Wellness programmes have little or no benefit

COMPANIES have long embraced workplace wellness programmes as a way to improve workers’ health and reduce overall medical spending, but a new study may prompt employers to rethink those efforts.

The study, published recently in JAMA, a medical journal, looked at the experience of 33 000 workers at BJ’s Wholesale Club, a retailer, over 18 months. While workers who enrolled in the wellness programme reported that they learned to exercise more and watch their weight, the research found no significant differences in outcomes like lower blood pressure or sugar levels and other health measures. And it found no significant reduction in workers’ health care costs.

“These findings may temper expectations about the financial return on investment that wellness programmes can deliver in the short term,” concluded the study’s authors, Dr Zirui Song, a health policy researcher at Harvard Medical School, and Katherine Baicker, dean of the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy.

Most employers – 82% of companies with more than 200 workers – offer some sort of wellness programme like smoking cessation or weight management, according to the latest survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Companies often encourage participation in these programmes by dangling some sort of financial carrot, ranging from a gift card if you track your steps to a significant discount off what you pay toward your health insurance.

“Wellness is this multibilliondollar industry where there has been a really weak evidence base of what these programmes do,” Baicker said.

Some programmes have prompted concerns over employees’ privacy and the use of health data by third parties, like vendors selling these workplace plans.

Lawsuits have been filed that forced employers to retreat from offering incentives for reaching specific goals. Nearly all the studies to date had been observational and have largely concluded that the programmes save some money for employers.

But this study randomly assigned employees to a wellness programme and compared their results with those of employees who were not enrolled in such efforts. Employers looking for a quick reduction in their health care spending will be disappointed, Baicker said.

But there were some encouraging notes among those who adopted healthier behaviours.

“We’ve seen that necessary first step.”

And those alterations could later lead to better overall health and lower medical expenses.

“It is not the final verdict on workplace wellness programmes,” Song cautioned, calling the research “still a young field”.

The authors are now analysing three years of data from the wellness program to see if there are any longer-term effects.

BJ’s Wholesale Club referred all questions to the researchers.

One of the aspects I’m looking forward to, is learning to incorporate the Primal Play method into movement programmes for children.

I’ve been testing to see how the children around me respond. The results have been encouraging.

I’ve found that many adults have forgotten how to engage with their bodies. And as children’s routines become overwhelmed with sedentary activities, we risk them never learning how their bodies can be moved and manipulated and how they can overcome the mental boundaries they set for themselves.

At the conference, I plan to attend Shawn Baker’s talk on the carnivore diet. I just can’t wrap my head around eating only meat. Up until now, most of the information on his website has been anecdotal, so I’m interested to hear what he’ll be “bringing to the table” at Paleo f(x).

There has been great debate about this diet, and while some swear by it and the impact it’s had on their health, I’m sceptical, but willing to listen to those who advocate it.

I’m fascinated with the psychological impact of major weight loss and lifestyle change, so high on my list of must-attend sessions is “Psychology of Change: Journey of Transformation”, a panel discussion chaired by Paleo f(x) co-founder Keith Norris and featuring speakers specialising in exercise and training, healing trauma, brain research and biohacking.

Over the next few weeks I will be sharing the stories of the people I meet and topics discussed. You can join me on my Paleo and Primal Play adventures at @editedeating.

We need to see the world as our gym in which we can ‘play out’ and engage in joyful movement