A new survey suggests employers have dramatically hiked theirinvestment in wellness initiatives over thepast five years.

To be clear, the survey of 202 HR professionals byRedBrickHealth, a firm that consults with employers about improvingemployee health, did not findthat wellness programs are necessarily more common. But employersare spending more to encourage employees to adopt healthierlifestyles.

The same survey in 2010 found that 64 percent of employersoffered financial incentives for participation in certain healthprograms, with a median incentive of $150. In 2015, the samepercentage of employers reported offering incentives, but the medianincentive had nearly tripled, to $400.

The largest incentives are tied to health risk assessments,physical activity tracking and biometric screenings, all of whichpaid workers a median of $100. Median incentives for otheractivities were smaller, including team challenges ($45), on-sitefitness center visits ($40) and telephonic lifestyle coaching($25).

Forty-seven percent of employers that offer incentives tie themto participation, while 34 percent base them on health outcomes.Eighteen percent offer bonuses based on a combination of both.

Employers that base the success of their programs solely on theparticipation of employees are typically less satisfied with theirworkers’ level of engagement. But the percentage that define itthus has declined from 55 percent to 35 percent in the past fiveyears.

Seventeen percent define health engagement more broadly, citingemployees’ attitudes toward health and recognition of theimportance of healthy living. That’s still quite small, but it’s anincrease over the 9 percent who supported that definition fiveyears ago.

Very few employers appear to believe that health engagement isbased on whether or not employees improve their overall health.That hardly changed between 2010-15, with only 4 and 5 percent ofemployers, respectively, choosing that definition.

The most common medically-oriented programs are flu shots (87 percent),preventative screenings and exams (84 percent) and health riskassessments (80 percent). Biometric screenings are significantlylower (60 percent).

Common programs geared toward establishing healthier habitsinclude smoking cessation (78 percent) and weight management (72percent). About half of employers offer lifestyle coaching viatelephone or the web.

As for helping employees with their health care decisions, awhopping 89 percent have some type of employee assistance program,and 71 percent have a nurse help line. Just under a third have anon-site clinic.