Johnson & Johnson's Health and Wellness Program

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The Health and Wellness Program Since its inception, J&J had laid special emphasis on providing proper care to its employees. The company had mentioned its responsibilities towards employees in its credo. J&J hired medical professionals who provided health services to employees, their spouses and children. The company established medical clinics at their plants and offices, where experts performed medical evaluations and offered vaccination facilities. They also offered advice on subjects like nutrition, family planning, dysentery prevention and smoking cessation. J&J's medical staff also maintained a cafeteria at some of the company’s plants to ensure safe and nutritious meals for its employees. As a part of its HWP, J&J conducted a health-risk assessment of its employees. The assessment carried out by J&J revealed that its employees were prone to risks in three areas, namely, high cholesterol, hypertension and other problems related to a sedentary work life. As a first step in its HWP, the company started offering regular counseling and exercise programs for its employees.

This helped the employees to keep their cholesterol levels and hypertension under check and also control their weight. The final data obtained from the health-risk assessment enabled the health care group to tailor the HWP according to the needs of its employees. In the first year of its introduction, only 26% of J&J's employees opted for health-risk assessment. Explaining the reason for the poor response, Patricia Flynn (Flynn), Vice-President, J&J's Health Care System, said²³, "People think they are fit and might not want to bother with an assessment." To encourage more employees to opt for health appraisal, J&J offered $500 discount on their medical insurance costs. This plan worked well and by 1999, employee participation increased to 93%. Elaborating on it, Jennifer Bruno (Bruno), Director, Health and Wellness Business Planning, J&J said²⁴, "A large part of how we've been able to achieve this success is by giving incentives to employees on the completion of a health risk profile. We offer employees a $500 discount on their medical insurance costs if they are willing to take the health profile, and it's worked very well. We saw participation rates for completion of the health profile jump from less than 26% without incentive, to over 93% with it. We are confident that once employees know what their risks are, then we can make a positive impact on their health."

Later, the health-risk assessment was conducted in a secretive manner by a third-party administrator to maintain the employees' privacy, as it was considered to be one of the main reasons for the non-participation of employees. Employees also expressed fears that the assessment results might be used by the top management while making retrenchment decisions. Flynn explained²⁵, "The information gathered is only shown in aggregate to management, while the employees get individual reports on their risk status. Employees can also check an optional box on the assessment to be contacted with information regarding any disease they are at risk for. So many of them checked the box the first year that tells me their privacy fears were alleviated." J&J's HWP included the employee assistance program, disability management program, the ergonomics injury prevention program and the Safe Fleet Program.

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23] In an article titled "Risk assessment pays off at Johnson & Johnson," in Workforce Magazine dated December 2002.
24] In an article titled "Understanding the value of health promotion for health plans," posted on www.bcbs.com.
25] In an article titled "Risk assessment pays off at Johnson & Johnson," in Workforce Magazine dated December 2002.

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