When it comes to improving the health of a workforce, anemployer’s biggest ally might never set foot in the office. Why?Because that ally is the spouse or partner of your employee. Theseindividuals have the power to either suggest going for anafter-dinner walk or bike ride or suggest curling up with a bag ofchips and a marathon of whatever’s hot on Netflix.

Spouses and domestic partners have a significant impact onwhether employees participate in a workplace wellness program and on the healthhabits they adopt, so it’s important that employers find ways toinclude them in wellness program offerings.

The underlying idea here isn’t revolutionary. Numerous studies over the years have demonstrated that we arecreatures of our environment. If we surround ourselves with healthypeople, odds are better that we will be healthy. The opposite isalso true.

There are a few possible reasons for this. In a presentation atthe 2016 Health Enhancement Research Organization (HERO) Forum,Ashlin Jones, MA, director of research and advanced data science atSharecare Inc., suggested the correlation could be due to the factwe are likely to marry someone who shares our interests, or thesimple fact married couples are around each other so much they takeon each other’s traits. Married couples also make decisionstogether — should we spend that bonus on a new exercise bike or aTV? — that affect each person’s health.

This isn’t just talk. The people we surround ourselves with canhave a measurable physiological impact on us. In a separatepresentation at the HERO Forum, Andrew Rundle, DrPH, associateprofessor of epidemiology in Mallman School of Public Health atColumbia University, discussed research that showed connectionsbetween partners’ BMI, blood pressure, and both high- andlow-density lipoprotein. Meanwhile, a study by Jones found individuals were morelikely to develop health risks such as obesity, stress, and reducedlife satisfaction if their spouse had the risk, and were lesslikely to eliminate those risks if the spouse sharedthem.

Yet another study found that individuals are more likely tomake a positive behavior change if their spouse makes the samechange. For example:

• 48 percent of men and 50 percent of women quit smoking whentheir spouse did, compared to 8 percent if their spouse did notquit.

• 67 percent of men and 66 percent of women became more physicallyactive when their spouse did, compared to 26 percent and 24percent, respectively, when their spouse stayed sedentary.

• 26 percent of men and 36 percent of women lost weight when theirpartner did, compared to 10 percent and 15 percent when theirpartner did not lose weight.

Employers can use this dynamic to their advantage to improveemployee health and well-being. Data from the HERO Health and Well-being Best Practices Scorecardin Collaboration with Mercer® found that employees are morewilling to participate in an employer-sponsored wellness program iftheir spouse is also involved. According to the report, 28 percentof employees participated in life coaching activities when theirspouse did, compared to 14 percent when their spouse was notinvolved.

That makes a difference, but getting spouses involved can havean even more direct impact on the bottom line. The HERO report alsoshows that spouses generate about one-third of health care costs inemployer-sponsored plans, despite representing just one-fifth ofcovered members. It makes sense, then, that by improving the healthof spouses, employers can potentially reduce their overall healthcare spend.

Beyond the health-related benefits of having healthieremployees, there is evidence people in happy relationships at homespend more time at work, and that job satisfaction goes up whenmarital satisfaction improves.

There is also a significant opportunity here for savings in thearea of mental health care, where the United States spent anestimated $201 billion last year — more than on any other medicalcondition. This is an area where spousal support can potentiallymake a big difference. Mental health is an area of growing concernfor employers.

A spouse is more than someone who shows up for the occasionaloffice party. They are an employee’s partner in life and in health,and their opinions carry significant weight. Encouraging them toparticipate in a workplace health and well-being program has thepotential to positively impact an employer’s bottom-line healthcosts, while also improving employee engagement and productivity.That’s good news all around.

5 ways to include spouses or partners in workplacewell-being

How can employers encourage involvement in health and well-beingactivities that will support their employees?

1. Formally extend wellness benefits to spouses and families.

2. Help couples develop joint strategies for implementing a healthydiet or exercise plan.

3. Provide well-being education in formats that employees caneasily share with spouses.

4. Create information targeted specifically to spouses.

5. Provide on-site wellness activities and coaching specificallyfor spouses.