Beyond wellness: Workplace health initiatives that work

It’s not that wellness programs are necessarily of poor quality. Rather, they aren’t very effective because they don’t target anyone’s specific needs, (Photo: Shutterstock)

We’ve heard a lot about workplace wellness or lifestyle programs lately – namely that they’re ineffective, according to a recent study. While results showed wellness programs had some positive effects, that was largely because the employees who participated in them tended to have lower medical expenditures even before enrolling, debunking the claims that such programs meaningfully improve the health of employees who need it most.

But it would be a mistake if anyone took this study as their cue to dismiss workplace-wide health initiatives altogether. Done properly, employee health programs can indeed be a powerful tool in reducing health care costs – a necessity for employers struggling to keep up with the rising medical trend, as all benefits managers and brokers know. The key is choosing the right type of program.