The impact of worksite wellness programs by size of business: A 3-year longitudinal study of participation, health benefits, absenteeism, and presenteeism
Open accessAbstract
Objective: Worksite wellness programs (WWP) may positively impact employee health, medical expenditures, absenteeism, and presenteeism. However, there has been little research to assess the benefits of WWP in small businesses. The purpose of this study is to prospectively evaluate changes in health, absenteeism, and presenteeism for employees who participated in a WWP. Methods: We conducted an observational, 3-year cohort study of 5766 employees from 314 businesses of differing sizes. We followed two cohorts of employees, who completed at least two annual health risk assessments (HRA) between May 2010 and December 2014. Changes from baseline to the first and second follow-up periods were assessed for chronic and non-chronic health conditions, absenteeism, and presenteeism. Results: Small business employees were more likely to participate in the WWP than were employees from large businesses. Changes in chronic and non-chronic health conditions varied by size of business, with small business employees showing improvements in stress, overall health, depression, smoking status, vegetable and fruit consumption, and physical activity, and in their perceptions of job health culture. In contrast, large business employees experienced improvements in stress, vegetable consumption, and alcohol use. No changes in absenteeism or presenteeism were observed. Conclusions: Small businesses achieve higher employee participation rates and more health improvements when compared to employees from large employers. Findings suggest that small businesses may gain the most from a WWP.
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An investigation of a variety of workplace wellness programs implemented in more than 300 businesses in the US found higher overall employee participation rates in small organizations (<500 employees) than in large organizations (>500 employees).
“An investigation of a variety of workplace wellness programs implemented in more than 300 businesses in the US found higher overall employee participation rates in small organizations (<500 employees) than in large organizations (>500 employees), perhaps because employee engagement is less administratively complex or more compelling in small networks of employees (16).”
From An Ecological Study of a Universal Employee Depression Awareness and Stigma Reduction Intervention: “Right Direction” (2021) · cites this paper as [16]
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“organizations (<500 employees) than in large organizations (>500 employees), perhaps because employee engagement is less administratively complex or more compelling in small networks of employees (16).”
Background
- Authors
- Schwatka, N. V., Smith, D., Weitzenkamp, D., Atherly, A., Dally, M. J., Brockbank, C. V. S., Tenney, L., Goetzel, R. Z., Jinnett, K., McMillen, J., & Newman, L. S.
- Affiliations
- Colorado School of Public Health (US)
- Segue Consulting, Denver, CO, USA
- IBM (United States) (US)
- University of California, San Francisco (US)
- Pinnacol Assurance, Denver, CO, USA
- Corresponding author
- Schwatka, Natalie V
- ORCID
- Venue
- Annals of Work Exposures and Health
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2018-09
- Volume
- 62
- Issue
- Supplement_1
- Pages
- S42-S54
- ISSN
- 2398-7308 (ISSN-L)
- 2398-7316
- PMC
- PMC7065409
- OpenAlex
- W2891226940
- Cited by
- 34
- References
- 34
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 2
- FWCI
- 6.49
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Annals of Work Exposures and Health (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- Pinnacol Assurance
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Workplace Health and Well-being
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Occupational Therapy › Occupational Health and Safety in Workplaces
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Physical Activity and Health
- Keywords
- worksite wellness programs, small business, firm size, employee participation, absenteeism, presenteeism, chronic disease, health risk assessment, stress, depression, smoking, physical activity, fruit and vegetable intake, alcohol consumption
- MeSH terms
- Absenteeism, Presenteeism, Adult, Health Promotion, Health Status, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Middle Aged, Prospective Studies, United States, Occupational Health, Workplace, Risk Assessment, Young Adult, Small Business
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