Some corporate wellness programs have seen improved outcomes thanks to coaching
Aside from illness and disability benefits, corporate wellness programs have been offered by companies seeking to improve health among their workforce. Some may ask whether these programs are effective, especially when employees do not participate actively. The possible solution: one-on-one coaching.
According to a report by Employee Benefit News, some employers in the US are tapping wellness coaches to help boost participation and increase savings achieved from health plans.
“When they make [wellness programs] voluntary, there is pretty low enrolment,“ Craft Hayes, an adviser for Bernard Health in Tennessee, told the news site. Since employees don’t see a reduction in their insurance premiums as a result of their participating, they’re generally not interested.
“For the older members of the workforce, one-on-one coaching could have a huge advantage,” said Hayes, whose firm offers programs with a personal coaching element. He said coaches can track and follow up with older workers, as well as report improvements in health claims and better health conditions.
“It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach; it’s one-size-fits-one,” said Lindsey Bush, an account executive for Indianapolis-based firm Gregory & Appel Insurance. She works with a fulltime wellness coordinator to provide clients with tailored programs, which often feature wellness coaching.
Some clients Bush works with go through biometric screenings along with coaching. One program that her firm offers, which has a participatory and health coaching component, lets employers get better benefits by meeting certain health requirements.
To succeed, a wellness program requires an effective coaching element. “It’s about more than saying, ‘Here’s a flier about diabetes and weight loss,’” Bush emphasised. It requires meeting people and understanding the stressors they deal with, as well as learning what struggles contribute to their health and medical claims.
From there, the most successful coaches can take a fresh approach. That could involve a myriad of solutions, from a focus on financial wellness to understanding how one’s diet can affect blood glucose levels and, possibly, their weight.
Many employers offer wellness program with an eye on reducing costs — which one adviser said is not necessarily the right attitude to adopt. “We think that wellness should be offered because it's the right thing to do rather than having a direct correlation with healthcare costs,” said Jason Seltzer of J. Seltzer Associates. “Most of our clients feel the same way.”
Realizing the benefits of a wellness programs can be quite difficult. According to Seltzer, the benefits of such a program can take years to measure and manifest. Aside from that, it can take just one emergency to erase any savings. “You can [manage the condition of] 20 people with diabetes and one premature baby will cost more than all of them,” he said.
Still, coaches add value by ensuring accountability. According to Gene McGuire, managing partner of Wellness Coaches, employees can be motivated to use and pay more attention to their fitness wearables like Fitbit and Apple iWatches when they work with coaches.
“[W]e are finding that without coaching, [fitness devices] usually end up in people’s drawers,” McGuire said. “The employees working with a coach are more likely to set goals and achieve them.”
Related stories:
New partnership forged to improve health in the Canadian workforce
US academic asks can wearable tech be used to increase health premiums
According to a report by Employee Benefit News, some employers in the US are tapping wellness coaches to help boost participation and increase savings achieved from health plans.
“When they make [wellness programs] voluntary, there is pretty low enrolment,“ Craft Hayes, an adviser for Bernard Health in Tennessee, told the news site. Since employees don’t see a reduction in their insurance premiums as a result of their participating, they’re generally not interested.
“For the older members of the workforce, one-on-one coaching could have a huge advantage,” said Hayes, whose firm offers programs with a personal coaching element. He said coaches can track and follow up with older workers, as well as report improvements in health claims and better health conditions.
“It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach; it’s one-size-fits-one,” said Lindsey Bush, an account executive for Indianapolis-based firm Gregory & Appel Insurance. She works with a fulltime wellness coordinator to provide clients with tailored programs, which often feature wellness coaching.
Some clients Bush works with go through biometric screenings along with coaching. One program that her firm offers, which has a participatory and health coaching component, lets employers get better benefits by meeting certain health requirements.
To succeed, a wellness program requires an effective coaching element. “It’s about more than saying, ‘Here’s a flier about diabetes and weight loss,’” Bush emphasised. It requires meeting people and understanding the stressors they deal with, as well as learning what struggles contribute to their health and medical claims.
From there, the most successful coaches can take a fresh approach. That could involve a myriad of solutions, from a focus on financial wellness to understanding how one’s diet can affect blood glucose levels and, possibly, their weight.
Many employers offer wellness program with an eye on reducing costs — which one adviser said is not necessarily the right attitude to adopt. “We think that wellness should be offered because it's the right thing to do rather than having a direct correlation with healthcare costs,” said Jason Seltzer of J. Seltzer Associates. “Most of our clients feel the same way.”
Realizing the benefits of a wellness programs can be quite difficult. According to Seltzer, the benefits of such a program can take years to measure and manifest. Aside from that, it can take just one emergency to erase any savings. “You can [manage the condition of] 20 people with diabetes and one premature baby will cost more than all of them,” he said.
Still, coaches add value by ensuring accountability. According to Gene McGuire, managing partner of Wellness Coaches, employees can be motivated to use and pay more attention to their fitness wearables like Fitbit and Apple iWatches when they work with coaches.
“[W]e are finding that without coaching, [fitness devices] usually end up in people’s drawers,” McGuire said. “The employees working with a coach are more likely to set goals and achieve them.”
Related stories:
New partnership forged to improve health in the Canadian workforce
US academic asks can wearable tech be used to increase health premiums
