The health and wellness space is full of trends that come and go. But preventative health is always part of the conversation, because treating people once they get sick is much more expensive than keeping them healthy in the first place. 

The challenge for employers is how to lean in effectively. Many organizations have tried tactics like offering health screenings only to be discouraged by low employee turnout. 

But the current “back to basics” movement within preventative health creates the ideal opportunity to reimagine preventative health strategies. Habits like eating well, getting rest, staying hydrated, and incorporating movement into the workday aren’t expensive and don’t require special equipment or a significant time commitment. 

Just like any other wellness effort, the key to creating experiences employees will engage with is making them feel relevant and approachable. 

The core elements of an effective preventative health strategy

The beauty of grounding preventative health in the basics is that it removes the complexity from program design. Goals are straightforward: educate employees on the fundamentals of a healthy lifestyle and help them turn their newfound awareness into daily actions. 

To do that, employers should meet employees wherever they are in their wellness journeys with information that feels relevant to their lives, schedules, and goals. For some employees, sleep hygiene is life changing, while for others, movement breaks make the difference between simply managing chronic pain and finding more moments that are free from it.

Another element of strong preventative health strategies is a high degree of connection with the existing healthcare ecosystem (e.g., programming that complements health plan offerings). Integration creates a surround sound effect that helps reinforce positive actions and new routines. 

The final piece is incentivizing behavior change. Data shows that rewards are the “make it or break it” of wellness. According to a Department of Labor study, participation rose from 20% to 40% when incentives were introduced. Importantly, rewards that are related to wellness, and that give employees exposure to products and services that support their newly formed habits, are much more effective than generic big box store gift cards, for example. And they do more to promote the company’s well-being values.

When all these pieces are put in place, the results are significant. One RAND study found that well‑designed, integrated corporate wellness programs deliver $1.50–$3 ROI for every $1 spent, driven by reduced healthcare costs and higher productivity. 

How SoHookd helps you bring preventative health to life 

At SoHookd, we’ve seen dramatically improved engagement when those core elements come together in a set of consistent touchpoints throughout the year. For that reason, we offer a variety of choices, all of which we support proactively to make offering them realistic for HR teams. Our core preventative health offerings include:

• Incentives to drive health screening participation: At SoHookd we’ve partnered with health plans to increase participation in preventative health screenings. Through the Incentives Marketplace, employers reward their employees’ healthy behavior with a wide selection of wellness products and services. This sets the stage for a cycle of reinforcing positive actions that contribute to building a healthy lifestyle. Unlike other rewards platforms, everything in our marketplace is related to health and well-being, allowing employees to select products that further their wellness journey.

• Wellness Webinars: Educational webinars provide employees with approachable, actionable information on topics like metabolic health, sleep, stress management, nutrition, and preventative screenings. Shorter, focused sessions are often easier for employees to fit into their schedules. SoHookd continuously  adds new offerings (e.g., a recent addition is an educational webinar on GLP-1s) to ensure that content feels timely, relevant, and practical).

• Wellness gift boxes: Tangible experiences can also reinforce preventative health behaviors in ways that feel engaging and personal. Curated wellness gift boxes can support seasonal health initiatives, be presented as incentives to encourage participation in preventative screenings, or simply create moments that keep wellness visible throughout the year.

Together, these types of experiences create a more connected and practical approach to prevention than one-off campaigns, calls-to
action at open enrollment, or the latest program offered with a wearable. We work with you to make your strategy feel achievable instead of overwhelming.

Using awareness months as an anchor

Plugging preventative health efforts into awareness months is one of the ways to take the lift off of busy HR teams. They create a steady cadence of moments to focus attention on specific health topics, conditions, and populations, giving organizations an opportunity to connect education, resources, and wellness experiences around a prepackaged theme.

Plus, these celebrations help make preventative health feel timely and approachable to employees, instead of abstract.

A more practical path forward

A connected approach like what is described above brings together education, access, experiences, and reinforcement in ways that people can realistically use and sustain over time.

That’s exactly the approach we take at SoHookd.

We believe, and have seen firsthand with our customers, that when prevention is framed around daily habits, embedded into everyday touchpoints, and supported throughout the year, it becomes far more than a wellness concept or annual initiative. It becomes something employees can engage with in meaningful ways.

Men’s Health Month is just around the corner in June. Consider piloting this approach to preventative health with a custom wellness gift box for your male employees.