Wellness Programs

A wellness program is a comprehensive health initiative designed to maintain or improve employee well-being through proper diet, exercise, stress management, and illness prevention. These programs can include smoking cessation support, weight loss education, fitness challenges, therapy, and other plans aimed at improving a person’s overall health. In the past, wellness programs were mostly offered by primary care physicians and insurance companies, but there has been a growing trend for companies to build their own workplace wellness programs for employees.

Workplace wellness programs help counter the trend of declining employee health, and they can also lower medical care costs and insurance premiums for the company. Employers share this information in a variety of formats, including wellness videos, pamphlets, health-related quizzes, and bulletin boards.

According to the American Institute for Preventive Medicine, 91% of organizations now have a health and wellness program, compared to 78% a decade earlier. Workplace wellness programs may also include incentives to encourage employee participation.