Want to increase employee participation in your workplace wellness program? MediKeeper, provider of wellness tech solutions, details how employers can achieve this in its report, "Four Emerging Employee Wellness Trends for 2020."

"Considering that employee engagement is a vital part in determining the success of a company's wellness program, it is no surprise that trends focused on participant engagement are still so important," the authors write. "As you look towards 2020, we think there are four trends you should consider: psychographic profiling, tailored experience, the importance of platforms over point solution programs and musculoskeletal health."

Psychographic profiling: In this instance, psychographic profiling can enable wellness administrators to customize how they talk to individual workers, increasing the chances that they will take action. MediKeeper cites research by PatientBond, which identifies five psychographic categories: "self-achievers" who willingly participate; balance seekers who investigate all health care preventative care options before participating; "priority jugglers" who think more about their families' health care than their own; "direction takers" who rely on the insight of health professionals before taking action; and "willful endurers" who have a difficult time adjusting their lifestyle to new routines.

"By presenting the information in an appropriate manner that resonates with the person's psychographic profile, you can increase engagement within your wellness program," the authors write. "This differs from prior practices where everyone received the same message."

Tailored Experience: Wellness administrators can use "triggers" within health risk assessments, biometric data, claims data and workers' personal preferences, to direct each worker to appropriate and relevant resources that can meet their health needs. This can range from information about exercise and weight loss to stress management and mental health.

"All of the collected data can be used to manage outcomes, including emails, push notifications within the app, health coaching and incentive programs," the authors write. "Similar to e-commerce and social media sites that use a personalized approach to recommending new products and content, wellness portals can use all of this information to better provide users with the tools they need to get and stay healthy."

Platforms Trump Point Solutions: Platforms are superior to point solution programs, which require users to log into multiple apps or websites to view all of their healthcare information, MediKeeper asserts.

"From biometric screenings, health risk assessment results and claims data to targeted content and digital coaching, incentives and challenges, platforms display all your health data in a single integrated place, leading users to be more likely to be engaged in their healthcare," the authors write.

Musculoskeletal Health: while it's most often associated with manual labor jobs, office workers aren't completely risk-free either, according to the report. Wellness administrators should provide the most appropriate tools to minimize these types of injuries depending on the job type.

"One of the best ways to provide this information to users is through the wellness portal," the authors write. "A portal can recommend exercises and stretches to prevent injury, as well as set up a virtual session (videoconference) with a physical therapist, who can recommend a list of activities to perform at home or at the office to lower the risk of injury."

Employers can stay on top of the health care needs of their workers by incorporating these four trends into a wellness program, MediKeeper concludes.

"The backbone of each of these trends centers around driving engagement and giving your workers the tools and resources that they need to live a healthy and happy life both at work and at home," the authors write. "Encourage your participants to interact regularly with their data to stay on top of health concerns and you'll soon see an improvement within your population's overall health and wellness."

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