Curating the week in wellness July 12–July 16, 2021: Crystallizing your wellness objectives, Countering widespread burnout, and more

Greetings, wellness pros.

We hope you enjoy this fresh collection of thought-provoking articles, savvy tips and takeaways.

As always, please get in touch with any ideas, suggestions or feedback on how we can serve you better. We are grateful for all the excellent work you do, and we wish you continued health and success in all your endeavors.

1. Reconsidering the vision, objectives and purpose of your programs.

On the heels of the Health Affairs study that poured cold water on the efficacy of workplace wellness programs, how should wellness pros respond?

One takeaway is that it’s high time to recalibrate expectations. This is also a good moment to crystallize what, exactly, you hope to accomplish through your wellness initiatives. The data seems to be pointing away from traditional goals such as lowering health care costs, retention and absenteeism.

As the study found, “Employees at BJ’s Wholesale Club who participated in the program for 18 months … saw no difference in outcomes or spending. There was no significant difference in improvement in health behaviors over an 18-month period compared to three years.”