Workplace wellness programs have been touted as a powerful tool that can make employees healthier and more productive while reducing health care spending, but the results of a new Harvard study suggest such interventions yield unimpressive results in the short term.
The findings, published April 16 in JAMA , raise questions about the effectiveness of these programs offered by 80 percent of large U. Get more HMS news here. The analysis, the first peer-reviewed, large-scale, multisite randomized controlled trial of a workplace wellness program, shows that people who worked at sites offering the program exhibited notably higher rates of some healthy behaviors, but no significant differences in other behaviors compared to the control group.
Employees working at sites offering the program did not have better clinical measures of health such as body mass index, blood pressure or cholesterol after 18 months, nor did they exhibit lower absenteeism, better job performance or lower health care use or spending.
Worksites offering a wellness program had an 8. The motivation for employer-based wellness programs is straightforward. In addition to private investment in workplace wellness program, the Affordable Care Act allocated public funding for wellness programs. In the broader context of health system reform, wellness programs are part of a suite of ideas that encourage preventive medicine, coordinated care and wellness education as ways to keep people healthy and reduce medical costs.
Past research has suggested workplace wellness programs might be a good investment. In , Song, Baicker and David Cutler, the Otto Eckstein Professor of Applied Economics at Harvard, published a meta-analysis of prior research on wellness programs that found a roughly three to one return on investment for such interventions. However, as the authors noted in that meta-analysis, much of the prior literature was limited by the lack of a robust control group, leaving open the possibility that estimates could be biased by confounding factors, and by limited sites, sample sizes and outcome measures.
To help improve the evidence on wellness programs, Song and Baicker decided to implement a large-scale controlled experiment. To eliminate the unwanted effects of self-selection and other biases inherent in nonrandomized studies, Song and Baicker randomized wellness program offerings across different worksites and tracked outcomes among all workers. The firms that choose to have a program may have employees who are already more health-conscious than those at firms without a program.
This allowed the researchers to capture the effects that the program might have in changing workplace culture as well as individual behavior. Among eligible worksites across the Eastern United States, the wellness program was implemented at 20 randomly selected sites with a total of 4, employees—the test group.
WellSteps training video on how to be a great wellness program coordinator. Hold Wellness Committee Meetings The wellness committee should meet at least on a quarterly basis.
The committee may meet more often during peak times when planning or implementing activities or programs. Meeting frequency will depend on the committee goals. To revitalize the wellness committee, make committee membership a one or two year commitment so that new ideas and constituents are included on a rotating basis.
The committee should create a communication mechanism with management so successes can be reported. Appoint or Recruit Team Leaders Effective delivery of wellness initiatives is often dependent on a leader that is close to the participants.
Leaders have a major impact on whether the participants have a positive experience. A team leader can be the point of contact or messenger for information shared between the program participants and the wellness committee and vice versa. It is important that the team leaders be creative, enthusiastic, and committed to the wellness program.
The team leaders do not have to be the most active and healthy staff members; it is more important that they have the skills to help motivate their team members to be successful. Here is a WellSteps training video on how to use a wellness team to have a great program.
Assess the Worksite Health Culture The purpose of completing a health culture audit is to identify the cultural supports for good health and areas that might need improvement. A health culture audit will be a good starting point for your wellness initiative and will guide the actions of your wellness committee.
Working to improve the health culture at your worksite will make the worksite more supportive of healthy behaviors i. One method for assessing your health culture can be found here. The tool is called the Checklist to Change. It will help you assess your workplace and then identify evidence-based strategies to improve workplace policy and environment. This checklist can be completed online in less than 10 minutes.
An HRA has two outputs. The first output is an individual report that can help your employees identify modifiable risk factors for chronic disease. The second output is an aggregate report which can be used to stratify employees according to risk so that preventable health issues can be prioritized and strategies developed.
Whatever method you use, make it as simple as possible for employees to complete and submit their HRA so you get a high return rate. Consider offering an incentive for people who complete the assessment.
An excellent HRA can be found here. A good health risk appraisal will generate useful health reports for individuals and aggregate reports for companies and is an integral part of a successful wellness program.
This can include a mobile app and website that can offer a health risk appraisal, incentive management , online resources, culture change , wellness campaigns and team challenges , and integration of fitness devices. Occasionally this cost will also include some money for simple incentives like gift cards or T-shirts.
The larger the company, the smaller the cost per year. This does not include the cost of biometric screening , health coaching, or benefits based incentives. These are not automatically included because they are the most expensive parts of any wellness program.
Add biometric screening , telephonic health coaching , and robust incentives including benefits-based incentives and you can see how the cost grows dramatically. We have found that great participation happens if the employers will establish a benefits-based incentive plan. Benefits-based wellness incentive programs typically include the incentive of a discount on insurance premiums, paid time off, a contribution to an HSA or HRA, or a lower co-pay or deductible.
Sleep disturbances, and sleep disorders also impact our overall health, however, and are linked to:. Medical case managers are available to assist with sleep strategies and connect you with a specialist if needed. The MW Wellness Program team will help guide you through strategies to reduce the risk of contracting HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.
If you would like to start Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, call our office at The program has options to help with the cost of medical visits, labs and medications. If you are in need of an educator or speaker for your group meeting, please use this form to request a speaker. It's an oral swab test that doesn't require blood. It's completely private. And it's based on the same HIV test that healthcare professionals have used since Find out in just 20 minutes in the comfort and privacy of your own home.
The results are completely confidential. For years, it has been the company healthcare professionals have used for HIV tests. If you would like to receive a FREE kit, please fill out this form and someone from our team will be in contact with you or call A discreetly packaged kit will be mailed directly to you for your convenience.
If you would like to start Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis call the office at Mary Washington Infectious Diseases. Ryan White Grant Program Info. Ryan White Grant Client Form.
0コメント