“While women are generally more actively engaged in their health care and understand what they need to do to get and stay healthy, employers need to ensure both men and women are making good health a priority,” said Joann Hall Swenson, health engagement leader at Aon Hewitt. “To effectively encourage healthier behaviors across the entire employee population, companies need to implement a holistic health and wellness strategy that considers different segments of the workforce, targets decision makers and encourages active employee participation in health decisions.”

Obstacles to Staying Healthy

While female employees are more aware of the activities that are important to their health and wellness, the survey shows they are also more likely than their male counterparts to feel there are barriers to getting and staying healthy. 

Stress – Fifty-eight percent of female employees say they experience high stress, compared to 44 percent of males. In addition, 39 percent of females are more likely to say their stress has increased over the past 12 months, compared to only 26 percent of male employees. 

"Since the economic downturn, more women have become the sole or primary income provider for their families, and this, in addition to things like work/life balance, may contribute to the additional pressures and stress women feel,” said Christine Baskin, senior vice president of Consulting at The Futures Company.

Recent industry research shows that highly stressed people are 30 percent less likely to eat healthily, 25 percent less likely to exercise and 200 percent more likely to fail to achieve their goals in weight loss programs. These employees also get half as much sleep as people reporting low levels of stress. ¹

Affordability – Female employees are more likely to cite affordability as an obstacle in achieving good health (44 percent) compared to males (37 percent). For example, female employees who are enrolled in a consumer-driven health plan are more likely to say they sacrifice care (29 percent versus 18 percent), seek lower-cost options (27 percent versus 17 percent) or postpone care (27 percent versus 13 percent). 

“Many of the health services women use are costly, which may explain why affordability is of greater concern for women,” said Ray Baumruk, employee research leader at Aon Hewitt. “Women may also be postponing or sacrificing their care in favor of providing care for their children or spouses because they tend to be the ones making and driving health care decisions for their families. Employers can help counter some of these behaviors by ensuring workers have the tools and resources available to help them make good health decisions at the point of need.”

Employer Support – According to the survey, female employees are also less likely to feel they get appropriate support from their employer.  Only 35 percent of females say their employer is extremely/very supportive in helping them get and stay healthy, compared to 45 percent of males.

Female employees are also more likely to want tools and solutions from their employer to help them better manage their health.

• 60 percent of females would like their employer to offer free health tools and programs (versus 52 percent of males).
• 56 percent of females would like to be rewarded for health achievements (versus 50 percent of males).
• 48 percent of females would like a personalized online view of how they use health care and other health information (versus 43 percent of males).  

Aon Hewitt’s 2014 Health Care Survey reveals that employers are taking steps to assist individuals in making health care more accessible and affordable. According to the survey, 21 percent of employers offer on-site primary and/or preventive care services, and 23 percent are considering adding these services in the next three years. Seventy-two percent of employers currently offer on-site health improvement programs surrounding fitness, weight loss and nutrition education, and 23 percent are considering adding these programs in the next three years.

Reaching Genders More Effectively

For employers to more effectively reach their entire workforce about their personal health, Aon Hewitt experts suggest the following steps:

• Segment the workforce. Leveraging workforce data, employers need to segment their employee population and covered dependents demographically and attitudinally (i.e., what they value) and then design programs, incentives and marketing materials that best appeal to the unique needs of their workforce. Once organizations assess the overall profile of male and female employees, they can tailor specific marketing and communication campaigns with better precision.

• Target decision makers. Employers should intentionally communicate with individuals who are making the health decisions in a family. For example, companies may want to consider sending targeted communication that appeal uniquely to each gender on how to manage health services and expenses. Companies can also offer opt-in gender-specific health texts with language and tips more suited to each gender.

• Encourage active participation in health decisions. Although women are more likely to make health care decisions for their families, employers should also encourage males to more actively participate in health decisions and activities. In general, male workers tend to look online for their health information and recommendations, so companies should target their health communication by offering credible sources for health and medical advice.

• Make dealing with stress a priority. Employers should identify the top issues driving stress within their population (looking at both work-related and personal drivers) and develop a strategy to address these issues. To appeal to women, companies should make these offerings easy and convenient to work around their family lives. Since male workers are more likely to cope with stress in sedentary ways, employers should also try to encourage exercise as a top motivator for managing stress. Additionally, to help employees respond in a healthy way to life stressors, companies should consider implementing programs targeted at building resilience.

“Employers need to shift their communications mindset to focus on engaging all employees and their families rather than communicating to the ‘benefit plan participant,’” said Brian Marcotte, CEO of the National Business Group on Health. “To do so, companies need to understand that one size does not fit all and develop communications that are unique and targeted to meet the broad needs and interests of their entire employee population.”

For more information on the Consumer Health Mindset survey, visit www.aon.com/consumerhealthmindset.

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About Aon Hewitt

Aon Hewitt empowers organizations and individuals to secure a better future through innovative talent, retirement and health solutions. We advise, design and execute a wide range of solutions that enable clients to cultivate talent to drive organizational and personal performance and growth, navigate retirement risk while providing new levels of financial security, and redefine health solutions for greater choice, affordability and wellness.  Aon Hewitt is the global leader in human resource solutions, with over 30,000 professionals in 90 countries serving more than 20,000 clients worldwide.  For more information on Aon Hewitt, please visit www.aonhewitt.com.

About Aon

Aon plc (NYSE:AON) is the leading global provider of risk management, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human resources solutions and outsourcing services. Through its more than 66,000 colleagues worldwide, Aon unites to empower results for clients in over 120 countries via innovative and effective risk and people solutions and through industry-leading global resources and technical expertise. Aon has been named repeatedly as the world's best broker, best insurance intermediary, reinsurance intermediary, captives manager and best employee benefits consulting firm by multiple industry sources. Visit www.aon.com for more information on Aon and www.aon.com/manchesterunited to learn about Aon's global partnership and shirt sponsorship with Manchester United.

About The Futures Company

The Futures Company is an award-winning, global strategic insight and innovation consultancy. Unparalleled global expertise in foresight and futures enables The Futures Company to unlock new sources of growth through a range of subscription services and research and consulting solutions.  The Futures Company was formed through the integration of The Henley Centre, HeadlightVision, Yankelovich and most recently, TRU.

The Futures Company is a Kantar company within WPP with teams in Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia.

About the National Business Group on HealthSM

The National Business Group on HealthSM is the nation’s only nonprofit membership organization of large employers devoted exclusively to finding innovative and forward-thinking solutions to their most important health and related benefits issues. The Business Group identifies and shares best practices in health benefits, disability, health and productivity, related paid time off and work/life balance issues. Business Group members provide health coverage for more than 55 million U.S. workers, retirees and their families. For more information about the Business Group, visit www.businessgroupheath.org.