While studying for my Master of Public Health (MPH) degree and authoring my dissertation on employee wellness programs and health savings accounts, I have observed that health promotion is often superficial and underutilized.
As such, many providers and participants have casually neglected beneficial health promotion efforts. For providers (i.e. employers and insurance companies), health promotion has become a “tick-box” item, one in which there is minimal emphasis. Consequently, although a company may develop an employee health promotion program, it is highly prone to gimmicks where minimal benefits (e.g. “hey get a water bottle for working out”) or lackluster resources (e.g. no on-site gym or off-site gym membership subsidies) proliferate.
Minimal provider emphasis may then translate into meager participant involvement as well. For instance, some employees may just not see the value in participating with their employers’ health promotion program. These employees face high opportunity costs, and they ultimately view their time spent best in other, perhaps less health conscious ways.
Thus, this provider-participant disconnect fosters a negative environment in which many people widely know that health promotion is beneficial but, nevertheless, they don’t “buy in” with these beneficial programs.
As such, many providers and participants have casually neglected beneficial health promotion efforts. For providers (i.e. employers and insurance companies), health promotion has become a “tick-box” item, one in which there is minimal emphasis. Consequently, although a company may develop an employee health promotion program, it is highly prone to gimmicks where minimal benefits (e.g. “hey get a water bottle for working out”) or lackluster resources (e.g. no on-site gym or off-site gym membership subsidies) proliferate.
Minimal provider emphasis may then translate into meager participant involvement as well. For instance, some employees may just not see the value in participating with their employers’ health promotion program. These employees face high opportunity costs, and they ultimately view their time spent best in other, perhaps less health conscious ways.
Thus, this provider-participant disconnect fosters a negative environment in which many people widely know that health promotion is beneficial but, nevertheless, they don’t “buy in” with these beneficial programs.
QPQ will challenge us to think about health promotion in a modern, tangible, and consumable way. QPQ will provide a much-needed impetus for this “buy-in” and, in the end, both participants and providers will greatly benefit.
Why: What's the Need?
