Who comes to work-site wellness programs? A preliminary review

Abstract

Work-site wellness programs have emerged in the past decade with the goals of modifying employee health risks and potentially reducing health care costs. The question of who comes to wellness programs is a key one for achieving these goals. This reviews the available studies on participation in wellness programs and briefly reports the results from a comparative study at one site. Although the current studies are limited, the data suggest that participants appear to be somewhat healthier and more concerned with fitness and health matters than nonparticipants. Factors like employees' age, sex, and position in a company may affect participation, although more specific research is needed.