Stress cited as top global health risk

Buck consultant’s third annual global wellness survey, Working Well:  A Global Survey of Health Promotion and Workplace Wellness Strategies has been released. 

The survey was done among 1 100 organizations across 45 countries among 10 million employees.

The survey found that stress was stated as the top health risk for employers globally.  An exception to this finding was the United States and Latin America, where lack of physical activity and poor nutrition are major health concerns.  

North America has the highest number of employers providing wellness programs, approximately 75%.  

The survey also found that 24% of respondents did not provide wellness programming due to the global recession and 19% said they improved their wellness programming despite the recession.

"Employers in the United States and Latin America seem to lag behind the rest of the world in addressing stress and its related conditions such as depression, anxiety, and fatigue," says Barry Hall, a Buck principal who directed the survey. "These are among the most significant drivers of productivity loss and absenteeism, as well as increased healthcare costs."

Fastest-growing components

Buck predicts that the following wellness components will increase to 100% or more over the next three years (in terms of being provided by employers):  online healthy lifestyle programs and personal health records.  

As for on-site programs: caregiver support, personal health coaching, and healthy food choices in vending machines, will also increase.  

Incentives for employees to participate are also on the rise.  In the U.S., employers who provide incentives has increased from 56% to 63%.  

Measuring impact

What is missing from many wellness programs is that organizations are failing to measure the success of their programs or lack there of. 

"The fact that organizations continue to expand wellness programs, despite this lack of measurement, suggests that the intuitive value of improved employee health remains a major motivator for employers," says Hall. "Employers may recognize that health outcomes and behavior changes inspired by wellness programs are likely to take multiple years to fully manifest themselves in the form of measurable savings.

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Posted by: suhujitha on 2009-11-17 14:05:43

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