Wellness programs seen as key benefit: Survey
By Joanne Wojcik / Business Insurance
March 18, 2009

Employers are stepping up communication with their employees about wellness and
employee assistance programs available to them and are not planning to make significant
cuts in the budgets for those programs, according to a survey.

 
“Despite pressure to reduce costs in many other areas of operations, 45% of respondents
report increasing their wellness communications to highlight available services that can
assist employees with issues brought on by the economic downturn,” said Ruth Hunt, a
principal in Buck Consultants’ communication practice in New York, in a statement.
Ms. Hunt co-directed the survey with Barry Hall, Buck principal and global wellness leader,
during the Fourth Annual Employer Health & Human Capital Congress, which was held in
Washington last month. The survey was conducted interactively involving 200 audience
members attending one of the meeting’s general sessions.
“Our findings suggest that wellness has ‘come of age’ as a vital benefit offering, especially
during financially difficult times,” Mr. Hall said in the statement.  He said 53% of survey respondents reported an increase in the use of wellness services since the financial crisis began. 

Among other survey findings: 

• 19% plan to increase spending on wellness programs
• 59% have experienced no budget changes, but are anxious about the possibility of having
  to make cuts in the future. 
• Among those expecting cuts, 78% said those involving wellness programs will be no
  greater than any reductions affecting other corporate spending areas.

Before the conference, Buck conducted a separate survey of 52 employer delegates to
examine the culture of health—the creation of a workplace culture that promotes healthy
lifestyle choices—in today’s workplace. 

Those findings include:

• Only one-third of respondents report having a culture of health today, while 87% intend
  to pursue this philosophy for the future. 
• Measuring outcomes is the top priority for enhancing wellness programs among 56% of respondents.
• 47% of respondents reported the biggest barrier to achieving a culture of health in their
  organizations was getting a commitment from top management. Neither survey results were formally published.

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