the importance of implementing corporate wellness programs

Running Head: IMPORTANCE OF CORPORATE WELLNESS

The Importance of Implementing Corporate Wellness Programs

Christine Chin

San Jose University

KIN 100W, Section 1

DL Murphy

13 May 2014

IMPORTANCE OF CORPORATE WELLNESS 2

Table of Contents

Abstract 3

Introduction 4

Methods 5

Population 5

Variables and Delimitations 6

Search Criteria 6

Benefits of Implementing Wellness Programs in the Corporate Environment 6

Return on Investments (ROI) 7

Possible positive change in work environment for employees 7

Employee Wellness Benefits 8

Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) 8

Physical Activity 8

Quality of Life

9

Program Components 9

Common Programs 10

Program Management 10

Program Promotion Methods 11

Incentives 10

Motivational methods 11

Discussion 12

Conclusion 14


References 15


Abstract

A great portion of the population is the middle-aged working force, most of who work in the

corporate environment. Due to the work environment in a corporate setting, corporate employees

are sedentary for a great portion of their work day, which can prove to be detrimental to their

health. In this paper, I examined the effects of implementing wellness programs in the corporate

environment. There are certain aspects to consider when developing a wellness program: the

benefits of implementing programs for both the employer and the employees, components that

make a successful program, and the promotion methods. Prior research show that wellness

programs are beneficial for companies (when considering the return on investments) and for the

employees (when considering their health). Limitations of the studies include not considering the

lifestyles of employees outside work, and not choosing a specific gender or ethnicity to focus on.

In order to have a successful program, the main components to consider are using incentives to

increase participation, to get constant feedback from employees, and to use the feedback to

modify the programs to fit as many employees as possible.

Keywords: corporate employee wellness, wellness programs, program participation,

participation incentives, and critical analysis of wellness programs


The Importance of Implementing Corporate Wellness Programs

In these past decades, there has been more focus from the public in making changes to

improve the public’s health and wellbeing. The corporate setting is no exception to this

movement. There are a great number of companies that adopt wellness programs for their

employees, especially after seeing the various benefits of having such programs. Helping

employees to participate in physical activities and mentally relaxing activities can help

employees reduce their stress levels and may help improve their health. As for the company, the

healthier their employees, the more money they are able to save through avenues such as the

decreased costs of health care as well as the decreased rates of absenteeism (Baicker, Cutler, and

Song, 2010).

Implementing fitness and wellness programs have a strong correlation to improving one’s

health. Such health improvements include reducing cardiovascular disease (CVD) and reducing

obesity (Arena, Guazzi, Briggs, Cahalin, Myers, Kaminsky, & Lavie, 2013). One article

discussed the essential factors needed to create an effective program or policy for employees,

which included concepts such as organizational culture and leadership, program design, program

implementation and resources, and the evaluation of the program (“Essential Elements of

Effective Workplace Programs and Policies for Improving Worker Health and Wellbeing” 2013).

Despite being beneficial for companies, not many people participate in wellness programs. There

are several different possible reasons as to why participation rates are low. Such reasons may

include improper promotion methods or not tailoring the programs to fit the needs of the

employees. The promotion methods used also have an effect on the number of employees

participating in the programs. In a study conducted by Haisley, Volpp, Pellathy & Lowenstein


(2012), the researchers had implemented a type of lottery with incentives (e.g. gift certificates) to

get employees to complete health risk assessments (HRAs).

A great portion of those who work in the corporate environment are usually in a sedentary

position for almost their whole day (during work and during their commute to and from work).

Being in a sedentary position for long hours may bring about health issues such as CVD. The

corporate environment may also generate higher stress levels onto the employee. Wellness

programs, in many cases, have been shown to bring about positive improvements in employee

health as well as corporate spending. The following information will address several topics that

are attributed to incorporating wellness programs into the corporate setting. Those topics include

the monetary benefits of having wellness programs, the fitness and health benefits, the

components of wellness programs, and methods to promote participation in the wellness

programs.

Methods

Population

The age group that will be considered will be those in the middle-age group (those who are

between 34-54 years old). This is due to the fact that the middle-aged group represents a majority

of the population who work in the corporate environment. Observing their association, or lack of,

with fitness and wellness programs will be useful in determining whether or not those programs

have a positive impact on the employees and on the company. The research that I have found did

not specifically examine one ethnic group. Rather, the articles did not state their participants’

ethnicity. The articles that I had found also did usually not focus solely on one gender. For the

few articles that did focus on one gender, I had later found another article that focused on about

the same number of people, but for the opposite gender.


Variables/delimitations

Some of the key variables are the participants, the types and number of programs available,

the incentives or the promotion methods, and the return on investment (ROI). As previously

stated, there is no specific ethnicity or gender that was examined. The main terms that will be

used are return on investment, cardiovascular disease, and health risk assessment.

Search Criteria

In order to retrieve data for this study, I had searched through three databases: Academic

Search Premier, SPORTDiscus, and PubMed. Through those databases, I had searched for peer-

reviewed articles using the keywords corporate employee wellness, wellness programs, program

participation, participation incentives, benefits of wellness programs, and critical analysis of

corporate wellness programs. The results from the search led to articles from academic journals

such as the American Journal of Health Promotion, the ACSM’s Health and Fitness Journal, and

the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. In addition to searching on academic

databases, I had also looked for articles on government sites using the same keywords. The two

government sites that I had used were the US National Library of Medicine National Institute of

Health (NIH) and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Benefits of Implementing Wellness Programs in the Corporate Environment

There are several benefits to implementing wellness programs in the corporate environment.

From the articles that I have found, there were no real losses from or negative effects of having

corporate wellness programs. The following information will analyze the benefits of having the

wellness programs, for both the company and for the employee. The benefits for the company

are the returns on investments that they will receive by means of reduction in health spending.

As for the employee, one of the benefits they can enjoy is the change in the work setting.


Return on Investment

A study conducted by Baicker, Cutler & Song (2010) found that wellness programs were

brought to companies to lower health care costs as well as to improve the health of their

employees. They had also found that the medical costs from implementing wellness programs

had lowered medical costs about $3.27 per dollar spent on the programs and that the money

spent in regards to absenteeism had lowered to about $2.73 per dollar spent. Despite the

monetary savings and reduction in absenteeism, the wellness programs were not being fully

utilized by a greater proportion of the employees. The low participation rates cause many to

wonder, however, about the ROI if a majority of the corporate workforce were to participate in

the wellness programs.

Positive Changes in Work Environment

Stave, Muchmore, and Gardener (2003) had examined a company, GlaxoSmithKline, which

had developed an umbrella program that addressed tobacco use, stress management/depression,

nutrition, preventive health practices, and activity. Their conclusions about the health behaviors

were retrieved from employees’ self-reported questionnaires at the end of each calendar year,

and the health care costs were retrieved from the healthcare claims. They had found that with

each passing year, there were more employees that were ready and willing to change by

following the programs, mainly in the physical activity, nutrition, and stress management

programs. There were supplemental on-site educational and health improvement programs, of

which had shown substantial increase in participants from 3057 visits in 1997 to 15,765

participants in 2000. Just as Baicker, Cutler and Song (2010) found, Stave, Muchmore and

Gardner (2003) had also found significant monetary ROI for the companies that had

implemented wellness programs.


Employee Wellness Benefits

The wellness benefits that employees experience from these programs are closely related to

fitness and health benefits. This is most likely because in wellness programs, there are usually

programs that involve physical activity, nutrition, stress management, and disease prevention.

All these programs are closely connected, thus they are put together to improve the overall

wellness of the employee. For this particular section, I will focus on the cardiovascular disease

prevention as well as the physical activity benefits.

Cardiovascular Disease (CVD)

CVD refers to any disease that affects the cardiovascular system. CVD is also one of the

leading causes of death in the US, thus its usual occurrence in wellness programs. It is found that

“25-35% of companies’ medical costs per year are spent on employees’ with the major health

risk factors” like CVD and stroke (Carnethon, Whitsel, Franklin, Kris-Etherton, Milani, Pratt, &

Wagner 2009). Arena et al. (2013) recommended that health risk assessments (HRAs) should be

the first task completed in a health and wellness program so that the employees are more aware

of risk factors and become educated on the various methods they can implement in their lives to

reduce the risk of developing health related problems. Completing HRAs also help employees to

know whether or not they are at risk for developing CVD and to receive the proper treatment.

Physical Activity

Within corporations, a majority of the employees are usually sedentary for most of their

work hours. According to Arena et al. (2013), those employees have “significantly higher risks

of developing CVD and metabolic conditions (e.g., insulin resistance and obesity).” Those

employees also seem to have lower levels of fitness and may have high costs for health care.

Education about the benefits pf physical activity and providing facilities or opportunities for


physical activity, from something small (e.g. taking the stairs instead of the elevator) to

something on a larger scale (e.g. having a gym or recreational center) prove to have great

benefits for the employees.

Quality of Life

Clark, Jenkins, Limoges, Hagen, Lackore, Harris, & Olsen (2013) had examined the use

of a wellness center with the possible potential of increasing employees’ quality of life (QOL).

They had conducted this study over a 12-month period and participants completed two QOL

surveys; one before participation, as a baseline, and another survey after the 12-month period

was over. They had divided their participants into four categories: low users (less than once

every two weeks), below average users, above average users, and high users (two to three visits

per week). The researchers had measured the employees’ physical, mental, nutritional, and health

QOL at the baseline as well as at the end of the 12-month period. The results of this study

support the idea that employees who take advantage of wellness programs show improvements

in their QOL (overall QOL increased from 75.1% to 80.5%), whereas those who do not use the

wellness centers showed a decline or stagnation in their QOL. This demonstrates the importance

of taking advantage of wellness programs so that employees can effectively use the wellness

programs to improve their QOL

Program Components

With the many issues and concern with personal health, wellness, and fitness, there are

several programs that companies can choose to provide for their workers. These programs have

the potential to bring about life style changes in employees that can benefit them for the rest of

their lives, if they continue to apply what they learn through these programs. There are also

several combinations of said programs that can improve employee wellness.


Common Programs

The most common programs within wellness programs are ones that have been

previously mentioned: physical activity, nutrition, stress management, and disease prevention.

Combining these programs help workers improve their overall wellness especially because these

programs are all interrelated. Within these programs, the employees are usually educated about

why attending and participating in that program is beneficial for them. They are able to learn

about things that they may not have known before, whether its methods to change their lifestyle,

or about health related issues that they may not have known that they had or are close to

developing. Davis, Loyo, Schwertfeger, Glowka, Danielson, Brea, & Griffin-Blake (2009)

observed the effects of a partnership between Steps to a Healthier Austin (a worksite wellness

program) and the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Capital Metro). One of their

conclusions was that through educating and helping participants through the provided programs

(health, nutrition, fitness, and smoking cessation); the participants were able to make lifestyle

changes that brought great benefits to them and to their company.

Program Management

As with everything, wellness programs also need to be managed and evaluated

periodically to determine whether or not the programs, facilities, or resources need to be updated.

Mudge-Riley, McCarthy, and Persichetti, (2013) discussed in their article that “the most

successful companies use data and metrics to identify care gaps and evaluate programs.

Thøgersen-Ntoumani and Fox (2005) had conducted a study and had given questionnaires to

employees to determine what kind of employee they are: the self-assured employee, the unhappy

employee, the exercising happy employee, and the physically unhappy employee. Conducting this


type of survey can help employers to determine what kind of programs they should develop and

how they should maintain it so they it can be effective to as many people as possible.

Program Promotion Methods

Wellness programs, in almost all cases, have proven to be beneficial to both the employer

and the employees. However, the numbers of participating employees are lower than many

companies would ideally want. This makes finding and executing the appropriate incentives and

motivating employees to participate are essential.

Incentives

Linnan, Sorensen, Colditz, Klar, and Emmons (2001) have theorized that there are

multiple levels of influence that companies should appeal to in order to get more employees to

partake in the wellness programs: the interpersonal, the intrapersonal, and the institutional

levels. Another study, which was conducted by Haisley, Volpp, Pellathy, and Loewenstein

(2012), examined an example of a type of incentive that employers should use. They had

experimented to see whether a lottery approach or directly giving employee gift certificates

worked as a better incentive to get employees to complete HRAs. They had determined that

participants who were part of the lottery group had higher participant rates than those who were

directly handed the gift certificates. This shows that finding the right incentive and finding a way

to make it most effective is essential in promoting the wellness programs.

Motivational Methods

The CDC had published an article in 2013 that addressed the “Essential Elements of

Effective Workplace Programs and Policies for Improving Worker Health and Wellbeing”

(2013). In it, they had four main categories to a successful wellness program: organizational

culture and leadership, program design, program implementation and resources, and program


evaluation. These four categories hold a total of 20 vital characteristics, some of which have

already been discussed previously eluded to in this paper (e.g. integrating relevant systems,

promoting employee participation, consider incentives and rewards, adjust the program as

needed, and measuring, analyzing, and adjusting or modifying programs as time passes).

Discussion

These findings determine several benefits of having wellness programs in the corporate

environment. In terms of ROI, Baicker, Cutler, and Song (2010) determined from their study that

implementing wellness programs had lowered medical costs about $3.27 per dollar spent on the

programs and that the money spent in regards to absenteeism had lowered to about $2.73 per

dollar spent. The promotional methods for wellness programs are a significant part of whether or

not the wellness program will receive enough employee participation in order to survive. The

main promotional tactic is using monetary incentives, such as gift cards or gift certificates. These

monetary incentives can usually be given immediately after completing HRAs or after a lotto-

like system is developed to give additional cash value to the gift card or certificate. Another key

factor in the survival of successful wellness programs is the constant reevaluation and

modification of the programs. Having employees fill out questionnaires, examining money spent

on medical costs as well as absenteeism can help to determine the effectiveness of the wellness

program.

They key results of this research show the monetary benefits for the company in the form

of ROIs and show the health benefits for the employees in the form of improved health and

fitness. These are changes that both parties are willing to apply. On the corporate side, they are

able to save money spent on health care claims and are able to have employees who are healthier

and may become less stressed and may become more energized to work. On the employee side,


they are able to become educated on different aspects of life, such as nutrition, health and

physical fitness, and be able to apply what they learn into their daily lives.

The limitations of this current study include not having enough studies that focus on one

specific gender or ethnicity. Having more studies on gender and ethnicity can help wellness

program developers to determine what programs are more important to which group of people.

Another limitation of this study is that the research used did not make mention of the lives of the

employees outside of the workplace. Thus, it cannot be definitively said that those who do not

participate in the wellness programs lead active lifestyles.

The lifestyles of the employees outside of the workplace can also be categorized as a hole

in the research, since there is no mention of such influence on the participation of wellness

programs or effect on company health care spending. When researching this topic, I could not

find any articles that disapproved of wellness programs or that negatively criticized wellness

programs, in effect giving the impression that wellness programs can only be beneficial for

employers and employees. Although this may not usually be seen as a hole in the research, it was

hard to eliminate any biases because there was no opinion against it.

Future research can examine more closely the effects of specific programs on employees.

By doing so, there may be more variations or adjustments that can be made to programs to

become more appealing to a greater number of employees. Experimenting with alternative

promotional methods, not just monetary incentives, can also help companies to find the most

effective promotional method to raise participation in wellness programs.

Although the corporate environment is made up of employees of different genders and

various ethnic backgrounds, it may be worthwhile to examine specific groups of people (by

gender and ethnicity) to determine which program(s) is/are more important to them. Doing this


may have the potential to help companies realize key aspects that clients of similar gender and

ethnic backgrounds may have, and can change their products to fit these needs. Future research

should also consider employees’ lifestyle outside of work, since those factors may have an effect

on employee participation rates in wellness programs.

Conclusion

Wellness programs have become widely used in many corporate setting, due to the focus

on the public’s health and wellbeing. The education and techniques or concepts learned in

wellness programs do have the potential of staying with the employee, as they are to apply such

teachings into their daily lives. LeCheminant and Merrill (2012) have examined the health

effects of wellness programs on employees after12 months and 24 months of attendance. They

had found that blood pressure reduced with each year (p=0.028), cholesterol levels stagnated

(p=0.981), and glucose levels also stagnated (p=0.776). The American Heart Association also

promotes worksite wellness due to its many befits to the employer and the employee. Such

benefits they state include the savings “from $3 to $15 for every $1 spent on health and wellness

within 12-18 months of implementing a worksite wellness program,” (Archer, 2010). Wellness

programs are profitable to both the employer and employee both monetarily and health wise.

However, companies need to ensure that they design programs that have effective promotion

methods and have the programs that will appeal to and help improve employees’ overall

wellness.


References

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Baicker, K., Cutler, D., & Song, Z. (2010). Workplace wellness programs can generate

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Carnethon, M., Whitsel, L. P., Franklin, B. A., Kris-Etherton, P., Milani, R., Pratt, C. A., &

Wagner, G. R. (2009). Worksite wellness programs for cardiovascular disease prevention

a policy statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation, 120(17), 1725-

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Clark, M. M., Jenkins, S. M., Limoges, K. A., Hagen, P. T., Lackore, K. A., Harris, A. M., & …

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and Wellbeing. (2013). Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/TWH/essentials.html

Grawitch, M. J., Gottschalk, M., & Munz, D. C. (2006). The path to a healthy workplace: a

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Kaspin, L. C., Gorman, K. M., & Miller, R. M. (2013). Systematic review of employer-

sponsored wellness strategies and their economic and health-related

outcomes. Population Health Management, 16(1), 14-21. Retrieved from Academic

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LeCheminant, J. D., & Merrill, R. M. (2012). Improved health behaviors persist over two years

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261-266. doi: 10.1089/pop.2011.0083

Linnan, L. A., Sorensen, G., Colditz, G., Klar, N., & Emmons, K. M. (2001). Using theory to

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Mudge-Riley, M., McCarthy, M., & Persichetti, T. E. (2013). Incorporating wellness into

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Stave, G. M., Muchmore, L., & Gardner, H. (2003). Quantifiable impact of the contract for

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