Case Study: Health Promotion

Health Promotion Case Study

In this scenario the individual has been asked by a local law firm to come into the organization and establish a wellness program to promote the health of its employees. The firm includes a team of 20 lawyers, 3 managers, 45 paralegals, 5 administrative assistants, 2 information technologists and 4 part-time housekeeping and maintenance staff. The partners agreed last year to install a fully equipped gym in their building because otherwise they would receive a discount on the health insurance if 85% of the employees were participating in the gym at least an average of 90 minutes a week. At the time of renewal of the health care benefits package, the organization was disqualified from the discount because only approximately 10% of the employees were participating in the gym. This case involves a solution for engaging more of the law firm employees in health promotion activities through the gym.

Case Study

The reasons that employees fail to exercise are inclusive of not having enough time, too many obligations with their family, and some simply do not like to exercise. However, there are ways that the organization can motivate its' employees to exercise. For example, it is reported that approximately "90% of employers offer wellness incentives, or financial rewards or prizes to employees who work toward getting healthier." (Wieczner, 2013, p. 1) That is reported to be up from the 57% of companies in 2009 that offered these perks. Perks earned by employees for exercising and becoming healthier are reported to average approximately $521.00 per employee. (Wieczner, 2013, paraphrased) Wieczner states that according to Stephanie Prouk, health and wellness consultant with Aon Hewitt, the HR part of Aon PLC "Incentives themselves are not the silver bullet...It's really important to change the incentive design and keep people on their toes." (2013, p. 1)

The use of an Educational-Awareness Incentive Program involves the company offering rewards for completion of activities including risk factor and personal health assessments. Educational/Awareness Incentives include various screenings as well and it is reported that incentives "worth at least $100 are needed to get about 75% of employees to participate. Smaller rewards than that tend to motivate in the range of only 30% to 50%, experts say." (Wieczner, 2013, p. 1) Stated as the positive aspects of this type of incentive program is that "the simple activities are a good way to introduce employees to healthy behavior and their own risk factors. Companies can also use the data to figure out what their workers' health needs are." (Wieczner, 2013,, p. 1) The negative aspect to these type programs is stated to be that relating to employees "about their risks and giving them advice won't necessarily lead them to take action." (Wieczner, 2013,, p. 1)

Another type incentive plan is the Action-Based Incentive Plan which involves employees earning rewards and maybe avoiding penalties and it is stated that employees "are required to take action to improve their health after going through a risk assessment, such as joining a weight-management program or getting a preventive screening." (Wieczner, 2013, p. 1) The Action-Based Incentive program involves giving of rewards in the range of $200 to $300 for assessment that is followed-up with action. The pros to the Action-Based Incentive model is that the model "motivates employees to take steps to change their unhealthy behaviors." (Wieczner, 2013,, p. 1) The cons to the Action-Based Incentive model is that the incentives fail to "encourage healthy behavior beyond the completion of the required programs." (Wieczner, 2013,, p. 1)

The third type of program is the Progress-Based Incentive Program. This is a program that involves the employer offering rewards when the employees take "steps to hit optimal benchmarks for cholesterol, blood pressure and weight. Steps can include enrolling in a weight-management program and reducing body mass index." (Wieczner, 2013,, p. 1) The annual value for this incentive program is reported at $100 for attaining a weight that is healthy. Stated as the pros of the Progress-Based Incentive program is that "employees are financially motivated to improve their health, instead of getting penalized for not being perfect." (Wieczner, 2013,, p. 1) The cons to the Progress-Based Incentive program is that providing employees with rewards for "simply showing up to a wellness program doesn't mean they will actually get healthier, and there's a long way to go from a "morbidly obese" body mass index of 40 to a healthy under 25." (Wieczner, 2013,, p. 1)

The third incentive plan is the Outcome-Based Incentive Program which involves the company tying both penalties and incentives to "health metrics, with workers paying more until they hit ideal cholesterol, blood pressure and body mass index levels; 41% of employers use this model, a survey by Fidelity and the National Business Group on Health found." (Wieczner, 2013, p. 1) The rewards program is generally: (1) 100 for achieving a healthy weight (2) $125 for hitting other biometric targets; and (3) $200 for quitting tobacco. The pros of the Outcome-Based Incentive Program is that this model is found by experts to be "effective at making people objectively improve their health." (Wieczner, 2013,, p. 1) The cons to this incentive program is that the model is believed by some to be "discriminatory and decrease access to health care." (Wieczner, 2013,, p. 1)