Corporate Wellness on the Move
Jonathan Edelheit, Editor-in-Chief of the Corporate Wellness Magazine and Anna Konger, Assistant Editor of the Corporate Wellness Magazine (ME!) just came back from the Health and Human Capital Congress in Washington, D.C., which is really the only other corporate wellness type of conference in the country. There were some really good presentations from employers, wellness providers and experts. There seemed to be some rumoring by several people who believed that Healthcare Reform is completely and totally dead and will not just not be delayed, but won’t be resurrected at all.
One common theme of many of the employers presentations is that every employer is different and a wellness program must be designed specifically for a particular employer. There is not one size fits all in wellness, the wellness program has to be customized for the culture of that employer. Another important take away from the conference is the devout belief from employers that wellness absolutely works and provides a Return on Investment (ROI). Unfortunately, it looks like the economic recession has really hit employers hard. There were not many employers at the conference and one attendee who had been there for years, (this was my first time), said that for employers who came the conference was a, “shadow of its former self.” I think employers traveling to conferences will change as the economy recovers and employers start providing budgets for travel for educational conferences. Also, be very aware that governmental wellness programs will be hit very hard and there will be severe budget cuts once the stimulus money wears out in 2011 and 2012. Governmental entities have artificially been able to continue with larger budgets due to the Fed Stimulus Package, but those monies will be running out soon. We shall see how this affects government wellness programs in cities, counties, states and at the federal level.