Wellness programs offered by employers can mean many different things. It's not all strict health programs. Financial incentives are also a necessary part of a comprehensive wellness program, and if applied properly are proven to be effective catalysts for positive behavioral change.

These are the findings from the report, Incentivizing Health: Unlock the Power of Financial Rewards, from IncentFit. They say that financial incentives are monetary rewards that are provided by a company with the intention of increasing motivation among employees and guiding them towards certain behaviors.

There are three common design structures for financial incentives:

• Loss aversion
• Gain-framed incentives
• Variable reinforcement

Loss aversion incentives motivate people to avoid losing out on a desired reward or benefit. The report says that people are more likely to avoid loss than they are to pursue gains. For example, a study group was given $1.40 per day for meeting a goal of 7,000 steps. Another group was given $42 a month and deducted $1.42 if their goal was not met. The loss aversion incentive had a more significant impact on physical activity than others, according to the report.