For my systems project I chose to focus on IT Based Wellness Programs. At first I didn't if I wanted to focus on the different types of programs offered, or the financial benefits companies see when implementing these programs. My goal was to show that wellness programs helped improve the health and well-being of a specific population which was supported by taking a look into multiple factors surrounding this topic. Some of the factors included the definition of wellness programs, they're inclusion in the Affordable Care Act in 2010, resistance from the Equal Employer Opportunity Commission and the American with Disabilities Act, and finally into some statistics on number of companies that have some kind of wellness program offered. I also interviewed a family friend of mine who's company offers a great wellness program just to get some real life feedback on the effectiveness of wellness programs.
The beginning of my research brought a lot of shocking news to me regarding the negative viewpoints of wellness programs. It was the EEOC and ADA that showed resistance to specific wellness programs shortly after their inclusion in the Affordable Care Act in 2010. They argued that some of the programs (outcome-based programs specifically) invaded employee's privacy and discriminated others based on their health. This was alarming to me. How could something that improves an employer's overall health and well-being be a bad thing? Yet, those employees that are considered 'overweight' probably feel targeted as an individual of low health, and sometimes penalized for not reaching health standards on a health risk assessment. Same goes for smokers who feel they are being penalized for their addiction. In order to better understand this dilemma I had to put myself in the shoes of someone with a preexisting condition or an addiction, and it was then that I could see the problem. Wellness programs aren't about rewarding the super healthy employees and penalizing the unhealthy ones, they're about promoting a healthier lifestyle all together. I believe some of the incentive based programs in the beginning were poorly formatted and ended up penalizing those who didn't reach the right measures on the risk assessments instead of rewarding everyone for simply taking the assessment. Since then I think they have improved tremendously and now are including more activity from wearable devices like Apple Watches and Fitbits.
With 98-99% of companies with 100+ employees offering health benefits and 86-96% of companies with 50-99 employees offering health benefits, I can say with confidence that wellness programs are here to stay. The companies not only have the motive of a decreased healthcare premium but also of a potential to increase employee retention. Healthy employees are happy employees. And if companies start taking care of their employees then they are going to see results. I know that a lot of young college grads look for a company that takes care of the employee just as much as the customer, and providing additional health benefits beyond the normal healthcare is one way to do just that. Over the next couple of years I'm sure we'll see improvements to the different types of wellness programs offered in companies, and a lot less issues with discrimination against employees. Like I said before, it's all about improving the overall lifestyle individual, not forcing someone to run 5ks and eat kale. Everyone does healthy just a little bit different and that's what makes the world go round.
