Wellness has been through the wellness program implemented by my employer
several years ago. The program requires employees that choose to participate to
meet with designated wellness healthcare providers to identify areas of
opportunity within our lives that could potentially be risk factors for our overall
health and well-being. There are numerous resources and wellness activities
available to participants that can help prevent illness, combat existing
conditions, better a person's mental health, and improve the overall quality of
life. Employees are incentivized to partake in the wellness benefit by being
offered a discount on their insurance premiums. Our organization is self-insured
and has considerably decreased healthcare-related expenditures among
employees who work closely with the wellness department, which offsets the
costs associated with discounting healthcare premiums. So, with that said,
wellness to me is about taking action to care for one's physical and mental health
through preventative and curative care to ensure they strive both physically and
mentally.
In the readings, it is explained that the buzzword, wellness, has different
meanings to different stakeholders. An example provided in the readings that
explained how wellness might be viewed differently is through the lenses of
different professionals and fields, such as medical providers, the alternative
remedy industry, insurers, and various nations (Kirkland, 2014). I found this
interesting because I had never before considered how the concept of wellness
may differ from one person to the next. It does make sense that healthcare
providers may view wellness differently than those who specialize in
alternative remedies, such as non-western medicine treatments. Another very
interesting point that Kirkland elaborated on was the Gallup survey that uses the
Healthways Well-Being Index Composite Score to gauge the well-being of a
nation. The index composite score evaluates six aspects of a person's well-
being: life evaluation, emotional health, physical health, healthy behavior, work
environment, and basic access (Kirkland, 2014). A key difference that was
examined in the survey that I neglected to consider in my own definition of
wellness is the work environment. It is apparent that a person's work
environment should be considered when examining wellness since most adult
workers spend 40 hours a week at their jobs.
Wellness is directly associated with my career goal of working in Human
Resources (HR). HR is primarily responsible for administering employee
benefits. By implementing an effective wellness program in an organization,
there can be significant cost savings that could be used to expand employee
benefits and be used as a tool to attract and retain top-tier talent. The United
States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explains that after reviewing
56 published studies on workplace health and wellness programs, organizations
can potentially see an estimated 25% savings on healthcare costs, absenteeism,
and workers' compensation and disability management claims costs if a
worksite health program is well-implemented (2015). The benefits created from
wellness programs are essential to the strategic HR objectives that aid an
organization in achieving its goals.
References:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2015, December 4). Control
Health Care Costs. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved June
28, 2022, from
https://www.cdc.gov/workplacehealthpromotion/model/control-
costs/index.html
Kirkland, A. (2014). What Is Wellness Now? Journal of Health Politics, Policy
& Law, 39(5), 957–970. https://doi-org.ezproxy.snhu.edu/10.1215/03616878-
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