Wellness programs have been gaining traction as a tool designed to not only bolster workplace productivity and attendance but also to reduce the overall cost of health care spending. In essence, a wellness program provides employees the support, coaching, and accountability to make smarter health choices, and live a healthier lifestyle.
According to the 2019 Sanofi Canada health-care survey, over the next three years, 71 percent of plan sponsors said they intend to invest funding and/or staff resources in at least one area of employee wellness beyond what’s already offered in their health benefits plans.
How do we know the effectiveness of a wellness program?
There are varying data on the subject of wellness program results when it comes to the bottom line. For instance, a lengthy study conducted from 2002 – 2008 on Johnston & Johnston found that “annual growth in health spending was 3.7 percent lower than companies of comparable size, with each dollar they spent on the program producing a return on investment of $1.88—$3.926.”
Another, more recent survey found that over 18 months, U.S. retail company BJ’s Wholesale Club reported no change in self-reported health and behaviours, clinical markers of health, health care spending or utilization, absenteeism, or job performance. They did find, however, that employees reported higher instances of maintaining their weight and engaging in regular exercise.
While we may be comparing apples to oranges with these two examples; different company types, gestation periods, and decades, there are underlying themes which can be taken from both.
Effectiveness is measured through diverse criteria
To measure the effectiveness of a wellness program, we must first identify the performance indicators and goals. If exclusively looking at the dollar for dollar return, business owners will likely not be impressed, particularly in the short term. With a broader scope of indicators that are considered valuable, a wellness program is more likely to ‘perform’ and create improvements and opportunities for your employees. Additional value-added indicators might include:
- Recruiting and retention
- Office culture
- Overall mindfulness and improved awareness of health decisions
- Increased physical activity and alertness
- Enhanced creativity and increased employee engagement
Effective wellness programs are built from the inside out
Today, wellness programs typically include offerings such as:
- Health risk assessments
- Annual physicals
- Biometric screenings
- Online or in-person wellness seminars
- Fitness or exercise activities
- Tobacco cessation programs
- Health coaching
While these pillars make up the broad types of support, for a program to be effective, it should be tailored to add value to the employee, in other words, an outcome-based approach which strives to:
- Support employees who are ready for a chance to make a good start and to make their lifestyle changes stick
- Helping employees maximize their self-care practices to improve the possibilities for disease prevention – for example, an employee with a history of diabetes may choose to focus on adopting a diet to reduce the risk of developing that disease
Companies that have decades of experience retooling wellness programs to produce more significant health impacts have learned that these wellness programs only succeed when the following factors are present:
- Ability to address chronic health conditions
- Adaptability to employees’ unique needs
- Strategies to address population health and social determinants of health
Rather than pushing “this is good for you” health messages, a wellness program should be flexible to the needs of the employees who are already willing to take positive steps to improve their health. In turn, these methods support disease prevention through positive lifestyle changes and resilience to better manage diseases that do occur.
Simplistic, pre-packaged health programs that are delivered with a blanket approach through apps, tools, and platforms that do not have a humanistic element (and therefore often lack flexibility and adaptability), do not do much to support employees who need specific health support. Internal policies and practices embedded in the company’s culture, which allow an employee to request what they need to maintain their health comfortably is more effective. For instance, allowing for a work-from-home day after an employee has returned from a business trip so that they can rest and reduce the stress of a work commute may work well.
In summary, wellness programs have been found to not have a significant return on investment (particularly in the short term), but they are still a valuable programs for the behavioural benefits employees can reap. When improving a wellness program, the goal should start with employee health improvement and employee needs, and then address how those specific needs and goals can be met.
