Employer-sponsored health plans cover more than half of the country’s nonelderly population, which is approximately 147 million people. Half to 70 percent of employers now offer high-deductible health plans, which encourage employees to take an active role in deciding the type of care they need. This requires employers to educate employees to become smarter healthcare consumers and to become motivated to take action.

Workplace wellness programs have the ability to help employees take action in the right direction toward healthy living. They have the potential to keep employees healthy and productive, avoid illness and absenteeism, and save them money by consuming fewer healthcare resources. Workplace health promotion programs that can do all that will provide value to employees and now just need to be cost-effective at the same time.

Many small and mid-size companies are unsure if they have resources to support a comprehensive program. However, more and more experts suggest looking to scientific evidence to gain a best practices approach to developing company-wide wellness initiatives. By focusing on five major risk factors, it is believed that employers of all sizes can positively impact overall health and productivity at work.

Five Wellness Initiatives to Target in 2017

According to the 2015 From Evidence to Practice: Workplace Wellness that Works Study an effective wellness program needs to address the following five basic health concerns through creative and empowering strategies: exercise, nutrition, tobacco cessation, stress management and sleep.

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Jeffrey R. Ungvary President