We all know how important a wellness portal is to a corporate wellness program, but what does it really take to have an excellent portal that drives visitors, increases engagement and supports healthy behavior change?
There are a number of things to consider when you’re looking at a wellness portal for an employee population. Here are six must-haves for a well-rounded portal.
Custom
Can you enable and disable features you want your population to see? What about a custom challenge or existing wellness initiative? Can those be easily incorporated into the wellness portal? Not all worksite wellness programs are the same so why should all wellness portals be the same.
Branding
Can you tweak the standard portal site “look and feel”? How easily is it change the design to match your organization's colors, logo, and messaging? You want your wellness portal to fit in as seamlessly as possible with any existing intranet or Internet sites that you have.
Plus, consistently using your wellness program’s brand on all communications helps reinforce your message and identity.
Total Integration
How does the portal integrate with other wellness offerings? For example, are Health Risk Assessment or biometric screening results part of the portal? What about personal health coaching or incentive tracking? Built in recognition and incentives help motivate and retain participants.You don't want employees to use multiple systems - you want a seamless program so you can create a one-stop shop for wellness.
Weight Management Tools
Obesity represents one of the biggest public health challenges (no pun intended) and puts people at risk for heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer. So it’s important that a wellness portal has tools and resources to address this important issue. Look for features like personal nutrition and exercise journals, healthy recipes and diet plans that can help employees reach their weight loss goals.
Innovative Technology
Does the portal offer some innovative features, like social networking or videos? Make sure the wellness portal is always developing and enhancing offerings. This helps to ensure that content does not get stale and dusty.
Robust Reporting
Can the portal track progress and engagement of participants on an individual basis as well as a company-aggregate basis while maintaining strict confidentiality? Reporting is essential to measure your Return on Investment and overall success of your wellness program.
What other wellness portal features would you recommend?
