Employee Health and Well-being
Conditions
Keywords
Health Care, Workplace Wellness, Preventative Health Care, Health Costs
Brief summary
Workplace wellness programs have become a $6 billion industry and are widely touted as a way to improve employee well-being, reduce health care costs by promoting prevention, and increase workplace productivity. Yet, there is little rigorous evidence available to support these claims, partly because the voluntary nature of these programs means that participants may differ from nonparticipants for reasons unrelated to the causal effects of the wellness program. The investigators will implement a randomized control trial to identify the effects of incentives on wellness program participation, produce causal estimates of the effect of wellness programs on health outcomes, determine what kinds of employees benefit from wellness programs the most, and test for the presence of peer effects in wellness participation.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALWorkplace Wellness Program
Treatment group members will then be offered the opportunity to participate in a biometric screening and health risk assessment (biometric screening + HRA), and -- conditional on completing an biometric screening + HRA -- up to two, semester-long wellness programs. Treatment group members will be offered varying levels of cash reward for completing the biometric screening + HRA (none, moderate, high), and an additional cash reward for completing each wellness activity (low, high), for a total of 6 treatment cells. Follow-up surveys and biometric screenings will be administered one year later, among a subset of control and treatment group members.
BEHAVIORALBiometric Screening/HRA - No Compensation
The biometric test will measure: (1) anthropometrics such as height, weight, and waist circumference (to assess obesity and overweight status); (2) resting blood pressure (to assess hypertension); (3) blood glucose (to assess diabetes risk); and (4) total, LDL, and HDL cholesterol levels, total cholesterol ratio, and triglycerides (to assess risk of cardiovascular disease). The HRA is a survey designed to identify areas of health improvement, by asking a series of questions related to wellness, health status, nutrition, healthy activities, desire to improve health, preventative health measures. The HRA is also pre-populated with biometric information from the screening. Upon completion, participants are given customized feedback on areas of improvement. No compensation for completion.
BEHAVIORALBiometric Screening/HRA - Moderate Compensation
The biometric test will measure: (1) anthropometrics such as height, weight, & waist circumference (to assess obesity and overweight status); (2) resting blood pressure (to assess hypertension); (3) blood glucose (to assess diabetes risk); & (4) total, LDL, and HDL cholesterol levels, total cholesterol ratio, and triglycerides (to assess risk of cardiovascular disease). The HRA is a survey designed to identify areas of health improvement, by asking a series of questions related to wellness, health status, nutrition, healthy activities, desire to improve health, preventative health measures. The HRA is also pre-populated with biometric information from the screening. Upon completion, participants are given customized feedback on areas of improvement. Moderate compensation for completion.
BEHAVIORALBiometric Screening/HRA - High Compensation
The biometric test will measure: (1) anthropometrics such as height, weight, and waist circumference (to assess obesity and overweight status); (2) resting blood pressure (to assess hypertension); (3) blood glucose (to assess diabetes risk); and (4) total, LDL, and HDL cholesterol levels, total cholesterol ratio, and triglycerides (to assess risk of cardiovascular disease). The HRA is a survey designed to identify areas of health improvement, by asking a series of questions related to wellness, health status, nutrition, healthy activities, desire to improve health, preventative health measures. The HRA is also pre-populated with biometric information from the screening. Upon completion, participants are given customized feedback on areas of improvement. High compensation for completion.
BEHAVIORALWellness Activities - Low Compensation
Courses are designed by the UI Wellness Center and include an Active Living class; self-paced online health challenges in physical activity, weight management, and healthy eating; a weight management class; a tobacco cessation hotline; a stress management class; a Tai Chi class; and a chronic disease management class. Low compensation for each class.
BEHAVIORALWellness Activities - High Compensation
Courses are designed by the UI Wellness Center and include an Active Living class; self-paced online health challenges in physical activity, weight management, and healthy eating; a weight management class; a tobacco cessation hotline; a stress management class; a Tai Chi class; and a chronic disease management class. High compensation for each class.
Sponsors
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Chicago
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab
W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
SINGLE (Caregiver)
Masking description
Professionals who implement the biometric screenings, health risk assessments, and wellness courses do no know the exact treatment group of study participants.
Intervention model description
Our primary analysis compares outcomes between a control group and six (6) treatment groups. Our secondary analysis compares pre-determined characteristics across members of the treatment group who adopt the intervention and those who do not.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Benefits eligible employees at UIUC. Physically located on UIUC campus, not terminated, eligible for benefits.
Exclusion criteria
* Members of the research team, employees directly involved with the approval or implementation of the study, family members of the research team.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Wellness Program participation | First year of study | Completion of biometric screening, HRA, wellness activities |
| Selection into treatment by baseline health spending | 13 months prior to study | The investigators will compare the average observable characteristics of participants, relative to treatment non-participants. Average monthly spending prior to the intervention is measured via administrative health claims data. |
| Selection into treatment by self-reported health | Baseline measure | The investigators will compare the average observable characteristics of participants, relative to treatment non-participants. Self-reported health is measured as excellent, good, average, or poor. |
| Selection into treatment by gender | Baseline measure | The investigators will compare the average observable characteristics of participants, relative to treatment non-participants. Gender is measured in administrative HR records. |
| Selection into treatment by Age | Baseline measure | The investigators will compare the average observable characteristics of participants, relative to treatment non-participants. Age is grouped into three categories: younger than 37, age 37 to 49, age 50 or higher. |
| Selection into treatment by race | Baseline measure | The investigators will compare the average observable characteristics of participants, relative to treatment non-participants. Race is measure via administrative HR records, as white or nonwhite. |
| Selection into treatment by salary quartile | Baseline measure | The investigators will compare the average observable characteristics of participants, relative to treatment non-participants. Salary, measured by administrative HR records, is coded into 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quartile. |
| Selection into treatment by self-reported health utilization | Baseline measure | The investigators will compare the average observable characteristics of participants, relative to treatment non-participants. Health care utilization is measured by survey, with yes/no variable for: ever having been screened, prescription drug use, physician/ER visit in prior year, hospital visit in the past year. |
| Selection into treatment by smoking status | Baseline measure | The investigators will compare the average observable characteristics of participants, relative to treatment non-participants. Smoking status is measured via survey, with yes/no variables for: current smoker of cigarettes, current smoker of other product, former smoker, never smoker. |
| Selection into treatment by chronic condition | Baseline measure | The investigators will compare the average observable characteristics of participants, relative to treatment non-participants. Chronic condition is measured via baseline survey, and coded as a yes/no variable. |
| Health Insurance Spending | 12 months and 24-30 months following study | Spending as measured in health insurance claims data |
| Employment and Productivity | 12 months and 24-30 months following study | Promotion, job termination, sick leave, attitude toward management, index of these variables |
| Health Status and Behaviors | 12 months and 24-30 months following study | Marathon participation, gym visits, health screening |
| Height | 1 year following study, 2 years following study | Biometric health measures collected one year after study. Height is measured in feet and inches. |
| Weight | 1 year following study, 2 years following study | Biometric health measures collected one year after study. Weight is measured in pounds and ounces. |
| Waist circumference | 1 year following study, 2 years following study | Biometric health measures collected one year after study. Circumference is measured in inches. |
| Resting blood pressure | 1 year following study, 2 years following study | Biometric health measures collected one year after study. Blood pressure is measured in mm Hg. |
| Blood glucose | 1 year following study, 2 years following study | Biometric health measures collected one year after study. Blood glucose is measured in mg/dL. |
| Cholesterol levels | 1 year following study, 2 years following study | Biometric health measures collected one year after study. Cholesterol is measured mg/dL. We measure lipids: LDL, HDL, and triglycerides. |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed