The Association Between Health Program Participation and Employee Retention

Using health plan membership as a proxy for employee retention, the objective of this study was to examine whether use of health promotion programs was associated with employee retention.

Propensity score weighted generalized linear regression models were used to estimate the association between telephonic programs or health risk surveys and retention. Analyses were conducted with six study samples based on type of program participation.

Retention rates were highest for employees with either telephonic program activity or health risk surveys and lowest for employees who did not participate in any interventions. Participants ranged from 71% more likely to 5% less likely to remain with their employers compared with nonparticipants, depending on the sample used in analyses.

Using health promotion programs in combination with health risk surveys may lead to improvements in employee retention.