2024
THE VALUE OF EMPLOYEE HEALTH & WELL-BEING Well-being at the University of Iowa is fostered by an environment that promotes healthy and purposeful living for all campus members.
OUR GOALS Support the whole-person well-being of Iowa’s faculty and staff members Create and support a culture where individual employees can do their best work and thrive
When faculty and staff have a high sense of well-being, they are better able to bring their best and authentic selves to work. They’re better equipped to build a culture of belonging, connection, and respect.
Provide comprehensive services along the health continuum addressing both low risk (healthy) and higher risk employees
University Human Resources champions a collaborative and integrated service model, leveraging campus and community partners. Our model evolves as we continually evaluate the changing needs of our faculty and staff, our campus strategic priorities, and industry best-in-class practices.
Use data to drive decision making, evaluate outcomes, and help inform overall people strategy
VALUE ON INVESTMENT Cost Savings
Health Measurement
• Iowa offers an internal Employee Assistance Program. Cost savings as compared to an external service delivery model is $200,007 in FY24.
The Personal Health Assessment (PHA) survey had 10,089 users in 2024 (48% participation).
• Iowa offers chronic condition prevention programs. The CDC’s Diabetes Prevention Program estimates a reduction in medical spending over two years of $4,552/pp, saving $54,000-$91,000 with each annual program cycle. We estimate a 2.17:1 ROI for the Wondr Health digital platform since its 2020 implementation. • Healthy employees use less sick leave (CY24 32 hrs/year compared to 66 hrs/year for unhealthy/high risk). The cost avoidance of keeping people healthy and reducing sick absences alone is very conservatively estimated at $2.5 M every year.1
Goal: Increase participation in the PHA to 50%. Key performance indicators for faculty/staff health and wellbeing include: • 52.6% reported thriving2 • 80.4% reported that their physical work environments provide opportunities to make healthy choices • 87.2% reported their supervisors support health and wellbeing
hr.uiowa.edu/employee-well-being