Do workplace wellness programmes work?

There are a number of studies with promising findings that suggest that well-designed workplace wellness programmes result in good returns on investment (ROI), enhanced productivity, and positive impact on workers’ well-being. Among US publicly trading companies on the Standard & Poor’s list, stock value and dividends are higher for companies that have received recognition for their workplace wellness programmes. Reported ROI range from US$1.51 to US$3 for every dollar spent on their workplace wellness programmes. On the other hand, several studies have highlighted gaps in the design of workplace wellness programmes, suggesting that real impact on the organisation’s bottom line through improved productivity requires multifaceted programmes that address nutrition, physical activity, the work environment, psychological well-being, and the culture of the organisation as whole, as well as time for the effects, if any, to become apparent.

WHAT IS WORKPLACE WELLNESS?

The term ‘workplace wellness’ may mean different things to different people. Wellness may be defined as the empowerment of people to actualise their full potential by enabling the best version of themselves through informed choices that promote a state of physical, mental, social, and spiritual well-being, and the mindfulness and resilience for maintaining and renewing balance. It is intertwined with organisational culture, which refers to the seen and unseen customs, symbols, and expectations that shape how people behave in the workplace.

WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE?

Harvard researchers elegantly executed a large-scale experiment evaluating an incentivised multipronged workplace wellness programme with 33,000 workers. Encouragingly, they demonstrated that the workplace intervention resulted in positive behaviour change with increased physical exercise. However, there was no significant change in objective biomedical measures or productivity measures like absenteeism and job performance. These aspects of the findings were sobering but nonetheless instructive. There are no quick fixes, as meaningful impact on health and the bottom line require long-term commitment and integration in the organisation’s culture.

In another study, researchers from the Hannover Medical School collaborated with the Occupational Healthcare Centre at the Volkswagen factory in Wolfsburg, Germany. This initiative demonstrated that a physical exercise programme led to a significant decrease in metabolic syndrome severity over a six-month period. Metabolic syndrome refers to a combination of high blood sugar, high blood pressure, obesity, and high cholesterol associated with an increased risk for heart disease. Firstly, the duration of physical activity over a specified period, say per week, seemed to really matter, and not just the intensity of the exercise. Secondly, the modest change observed over a relatively short period suggests that you are more likely to observe a meaningful impact from an intervention when those with the highest risk for poor health outcomes are targeted. Workplace health interventions may be designed to provide different types and degrees of the interventions tailored to the various risk profiles of workers.

HEALTHIER FOOD CHOICES

Another research group from Harvard conducted a separate workplace wellness experiment. They found that employees of a large teaching hospital made healthier food choices when they received automated messages based on choices of foods purchased at the cafeteria. The comprehensive approach also included financial incentives and personalised feedback. The primary outcome of interest was change in body weight, but the intervention had no significant effect on weight gain, at least not for the short period of observation. Programmes may positively impact workers’ behaviours, but the effects of such interventions may not necessarily become apparent in the short term.

There is a growing body of research on workplace wellness interventions with useful findings, whether negative or positive. What goes into the wellness ‘black box’ requires thoughtfulness and experimentation. Certainly, what seems to be clear across industry, academia and public policy is that assessing interventions should include biomedical health metrics and measures of cost and productivity.

Yohann White is president of Jamaica Occupational Health and Safety Professionals Association. Send feedback to johspa.health.workplace@gmail.com