High-performing wellness programs have at least one thing in common: communication. But there's not a one-size-fits-all communication strategy that works for every participant.
Some people respond well to email messages or social media updates about health initiatives. Others respond better to in-person reminders, meeting announcements, and even old-school letters in the mail or office inbox.
When you're managing a wellness program, one of your tasks is to engage as many participants as possible. The average wellness program has a 52 percent participation rate, according to industry research. But many companies achieve higher participation rates based on a well-developed culture of health, rewards and incentives, and marketing and communication efforts.
While you already have a variety of communication options available to you, we recently added one more to help promote your wellness program and increase engagement. An Email Notification Feature will soon be available for administrators in the WellSuite® Portal. This feature notifies participants (or administrators) by email when a message or announcement is delivered to the Portal. At the administrator's option, the body of the message can be included in the email.
"This feature reduces the possibility that a message added to the portal will be overlooked by a participant or administrator simply because they didn't know it was there," says Wellsource Technical Communicator Steve Pinkston. "This feature works in the same way other secure messaging systems work, such as those used by banks and medical clinics. And it provides one more way to reach your participants and increase engagement."
You can also use the Email Notification Feature to send content-specific emails to your participants. The feature includes four email templates to choose from and personalize. Recipient names and email addresses can be automatically imported from your participant database.
Engaging your participants is an ongoing effort for wellness coordinators. This added feature gives you one more way to get the message out to help you build a culture of health, increase participation, and manage a successful wellness program.