Could workplace wellness programs make a substantial difference in the amount of stress employees experience on the job?
Workplace wellness provider MediKeeper thinks so, after a survey conducted among its client population has indicated that workplace stress is going in the opposite direction from that felt by the general public.
The company provides a customizable wellness portal to clients. As part of the customization, a health risk assessment questionnaire asks users about, among other things, sources and levels of stress that they face. Once the data are analyzed, employees are presented with targeted wellness programming.
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MediKeeper reached its conclusion after analyzing stress data that was generated from a subset of more than 3 million users over a three-year period (2014–2016). Respondents' work experience ranged from entry-level to executive; company sizes varied from small to large, and were geographically spread across the U.S.
Respondents' replies over that period to the question "How would you rate your current stress level with 1 being low and 5 being high?" In 2016, the largest number of respondents (35.9 percent) chose 2 as their answer, but in 2014 the most popular answer was 3 (32.82 percent).
In addition, over the three-year period, the percentage of respondents choosing 1 increased by 58 percent, while the percentage of respondents choosing 5 — the highest stress level — fell by 39 percent.
They were also asked, "What factors contribute to your stress level?" The top five answers, unchanged in order during that same three-year period, were financial worries, concern over family life, feeling overworked, having difficulty sleeping and concern over a child's performance, habits or behavior.
The subjects in the study were limited to individuals who are employed and have access to wellness programming through their employer, rather than the general population.
The American Psychological Association's annual study "Stress in America," on the other hand, is drawn from the general population, and while the 2016 study is not yet available, the 2015 study indicated that the three leading sources of stress were money, family responsibility and work — but the ACA's study found that work was in second place, not third as in the MediKeeper survey.
According to APA's stress-level results from 2014 and 2015, stress is actually increasing nationally, while in the narrowly focused population examined by MediKeeper, the trend appears to be going the other way.
In a statement, MediKeeper said, "The stress profile of our client population is unique, as our respondents had access to health management tools and worked in a corporate environment that promoted wellness. While we can't yet make the assumption that our wellness program is directly resulting in lower levels of stress, it's safe to say that workplace wellness may be the cause."
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