Dive Brief:
- Wellness is no longer just about getting employees to lose excess weight, exercise more, or eat better to improve their physical health and maybe trim the company’s health-care costs, according to Mibiz.com.
- Wellness is steadily evolving and employers that have been in the game for a while are moving into a new territory that encompasses a broader, holistic view of the practice.
- Employees’ emotional and financial health and their abilities to cope with life’s adversities all come into play today as “well-being” moves to the forefront.
Dive Insight:
Employers are using new strategies to integrage this new definition of wellness into their culture. For example, the article notes that at some employers, the regular lunch-and-learn classes on nutrition or exercise are now joined, for instance, by sessions on household budgeting, financial and retirement planning, sleep management, stress relief, or so-called resiliency training.
Benefits consultant Mercer lists the physical, emotional, social, and financial health of employees as the four pillars for an expanded view of wellness that focuses on the overall well-being of employees. Sandra Kuhn, a principal in the Total Health Management practice at Mercer, notes that the research shows a correlation between a person’s health risks and their financial and emotional stress.
“People come to the table around wellness with all sorts of different perspectives, different agendas and needs," Kuhn told Mibiz. "By offering this large umbrella of different types of programs, people can come to the table and feel as though there is something in it for them. I think we’re starting to see engagement expand and grow as a result of that."
