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“In the PepsiCo study, researchers found ‘lifestyle interventions' — health risk assessments, telephonic wellness coaching and so forth — were ineffective in reducing health care costs. It’s not surprising; human instinct is to view ourselves in a more positive light than is accurate, and we tend to reject delayed gratification,” Workforce.com reports.

“Most of us don’t think we’re that unhealthy, so we lie on health risk assessments, knowingly or unknowingly.”

“For those of us who acknowledge that we’ve got work to do, it’s rare that a health risk assessment will spur us to do the difficult, long-term work that’s required to permanently change our behavior. More often, it’s because one of those risks catches up to us that we embrace wellness.”

“Bottom line: A typical wellness program will be ineffective on people who aren’t truly ready to get well. So before you call a wellness vendor, convene some employee focus groups to vet employees’ willingness and readiness to take steps toward wellness, and the personal and professional barriers they perceive against it.”