Instead of sending out mass emails or holding more meetings, businesses with employee health and wellness programs are beginning to embrace technology platforms to encourage their employees to improve and monitor their health.
About 75 percent of businesses that participated in a recent survey reported using technology-related strategies to educate their employees about health benefits and healthy lifestyles.
More than 60 percent of businesses responding to the survey, conducted by human resource organizations WorldAtWork and Buck Consultants L.L.C., reported using games to motivate employees to adopt healthier lifestyles, while 36 percent had used mobile technology and 50 percent had used social media.
More than 360 businesses with a median size of 2,500 employees contributed to the survey.
“With health reform, every organization is struggling with complying with new health care regulations, as well as managing the rising cost of health care,” said Betsy Woods Brooks, a principal at Buck”™s communication practice in Stamford. “It”™s a huge emphasis for our company right now.”
Buck, a subsidiary of Norwalk-based Xerox Corp., is a global human resources and benefits consulting company. In addition to retirement and compensation services, the group also creates technology platforms for companies to implement their wellness communication strategies.
“(Employers) know they can”™t shift costs onto employees anymore,” Brooks said. “So now they”™re introducing health and wellness programs that focus on health awareness and preventive care ”” modifying lifestyles so employees are healthier to reduce long-term costs and absenteeism.”
“But in order to do that, you really need effective communication,” she said.
A crossword puzzle can demystify health care lingo like “copayment” and “coinsurance,” while a mobile application can store medical policy information and direct communication from an employer, Brooks said.
Brooks said Buck helped Aéropostale Inc., a national clothing retailer, with a workforce of primarily young women, to create a Facebook page for pregnant employees.
The page provided prenatal information and support to employees and allowed users to post tips and share photos and stories. Brooks said if the page had helped the employer avoid one premature birth, which is often very expensive, the cost of the page would be covered.
Yet not all companies have bought into each kind of technology platform and half of all those that do utilize a platform arenӪt sure of its effectiveness, according to the survey. Many have privacy concerns about using social media like A̩ropostale did and about a third of respondents said they didnӪt think their employees were ready for a technology platform or didnӪt see it as a good fit within their organizationӪs culture.
Most were unsure of their platforms”™ effectiveness; however only 10 percent to 20 percent of businesses surveyed had actually attempted to measure its success rate. Of those who did, most said the programs were “somewhat effective.”
Brooks said she was most surprised that companies were not measuring their programs”™ return on investment, but said she believes using technology can be very effective.
After creating a first-person game for one company, Buck found a significant increase in employee understanding, based on before-and-after survey results. After completing the game, 55 percent of employees said they understood why their health policy was in place, up from 38 percent. About 62 percent said they understood how their works, up from 35 percent, Brooks said.
“With technology we have new ways to motivate employees,” Brooks said. “It”™s more engaging, it”™s fun, it”™s entertaining, which is so important ”” to grab employees”™ attention ”” because people are so busy today. You”™re really competing with so many messages and distractions.”
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