Marketing health promotion to corporations: overcoming the cost/benefit problem through a customer orientation

Many corporations are reluctant to offer health promotion programs for their employees because there is no concrete evidence that the financial benefits will be greater than the capital outlays necessary for implementation and operation. This presents a major problem when marketing health promotion programs. The problems with cost/benefit analysis in the health promotion field are first identified. Then, the weaknesses in the health promotion research are outlined. Finally, marketing philosophy and strategies which avert these problems are presented. Health promotion programs offered at the worksite are increasing in number (Forouzesh and Ratzker, 1985). Much of this growth is a response on the part of corporations to the causes of death in the United States and the increases in health care costs. In 1987 diseases of the heart and blood vessels were the leading cause of death in the U.S. with an estimated 976,706 deaths (American Heart Association, 1989). This figure is more than twice the second leading cause of death, cancer. It was also determined that more than one-fourth of the American population suffered from some form of cardiovascular disease. However, death is not the only expense to society. It was estimated that cardiovascular disease cost $94.5 billion in 1990 (American Heart Association, 1989). U.S. corporations directly or indirectly were responsible for paying much of this cost. Therefore, corporations are searching for solutions to these problems. Health promotion programs offered at the worksite are one potential approach to decrease health care costs and deaths due to cardiovascular disease.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)