Illinois Workplace Wellness - Summary of Results
Summary of Results
Paying employees to participate in health screenings works, but only to a point
Participation Response to Incentives
Health screening participation, by size of incentive
This figure shows the share of employees who completed both a biometric health screening and health risk assessment in each treatment arm. The treatment arms differed only in the size of the incentive offered for completion: $0, $100, or $200. Each treatment arm has a total 1,100 members. Vertical bars display 95% confidence intervals on the difference in shares relative to the $0 group.
After 1 year, workplace wellness did not change health care costs
Medical Spending Effects
Post-intervention, average monthly medical spending
This figure shows average monthly medical spending among employees in the control and treatment groups, during the post-intervention period from August 2016 to July 2017. The control and treatment groups include 1,031 and 2,207 members, respectively. Vertical bars display 95% confidence intervals on the difference in means relative to the control group.
After 1 year, workplace wellness also did not change employees' measured health behaviors
Gym Usage Effects
Post-intervention average annual gym visits
This figure shows average annual gym visits for the control and treatment groups, during the post-intervention period from August 2016 to July 2017. The control and treatment groups include 1,534 and 3,300 members, respectively. Vertical bars display 95% confidence intervals on the difference in means relative to the control group.
Running Event Effects
Post-intervention running event participation
This figure shows the share of employees in the control and treatment groups who participated in the 2017 Illinois Marathon/10K/5K. The control and treatment groups include 1,534 and 3,300 members, respectively. Vertical bars display 95% confidence intervals on the difference in means relative to the control group.
Employees who chose to participate in workplace wellness already had lower health care costs before the program began
Prior Medical Spending
Pre-intervention average medical spending among treatment group members
This figure shows average monthly medical spending for subjects in the treatment group who did and did not choose to complete a screening. The data are from the pre-intervention period August 2016 to July 2016, and thus are unaffected by the intervention. The screened and non-screened groups include 870 and 1,318 members, respectively. Vertical bars display 95% confidence intervals on the difference in means relative to the non-screened group.
Employees who chose to participate in workplace wellness were already healthier before the program began
Prior Gym Usage
Pre-intervention average annual gym visits among treatment group members
This figure shows average annual gym visits among those in the treatment group who did and did not choose to complete a screening. The data are from August 2015 to July 2016, and thus are not a product of the intervention. The screened and non-screened groups include 1,452 and 1,848 members, respectively. Vertical bars display 95% confidence intervals on the difference in means relative to the non-screened group.
Prior Running Experience
Pre-intervention running event participation among treatment group members
This figure shows the share of employees who participated in the Illinois Marathon/10K/5K among those in the treatment group who did and did not choose to complete a screening. The data are from 2014 to 2016, and thus are not a product of the intervention. The screened and non-screened groups include 1,452 and 1,848 members, respectively. Vertical bars display 95% confidence intervals on the difference in means relative to the non-screened group.
But a lot of questions remain about if and how these programs work.
We are continuing to collect data to evaluate the long-run effects of our intervention. For more details on our first set of results, see the full study.
Visit our downloads page to view our publications and publicly available datasets.