Events
Barriers to Employee Participation in Health and Wellness Programs Webcast | July 18, 2018 | Ithaca, NY
Wednesday | July 18, 2018
CAHRS ONLINE WEBCAST 12:00-12:45PM (EST)
Watch the Webcast Recording
Take a look at the Webcast Slides
Over the last six years, CAHRS has offered a number of working group meetings on the topic of employee health and wellness, and participants have noted that their companies are implementing more and a wider range of programs intended to promote employee health and wellness. The widespread adoption of these programs has been driven by employers desire to reduce healthcare costs; increase employee performance, engagement, and retention; and attract the best talent. Although research on the effectiveness of health and wellness promotion programs has yielded mixed findings, a number of studies suggest that such programs have the potential to return significant benefits. Although these findings are encouraging, researchers and practitioners alike have noted that the benefits of health and wellness promotion programs depend on the participation of employees, which often presents a challenge. Research suggests that not only are participation rates quite low on average but also that program participants tend to be healthier than non-participants.
In this webcast, Professors Chris Collins and Brad Bell will present findings from a CAHRS funded research project designed to identify the barriers that employees perceive to their participation in organizational health and wellness programs. Their research examines how different perceived barriers vary across different types of health and wellness programs (e.g., healthy eating versus exercise and movement programs), and different types of employees (e.g., healthy vs. at-risk, work from home vs. office-based).
During this interactive webcast, Professors Collins and Bell will also engage the audience in a discussion about the barriers they have identified in their own organizations; new approaches to encourage greater participation from those employees who could most benefit from health and wellness programs; and to share their ideas for fruitful next steps for the research.