An opinion editorial by NWI CEO, Chuck Gillespie
Where is the Wellness in Yale’s “wellness program?” It appears Yale forgot to add that part (and many other legal matters to their medical health program).
Read this article about the settlement for yourself.
At issue was what Yale tried to call a workplace wellness program, which in all reality was a required clinical health screen (and it does not appear there was a reasonable alternative standard). The program required certain union employees to submit to medical testing, such as mammograms, colonoscopies, and screenings for diabetes, with the university’s “wellness” vendors gaining access to the results. Workers who chose to keep their health information private or abstain from such tests were automatically charged $25 per week, which adds up to $1,300 a year.
Yale forgot to offer the actual wellness program inside what they called a wellness program. I am appalled by the utter lack of competency displayed by all parties involved, and want to make it very clear that what Yale offered was a medical health screen – NOT a wellness program. There is nothing here resembling a multidimensional, multicultural, high-level wellness strategy. Essentially, Yale dressed up a required medical diagnostic in a wellness costume and got their hand slapped for it.
Wellness works when your programming is centered on multidimensional, multicultural, high-level wellness strategies led by practitioners trained in the Wellness Promotion Competencies.
