To help mitigate rising costs and improve employee health, the Mayo Clinic gives five reasons why the workplace is an ideal environment for health promotion programs:

Employees spend more than half of their waking hours at work. This makes employees a captive audience for health promotion messages. Plus, employees may be more likely to attend a health screening or educational lunch and learn session if they don't have to spend more time away from home to do it.
Incentives to encourage program participation work extremely well in the workplace. Mayo Clinic Health Solutions' experience shows that a relatively small incentive, such as a $100 gift card or $240 health premium reduction, can drive high participation in health promotion programs (75 percent and 87 percent respectively), such as a health risk assessment
Existing company systems can help facilitate health programs. Information, communication and program analysis can usually be accomplished within the existing systems and organizational structure of the work site.
Company culture and camaraderie can help drive program success. Group initiatives, such as a population-wide walking campaign or a health risk assessment drive, can be very effective in the workplace, because friendly competition between departments or cooperation among colleagues can help drive engagement and participation.
Health promotion programs support a consumer-driven approach to health care. Health promotion programs reinforce a consumerism health care strategy, by encouraging (and sometimes rewarding) employees for taking charge of their health. They are a natural fit with health savings accounts and other consumer-driven health plans.

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5 reasons why the workplace is ideal for wellness

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