the health and cost-effective outcom studies of comprehensive health promotion and disease prevention programs at the workplace: 1 993-19 95 update. American Journal of Health Promotion 10(5):380-388.)