Corporate Health and Wellness: A Public Health Priority.
In recent years, organizational leaders across industries have invested heavily in corporate health and wellness programs for their employees. These evidence-based programs are designed to improve well-being, increase engagement, reduce absenteeism, and lower healthcare costs, making them an important public health priority. In this blog, we’ll answer the question, “what is corporate health and wellness?” and explore the unique role that public health professionals play.
What Is Corporate Health and Wellness?
Corporate health and wellness is a business term that refers to employer-sponsored programming that extends beyond traditional healthcare benefits. They’re designed to support employee health and well-being, often with the intention of encouraging employees to adopt healthy lifestyle habits.
With rising healthcare costs largely driven by lifestyle-related chronic diseases, corporate wellness programs play a key role in improving employee health outcomes, boosting morale, and reducing employer healthcare expenses.
It’s important to note that corporate health and wellness programs are not interchangeable with general employee benefits. While health insurance is typically included in compensation packages to cover physical and mental health needs, corporate wellness programs are additional, employer-sponsored efforts aimed at proactive health improvement.
Though the specific offerings may vary by organization, most corporate wellness programs share common goals:
- Improve employee well-being and motivate employees to make positive lifestyle choices
- Reduce healthcare costs for the organization
- Increase productivity among employees
For an organization to achieve its workplace health goals, leaders need to implement an effective, evidence-based corporate health and wellness strategy. Public health professionals play an important role in creating and developing initiatives.
What Roles Do Public Health Professionals Play in Corporate Wellness?
The CDC defines workplace health and wellness as a public health priority. They recognize that these programs can improve the quality of life for workers at all levels while also reducing health risks in the workplace.
Public health professionals often play a key role in developing corporate health and wellness programs. Depending on their position and the agency that they work for, they may be responsible for:
- Designing corporate health programming and implementing workplace wellness strategies in various organizations, often targeting vulnerable worker populations
- Creating and distributing health education materials to inspire employees to make positive behavioral and lifestyle changes
- Analyzing data and monitoring outcomes of corporate health and wellness programs, then adapting programming accordingly
- Collaborating with organizational leaders to develop workplace policies that promote positive health outcomes (such as creating smoke-free campuses or offering mental health days to employees)
- Creating occupational health and safety initiatives that reduce risks in the workplace and improve employee safety
Relying on their foundational understanding of public health, as well as their passion for improving health equity, public health professionals can create and implement corporate health programs that drive progress and fuel innovation in organizations across all industries and sectors.
Skills Needed for Success in Corporate Health and Wellness
Public health professionals will need the following skills to develop, implement, and adapt corporate health and wellness programs:
- Effective communication skills – By utilizing strategic communication methods to promote corporate health and wellness initiatives, public health professionals can improve stakeholder engagement and drive results.
- Data collection and analysis – Public health professionals must be able to collect and analyze data to evaluate program effectiveness and determine what changes (if any) need to be made.
- Motivational Skills – By sharing accurate information and motivating employees to make behavioral changes, public health professionals can ensure that corporate health and wellness investments pay off.
- Advanced knowledge of workplace regulations and compliance issues – Public health professionals have an extensive understanding of regulatory guidelines and compliance requirements, allowing them to create programming that aligns with an organization’s health goals and adheres to compliance standards.
How an MPH Prepares You for a Career in Corporate Health and Wellness
Those interested in a career in corporate health and wellness may want to consider a Master of Public Health degree, or MPH. The flexible online MPH and on-campus MPH options at Boston University allow students to explore the landscape of public health while developing the specialized skills required to carve out their own career path.
Both the online MPH and on-campus MPH programs offer a comprehensive curriculum with an emphasis on health equity. Thus, students can complete coursework that relates to their specific areas of interest within public health. For those who are passionate about corporate health wellness, coursework topics include:
- Health behavior – Students develop an advanced understanding of behavioral choices and the strategic steps required to inspire behavioral change.
- Programming planning – Students develop the strategic skills required to create evidence-based health programs, including corporate health and employee wellness programs.
- Health systems – Students build a comprehensive understanding of the current health systems in the country, allowing them to create and implement more effective and useful corporate health and wellness programs.
With a focus on health equity, communication, and leadership, the online MPH and on-campus MPH programs equip students with the broad foundation required to launch their careers and advance in the field of public health. The flexible, skills-based curriculum for this graduate degree is ideal for anyone interested in specializing in the expanding area of corporate health and wellness.
Earn Your MPH at Boston University and Learn About the Powerful Impact of Workplace Health Programs
Considered to be a public health priority, corporate health and wellness initiatives can improve everything from health equity to awareness. The nationally-recognized School of Public Health at Boston University allows graduate students to develop a comprehensive understanding of the public health field while simultaneously focusing on the advanced skills needed to pursue specialty areas in public health.
Our on-campus MPH and online MPH programs both offer a holistic curriculum that emphasizes the importance of health equity, giving graduates the ability to design corporate health and wellness programs, monitor ongoing corporate health strategies, and create effective communications strategies to promote programs at the corporate level.
Apply now to the online MPH and on-campus MPH programs at Boston University.