02 Oct Onlife Health Co-Hosting Session at HERO Forum18

Panel to Discuss Using Worksite Health Programs to Improve Social Determinants of Health

Brentwood, Tenn., October 2, 2018— Onlife Health, a national company with 22 years of expertise in delivering comprehensive wellness engagement solutions, and the Maine Education Association Benefits Trust (MEABT) are co-hosting a session at HERO Forum18 on one of today’s most important topics in public health: social determinants.

Entitled Improving Social Determinants of Health through Worksite Wellness Programs, the session will review and present relevant research on the social determinants of health (SDoH), defined by the CDC as the conditions in the environments in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age. The session will also share insights as to how organizations can leverage worksite health promotion programs to positively influence SDoH, which affect a wide range of health risks and outcomes.

HERO is a national non-profit dedicated to identifying and sharing best practices in the field of workplace health to improve the well-being of employees, their spouses, dependents and retirees. HERO Forum18 takes place October 2 – 4, 2018 in Ponte Vedra, Florida.

Catherine Bass, Ph.D., director of informatics at Onlife Health, and Michael Booth, wellness director for MEABT, will serve as co-presenters. MEABT is a not-for-profit, employee welfare benefit plan that serves Maine public school employees and their families. Onlife has been the wellness program partner for MEABT since 2012.

“During the session, we’ll show how organizations can apply data mining techniques to identify and target both at-risk populations and individuals by social determinants of health,” said Bass. “We believe the potential of this kind of data analytics is enormous. For example, by using social data, we recently increased our ability to accurately predict engagement by 30 percent. We’ll also discuss how utilizing wellness ambassadors can foster and encourage social relationships that improve medical outcomes.”

“A person’s social and community context, which includes the home, school, worksite, and neighborhood, is one of the six determinants of health,” said Booth “A worksite health promotion program is a natural fit to influence this particular determinant. After all, many employees spend at least one-half of their waking hours in the workplace five days a week.

Creating stronger and more supportive social relationships through a worksite wellness program can only have a positive influence on the health of employees.”

“As employers continue to look for new ways to increase employee and spouse participation in health-related programs and services, they often overlook SDoH factors as drivers in employee engagement,” said Bass. “The next evolution of worksite health promotion programs will take these factors into account, understand the power of social relations in engaging employees, and provide the programs and tools to broaden the focus from the individual to the individual’s community.”

About Onlife Health

Onlife Health is a data-driven health solutions company. Our wellness engagement platform empowers over 11 million people to take an active and ongoing role in their own health by leveraging sophisticated data analytics to understand a population and engage each of its members in meaningful programs. Whether it’s a wellness offering for an employer group or a Gaps Closure program to drive Medicare Star ratings, Onlife solutions support multiple populations to help individuals better their health and improve their sponsor’s bottom line. Our platform recognizes each individual’s distinct needs and supports them on their own unique healthcare journey via a personalized, seamless user experience that leverages their support ecosystem. For more information, visit onlifehealth.com.

About MEABT

Established in 1993 and headquartered in Augusta, Maine, the Maine Education Association Benefits Trust (MEABT) is a not-for-profit, employee welfare benefit plan dedicated to the health of Maine public school employees and their families. A nine-member Board of Trustees – all current or retired public school employees – governs the health insurance plan which provides medical, pharmacy, vision and wellness benefits to approximately 68,000 individuals in the state of Maine.