The most isolating year that many Americans have experienced has ended and another one has started.
Amid all the forced-alone or family-unit time, companies that run wellness programs have discovered something interesting about how their employees and patrons are “gathering” together. Their participation and engagement in digital programs has only strengthened in the pandemic, perhaps because people are seeking a virtual community that they can’t safely join in person.
And large companies and small businesses have responded to the economics of the pandemic, not by jettisoning wellness programs from their benefits packages but by keeping them, if not expanding the options.
Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island, which operated wellness programs and educational activities out of its four Your Blue Stores, initially was set back when they had to close last spring.
“There were obvious challenges in any kind of community activity, any kind of event involving putting people in the same room at the same time,” said Paul Ryan, director of retail strategy and operations for Blue Cross in Rhode Island.
But the yoga and stretching classes that had taken place in the retail stores soon found an even bigger audience online.
Ten months after dipping a toe into the livestreaming world of Facebook with a single yoga session, in April 2019, the health insurer now hosts five classes a week. The instructors work alone in the store, facing a camera, streaming each class.
‘Our video engagement was up 3,000% over the prior year.’
PAUL RYAN, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island director of retail strategy and operations
Because the programs have moved onto Facebook, the audience has expanded beyond Blue Cross customers to include anyone who wants to watch, either live or on-demand.
Ryan said organizers noticed early on that people enjoyed participating, were commenting and reconnecting online. It was reestablishing the same community benefits that the traditional class had offered.
“It became very clear very quickly that we had something,” he said. “One session turned to two. Two turned to four. Next thing we knew, we had five-day-a-week programming.” By the end of 2020, 180 sessions had been recorded in which Facebook followers could participate.
For Blue Cross, the engagement metrics in its wellness programs told the story in another way. “Our video engagement was up 3,000% over the prior year,” Ryan said.
For the “Your Blue Store Studio” audience, Facebook was the appropriate social media outlet. The audience for the in-class sessions had tended to skew older. The same is true for its online audience, attracted to 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. yoga sessions with names such as “Coffee Break Shake” and “Living Room Latin Moves.”
For older Americans, Facebook is a comfortable introduction to social media. “We didn’t want technical skill to be a reason why people didn’t participate,” Ryan said.
Ivette Luna, Blue Cross manager of consumer engagement, said other in-person activities also successfully transitioned to digital formats. The company has moved education programs online, including programs on positive thinking and building resiliency.
People can get alerts when a new topic is available, she said. The idea is to rebuild a community to help people soldier through what for many can be an isolating experience, living through a pandemic.
Before the pandemic, a group formed out of the retail stores that had 300 members participating in a fitness challenge. It has continued through 2020, Luna said, with 50 people now participating in a virtual walking group.
“We wanted to figure out ways to provide support,” Luna said. “What are the needs of our membership, for their overall health and well-being?”
Other wellness companies with established programs have reached out to members scattered far from traditional workplaces, to keep them engaged.
Virgin Pulse Inc., which has its headquarters in Providence, did not respond to requests for an interview. But in its online materials, the company suggested ways its client companies could continue to get their employees engaged in healthy habits, including by launching a challenge to keep remote members involved.
In literature aimed at health plans that offer Virgin Pulse as a benefit, the company encouraged proactive communication. Virgin Pulse members engage with their apps an average of 21 days a month, according to the company.
In late January, sensing a need among its member companies, the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce announced it would help businesses gain access to a low-cost suite of wellness and telemedicine benefits as an add-on to an employer’s existing medical plan.
The “concierge service” would provide useful resources that can be used in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chamber said.
Laurie White, Chamber CEO and president, said the pandemic has encouraged companies to adopt technologies that make it easier for people to connect professionally and personally, and has created more demand for services that used to be traditionally provided in person.
“At the top of the list for employers is the ability to provide their employees with access to different kinds of wellness programs,” White said. “At this point in time, after a year’s worth of experience with ‘virtual everything,’ there’s heightened acceptance about embracing telehealth and telemedicine platforms. That’s the new delivery model, and we’ll be doing a lot more with it in 2021.”
Mary MacDonald is a PBN staff writer. Contact her at Macdonald@PBN.com.
