Meta-evaluation of worksite health promotion economic return studies: 2012 update.

Two earlier editions of The Art of Health Promotion reported formal meta-evaluations of economic return studies of worksite health promotion programs. These meta-evaluations were among the most popular articles in our publishing history because practitioners, scientists, and employers continue to seek evidence on the economic effectiveness of workplace health promotion. The 2003 report examined 42 peer-reviewed journal articles that met the inclusion criteria, and the 2005 report examined 56 peer-reviewed journal articles. This 2012 update examines 10 additional studies that met the same set of inclusion criteria; four of the weaker studies were dropped, resulting in a total of 62 studies in this report. The meta-evaluation method used here is the same as used in the earlier reports and has been adapted from use with other preventive health programs, providing an overall summary and individual look at the quality of the peer reviewed articles that comprise the current scientific evidence of economic return for worksite health promotion and wellness programs. The term ‘‘meta-evaluation’’ as used in this article is defined as the application of a systematic review process to a set of evaluation studies with a similar purpose in order to determine their respective quality and to summarize their primary findings. It applies the formal meta-evaluation review process and methodology developed and refined by Windsor and Orleans and further modified by Boyd and Windsor to studies of multi-component worksite health promotion programs as defined by Heaney. This report include excerpts from the book Proof Positive: An Analysis of the Cost-Effectiveness of Worksite Wellness, seventh edition, revised and expanded in December of 2011, which applies the same methodology. This edition of The Art of Health Promotion addresses the following topics: