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Understanding the Relationship Between Incentive Design and Participation in U.S. Workplace Wellness Programs
Benjamin Batorsky1, Erin Taylor1, Crystal Huang1
1Benjamin Batorsky, MPH, and Crystal Huang, MA, are with the Pardee RAND Graduate School, Santa Monica, California. Erin Taylor, PhD, is with the RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, California. Hangsheng Liu, PhD, and Soeren Mattke, MD, DSc, are with the RAND Corporation, Boston, Massachusetts.
American Journal of Health Promotion : AJHP
|January 7, 2016
Summary
Employer characteristics influence wellness program incentives. Penalties and high-value rewards significantly boost participation, but their impact varies by employee demographics.
Area of Science:
- Workplace health promotion
- Organizational behavior
- Public health
Background:
- Employee wellness programs are crucial for health outcomes.
- Incentives are often used to drive participation in these programs.
- Understanding employer characteristics linked to incentive use is vital.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine how employer traits correlate with offering wellness program incentives.
- To investigate the link between incentive types and employee participation rates.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional analysis of national survey data and business databases.
- Sample of 3000 U.S. companies stratified by industry and size.
- Logistic regressions and generalized linear models analyzed incentive use and participation.
Main Results:
- Northeastern employers were 5-10x more likely to offer incentives.
- Larger companies, especially those with more female employees, were more prone to using penalties.
- Penalty and high-value incentives correlated with 68% and 52% participation, respectively.
Conclusions:
- Industry and regional factors significantly determine incentive strategies for wellness programs.
- Penalties show effectiveness in increasing participation.
- Further research needed on the differential impact of penalties on employee groups.
Keywords:
Cross-Sectional StudiesHealth PromotionHealth focus: general healthManuscript format: researchMotivationOutcome measure: behavioralPrevention ResearchResearch purpose: relationship testingSetting: workplaceStrategy: behavior changeStudy design: nonexperimentalTarget population age: adultsTarget population circumstances: geographic locationWorkplace
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