Over the years, the field of employee health management has learned there are a number of virtues and pitfalls to using incentives to encourage people to live healthy lifestyles. The reality is that we still have a lot to learn.
By definition, an incentive is an extrinsic reward that is provided to a person unt
il such time that the value to the recipient is internalized (intrinsic value) and thus, sustained. When it comes to health, many employers use incentives in the hopes that their employees will internalize the need to be healthy and achieve lasting behavior change, which ultimately creates a healthier and more productive work force with lower health care costs. While there are many incentive approaches being used, what do we really know about the effectiveness at present? First, we know they clearly drive participation in health risk assessments (HRAs), coaching, health promotion classes, and other similar offerings. However, very few studies have shown that incentives actually drive sustainable behavior change, improved health, or cost outcomes. We know that incentives are most successful when they are combined with a work culture that is supportive of employee well-being and when they are part of a wider and effective employee communications strategy. In fact, studies have shown the better the culture and communications effort, the smaller the incentive required to drive higher participation levels. We also know that on average, the value of the incentives provided is going up each year, that the bigger the company the bigger the incentive, and that more incentive programs are being delivered through health insurance premium reductions than any other method.
So where do we go from here?
