The Impact of Employee Wellness Programs

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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There is great public and private interest in the use of workplace wellness programs to reduce health care spending, improve health outcomes, and enhance productivity for employees. However, there is little rigorous evidence on the effects of wellness programs. This study partners with a large multi-state U.S. employer (BJ's Wholesale Club) and an experienced wellness vendor (Wellness Workdays) to evaluate a multi-prong workplace wellness program, including components such as nutrition counseling, fitness challenges, and stress management workshops. The wellness program will be delivered by a team of experts including Registered Dieticians, and will include financial rewards for participation. The program will be available to employees in initially 20 of BJ's 200 worksites, and later expanded to 25 worksites. These worksites have been randomly selected, allowing a randomized controlled trial evaluation of the effects of the wellness program. Data will be collected on a wide array of outcomes from multiple sources, including on-site biometric screenings and surveys, employment records, and health insurance claims for employees at both treatment and control worksites.

Official Title
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The Impact of Employee Wellness Programs

Conditions
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Health Behavior, Disease, Chronic

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Workplace wellness program


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Employed in one of BJ's clubs during the period of the intervention Exclusion Criteria: Not employed in one of BJ's clubs during the period of the intervention

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Other
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Interventional Model Description: Each worksite (and all employees at that site) randomly assigned to Treatment or Control arm.
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Treatment<br>Employees at treatment worksites will be given access to workplace wellness programming. Participation by employees will be voluntary, but all employees at treatment sites will be considered as part of the treatment group. Employees will also be invited to complete on-site biometric assessments and questionnaires. Data from secondary data sources (including employment records and health insurance claims) will be collected for employees at all BJ's worksites. | Behavioral: Workplace wellness program<br>* Multi-prong workplace wellness program, with components such as nutrition counseling, fitness challenges, and stress management workshops, including supports and incentives.<br>|
| No Intervention: Primary Control<br>Employees at primary control worksites will be invited to complete on-site biometric assessments and questionnaires, but will not have access to the workplace wellness programming. Data from secondary data sources (including employment records and health insurance claims) will be collected for employees at all BJ's worksites. | |
| No Intervention: Secondary Control<br>Employees at secondary control worksites will not participate in in-person screenings or questionnaires, and will not have access to workplace wellness programming. Data from secondary data sources (including employment records and health insurance claims) will be collected for employees at all BJ's worksites. | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Physical activity | Regular exercise, number of hours sitting per day, and actively managing weight, as indicated in responses to survey questions | Primary data collected at 18 months and 30 months after initiation of intervention | 
| Obesity | Body Mass Index>=30, calculated from measured height and weight | Primary data collected at 18 months and 30 months after initiation of intervention | 
| Absenteeism | Number of sick or personal days as a share of total days employed, from employment records | Administrative records from 3 years spanning intervention | 
| Health care spending | Dollars spent on health care for employees covered by employer-sponsored insurance, from claims records | Administrative records from 3 years spanning intervention | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Wellness, Prevention