Is the workplace wellness program doing good?: ethical considerations around health promotion at workplace

Abstract

Objective: While the workplace wellness program (WWP) has been widely provided around the world, there was little discussion of ethical issues around WWP. This article describes the overview of how ethical issues arise in WWP, and how practitioners, as well as employers, can mitigate these problems. Methods: The author reviewed the literature addressing the ethical issues around WWP and ethical analytic tools, potentially useful for practitioners to improve WWP from ethical perspectives. Results: The ethical issues in WWP were categorized based on the three principles in bioethics: the principle of autonomy, the principle of beneficence/non-maleficence, and the principle of justice. For each category, various ethical concerns have been discussed in previous research, such as autonomous decision-making under financial incentives, the importance of evidence-based intervention, unexpected consequences of health promotion programs, and disparities among workers under WWP. The author also identified several useful tools and approaches, which practitioners can utilize for improving WWP from ethical perspectives. Conclusion: The employers and practitioners are recommended to conduct ethical analysis with multiple stakeholders to improve their WWPs from ethical perspective during the process of program development and implementation.

Keywords

• health promotion
• public health ethics
• workplace wellness program