Better Wellness Programs

Employers have tried several strategies to control health care costs. For example they have; reduced expensive plan options, shifted costs to employees, and reduced the number of employees eligible for benefits. However, many companies have experienced negative reactions to these strategies and worse; the cost of health care continues to climb.  As a result, employers appear to be turning toward wellness programs to promote a healthy workforce, hoping that this effort will improve productivity and contain health care expenses.

 However, “Wellness” is an often used, yet little understood term. For example, is wellness the same as health? Probably not. The definition of “health” as contained in the constitution of the World Health Organization is broad and culturally neutral. They define it as, “The state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” What this definition reflects is the state of an individual but the description fails to consider any individual commitment to healthy behavior, which is so crucial to wellness.

 HRA uses the following definition to describe a wellness programs: “Those activities embraced and practiced on a regular basis by an individual that will prevent, mitigate or correct problem health conditions, which would otherwise contribute to lost productivity and/or costly medical care”.

We believe that conditions such as: heart disease, distress, drug abuse, obesity, hypertension, and the loss of health due to tobacco use, can be prevented and even corrected. However, the individual who is experiencing a health risk must take the appropriate actions to overcome their unhealthy state. Therefore, a wellness program that simply makes things available (e.g. discount gym memberships) is not a relevant course of action. Furthermore, a wellness program that primarily appeals to people who would otherwise be healthy is also not relevant.

To be meaningful and of value, HRA sponsors wellness programs that target those conditions that are driving cost, are preventable and can respond positively to healthy behaviors.  Furthermore, we believe that an organization’s wellness program must take into account a host of company related factors in addition to the employee, including:

1.    The employee’s dependents

2.    The organization’s  insurance plan

3.    Company strategy, goals, objectives, policies and practices

4.    The firm’s accident prevention program

5.    Workers compensation practices and policies

6.    Absence management efforts

7.    Attendance policies

8.    The ERP program

9.    EE productivity measurements and incentives

10.  The cause for turnover at the company

11.  Recruitment challenges for the enterprise

12.  The degree of presenteeisim within the firm

13.  The firm’s commitment and involvement in the community as a corporate citizen

14.  The level of employee engagement

15.  A firm’s internal  practices regarding;  gain sharing, benchmarking, communication, progress reports, accountability, reinforcement and recognition practices

16.  The level of participation by the local health care community (doctors, heath care facilities, sources of education and information)

17.  Financial incentives, support programs, sponsorship or champions, and community collaboration.

18.  And possibly, even an extension of the wellness program and its objectives into the  contingent work force (temps, contractors, consultants, vendor staff)

Is a wellness program the answer to a vexing problem faced by both employees and employers? A comprehensive survey conducted by ADP and the results of numerous other investigations suggests that traditional wellness programs fall short of a panacea.

 

The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion7, defines a comprehensive work site health promotion program as having five key elements.  Among a nationally representative sample of employers, only 6.9% reported that they had all five of these key elements in place.

 ADP’s survey2, finds that the wellness programs offered in midsized companies include an average of five programs or interventions and in large companies the average is six. Of these initiatives, Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) are the most common component of a wellness program followed by health promotional materials and the practice of providing access to a nurse as the fifth most popular program.

 Furthermore, results from the same ADP survey state that only one-quarter of midsized companies and slightly more than one-fifth of large companies actually measure the ROI of their wellness programs.

The only conclusion that we can draw from this data is that the vast majority of wellness programs, no matter how well intended they may be, miss the mark. Sadly, the focus is on making an effort rather than striving for achievement or being accountable for the results.

 As a further illustration of our concern over traditional wellness programs, let me draw your attention to Biometric screenings, which most wellness programs encourage. The assumption is that such screenings will find illness at an early stage thereby saving both money and lives. However, a $40 biometric screen will find at best, one avoidable heart attack in every 4,000 people …at a cost of $160,000. Add in, company wellness incentives and the cost of time off from work to perform the test and you've now have created a very expensive and ineffective heart attack prevention screening experience.

Given the questionable practices, the absence of an ROI, the fuzzy focus on what wellness means, the tendency to focus on initiatives that promote healthy life style activities as opposed to results, all suggest that wellness offerings only appear to be of value to employers seeking to address problems associated with employee health, the rising cost of health care, workforce morale, staff productivity, employee retention and the attraction of talent.

2.The ADP Research Institute conducted the ADP HR / Benefits Pulse Survey on Wellness in October 2011.

7. Linnan L, Bowling M, Childress J, et al. Results of the 2004 national work site health promotion survey. Am J Public Health.2008;98(8):1503-1509.

If you would like to learn more about how to create and implement an effective wellness program for the benefit of employees and your organization, reach out to HRA by phone (818) 970 0730 or email us at hralliance@att.net.

 

 

From Michael Salisbury, Principal of the Human Resource Alliance (HRA) at www.hralliance.biz