Objective: To develop a better understanding of businesses’ goals and purpose for offering worksite wellness opportunities and the level of administrative support for worksite wellness programs. Method: Human resource directors, benefit managers, or other administrators of 76 businesses that have contracted with Premier Community Health in the past 2 years were contacted by email to complete a ...

This perspective is an ethical brief overview and examination of “wellness” policies in the modern workplace using practical examples and a general application of utilitarianism. Many employers are implementing policies that provide incentives to employees who lead a “healthy” lifestyle. The authors address how these policies could adversely affect “non-healthy” employees. There are a wide vari...

Employers are increasingly interested in improving employee health, with the goals of reducing health care costs and increasing productivity. As of 2010, 74% of employers who offered health insurance also offered a wellness program, and the prevalence is increasing. However, there is vigorous debate about whether employee wellness programs actually work to improve health. Although proponents as...

The health cost crisis has spawned a thriving cost-control industry that offers an ever-growing number of “solutions.” The authors of this article encourage employers to go back to the basics in evaluating these offerings, including their wellness policies and programs. This article describes the many ways different employers do wellness, the evidence base for wellness, how employers should tar...

AND JUDITH A. SHINOGLE PH.D. W orksite wellness programs are becoming increasingly popular among U.S. employers. In 2011, 74 percent of employers offered health benefits and some form of worksite wellness programs, including weight-loss programs, gym membership discounts, on-site exercise facilities, smoking cessation programs, personal health coaching, classes in nutrition or healthy living, o...

Health promotion and wellness specialists have long held this belief: ‘‘If you build a wellness program to help people lead healthier lives, they will come.’’ And why wouldn’t they? Start with completing a health risk assessment (HRA) and possibly biometric screening; the process alone can potentially be lifesaving, alerting people with conditions such as high cholesterol, hypertension, and dia...

Being healthy is important for living well and achieving longevity. In the business realm, furthermore, employers want healthy employees, as these workers tend to be more productive, have fewer rates of absenteeism, and use less of their health insurance resources. This article provides an overview of corporate “wellness” efforts in the American workplace and the concomitant challenges which em...

Organizational wellness programs are on or off-site services sponsored by organizations which attempt to promote good health or to identify and correct potential health related problems (Wolfe, Parker, & Napier, 1994). The authors conducted a meta-analysis on studies that examined the effects of participation in an organizational wellness program (fitness or comprehensive) on absenteeism and jo...