Company wellness programs often rely on education to encourage people to lose weight, stop smoking, or manage health conditions. But educating people about what they already know but don't do can only go so far. Instead, try behavioral economics approaches, which can help us overcome the psychological barriers that undercut our goals. For example:
- Make incentives easier to see and more influential. Use separate checks or gift cards to deliver rewards (e.g., cash for completing a health assessment) that would normally be buried in a pay stub.
- Reward group achievements. Instead of encouraging people to walk more, create teams whose success depends on each member walking a minimum amount (say, 7,000 steps a day).
- Turn repetitive activities, like taking medication, into a game: People can participate only if they took their medication the previous day. Such an approach effectively pairs the routine with an engaging and emotionally positive experience.
Adapted from “
Use Behavioral Economics to Achieve Wellness Goals” by David A. Asch, MD and Kevin G. Volpp, MD.
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