• Wellness Programs: "An approach to personal health that emphasizes individual responsibility for well being through the practice of health promoting lifestyle behaviors," Hurley& Schlaadt (1992).

• Employee Assistance Programs: "Worksite-based program designed to assist work organizations in addressing productivity issues, and employee clients in identifying, but not limited to health, marital, family, financial, alcohol, drug, legal, emotional, stress, or other personal issues that may affect job performance," Employee Assistance Professionals Association (2000).
  

"Benefits and Risks of Employee Assistance/Wellness Programs (EA/WP)"

......EA/WP have proven to be beneficial in many aspects, but there are also some risks involved with these programs. The current goal is to identify the benefits of EA/WP and compare these benefits with the present risks. Then conclude with a table to bring this information together.
......Benefits of EA/WP include reduced absenteeism, improve employee morale, reduced turn-over rates, and increase productivity. EA/WP are also useful in reducing healthcare cost and workers' compensation claims. Other programs may encourage employees to be in control of their own health, motivate physical activity, and aid in preventing serious injury in the future. These programs have also proven to be cost-effective by providing employers with a return profit that is double or even triple the money invested. EA/WP are an advantage to employees because many provide fitness facilities directly located on the work site.
......Although the benefits are significant, there are risks involved with EA./WP. Similar to all aspects of preventive health, the benefits of EA/WP are often hard to measure. That is, its difficult to determine what or how many diseases or conditions were prevented by the programs, making it difficult to get support from top management. Another risk is that some employees may feel that services are not attractive. This problem may cause low employee participation for the program as a whole, and employers may have to provide some form of incentives to encourage employee participation. Finally, EA/WP cost effectiveness is often not seen for several years, which may discourage companies from making this investment.

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