“Wellness programs appear to be holding their own as an organizational priority,” said Barry Hall, a Buck principal who directed the survey. “Despite increased pressure on employers to cut budgets, many recognize that their wellness programs can help relieve the personal burdens that often affect their employees' health and productivity. “Further, the prevalence of provisions in U.S. health reform legislation in support of wellness and prevention seems likely to propel wellness to even greater attention and investment in the United States."

Business Objectives Vary

For every international region outside the U.S., the number one business objective for wellness programs was improving employee productivity by keeping employees healthy and reducing the prevalence of employee “presenteeism” (when employees are at work, but not fully productive due to personal health issues), according to the survey report. In the U.S., the top business objective for wellness initiatives was reducing healthcare costs, while the second objective was improving productivity and third was reducing employee absence, noted the report.

“The heightened global focus on improving productivity is a significant trend,” said Barry Hall, a Buck principal who directed the survey. “Business leaders around the world are increasingly recognizing the financial value of healthier workers and the need to better engage employees in reducing their health risks.”

Meanwhile, the United States and Latin America rated physical activity and exercise the number one health risk driving their wellness strategy while the rest of the world, Africa, Asia, Australia, Canada and Europe, rated stress as the number one health risk, according to the report.

“Employers in the United States and Latin America seem to lag behind the rest of the world in addressing stress and its related conditions such as depression, anxiety and fatigue,” said Hall. “These are the most significant drivers of productivity loss and absenteeism, as well as increased healthcare costs.”

Popular Wellness Components

According to the report, some of the most popular health promotion resources worldwide are: employee health screenings, including biometric screenings such as blood pressure, cholesterol and body fat; health risk appraisals (health and lifestyle questionnaires), executive screening programs, immunizations, gym or fitness club membership discounts, health portals and websites, on-site educational classes, and employee health fairs.

In addition, personalization of employee information kept in an online format helps employees track their own individual progress in reducing their health risk factors and becoming healthier when participating in wellness programming and services, according to the report. Measuring Results

Only 22% of surveyed employers worldwide use financial metrics to validate the success of their wellness programs, according to the report, although in the United States., 42% of respondents have measured the effect of wellness programs on their healthcare-cost trend rate. Of these, 43% reported a reduction of 2 to 5 percentage points of their healthcare costs, noted the report. The survey was conducted among a total of 1,103 employers.