What Do Workplace Wellness Programs Do? Evidence from the Illinois Workplace Wellness Study
While workplace wellness programs are intended to reduce medical spending and increase employee health, productivity, and wellbeing and over 50 million U.S. workers are offered such programs, limited evidence exists to demonstrate their effectiveness in impacting any of these outcomes. In a study of nearly 5,000 individuals randomly assigned program eligibility and different levels of financial incentives found no significant impacts on total medical expenditures, health behaviors, productivity, or self-reported health status after two years. Suggesting that such programs do not have the intended impacts and may not be effective at improving employee health, wellbeing, or productivity.
Journal: The Quarterly Journal of Economics.