It’s Time to Start Talking About Generational Wellness

Your onsite clinic and wellness strategy should reflect the people it serves. Today’s workforce spans multiple generations, each shaped by different experiences, expectations, and relationships with healthcare. A one-size-fits-all approach may provide coverage, but it rarely delivers meaningful engagement or lasting outcomes.

Generational wellness isn’t about labeling employees by age — it’s about recognizing how health priorities, communication preferences, and care expectations vary across your workforce. While employees across generations share common goals like improving health and living longer, the way they engage with healthcare systems can differ significantly.

Understanding these differences allows organizations to design wellness programs that meet employees where they are. By aligning services, communication, and care delivery with the needs of each generation, employers can build programs that improve participation, reduce wasted resources, and drive better health outcomes across the entire workforce.

Three generations, three ways to approach wellness

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, as of the second quarter of 2024, Gen Z workers were almost a fifth (18%) of the labor force, with Baby Boomers comprising 15% of the labor force. Millennials made up the largest share of the labor force (36%), while the Silent Generation has almost entirely retired (1%). Gen X occupied the second largest share (31%), and the Gen X share has declined modestly at a similar rate to that which the Millennial share has increased.

It may feel like ‘generational wellness’ is an overstatement of the differences seen between different age groups. After all, every generation wants to feel better, eat healthier, and live long, right? While in broad terms this is true, the different paradigms and cultural values that surround (and have surrounded) each generation play a major role in how those generations view the systems around them. One of the more telling differences comes in the form of healthcare.

By examining what each generation cares about regarding their healthcare and comparing it to the particular generational make-up of your workforce, you’ll be able to design a wellness program that’s tailored to the needs of your employees. This makes for a lean and mean wellness program that’s high on efficacy and low on wasted resources.

Generation wellness tips for Millennials

Millennials – those born roughly between 1980 and 1996 – are the largest workforce in America. You might imagine them as the 20-something who bikes to work wearing AirPods and munching on avocado toast. In reality, 40% of Millennials are married or living together, and 30% are parents.

There are a few ways that your health and wellness program can speak to and engage Millennial workers. Consider designing your program with the following ideas in mind:

1. Wellness programs that consider more than just diet and exercise

Marathon Health offers numerous wellness programs, including financial well-being and mental health. By promoting a definition of wellness that coincides with Millennials’ comprehensive approach, you’ll see engagement that lowers claims costs and improves morale.

2. Design communications that speak in a relatable way and provide patient-centric tools

Millennial patients will almost certainly have done their own research before visiting the onsite clinic. It’s important to deliver information to them as a partner in their health, not an authority figure. Your clinic vendor should also be able to provide patient-centric tools (like Marathon’s Patient Portal) that gives Millennials the control they want over their health.

3. Run on-site classes like exercise groups, nutrition courses, and sleep seminars

Younger people are more likely to participate in on-site exercise and are generally more interested in things like healthy cooking skills and sleep enhancement. Design your program with inclusive classes that allow your employees to come together and learn; Marathon offers nutrition classes, weekly fitness groups, and fun exercise challenges through its onsite wellness programs that cater to a broad definition of health.

4. Make navigating the system easy

While still a broad band of America’s workforce, a portion of Millennials are just now beginning to take over as primary advocates of their own health (compared to a parent or primary caretaker). With this in mind, your generational wellness program should incorporate easy-to-understand information that speaks to Millennials and their often-unsure understanding of the healthcare system.

Generation wellness tips for GenXers

Generation X is often labeled as the forgotten generation. Sandwiched between the Boomers and Millennials, these employees aged 40-54 play a pivotal role in communal health.

Part of their “untapped” potential comes from their status as Health Activators. Unlike Boomers and Millennials, a majority of GenXers are responsible for health decisions that impact both their parents and children. In this sense, they’re responsible for the health habits of both the Boomers and Generation Z (the generation after Millennials).

There are a few generational wellness tips to engage GenX workers. Consider designing your program with the following ideas in mind:

1. Emphasize a provider-patient relationship

The connection between clinician and patients can have significant impact on a clinic’s overall usage and efficacy. GenXers enjoy consistent, reliable communication that gives them the information they need to be Health Activators. Marathon’s health center program is founded on the transtheoretical model of behavior change, which hinges on timely communication that’s personalized to a patient and encourages consistent patient-provider relationship.

2. Offer 1-on-1 services that highlight a GenXer’s pivotal role

Since a GenXer is often the focal point of generational wellness (with aging parents and adolescent children), it’s important to meet with them individually to discuss their health options and plan. Marathon offers 1-on-1 health and wellness coaching with certified health coaches that give proper focus to GenXers with a busy schedule. We can also design plans that allow for employee dependents (like spouses and children) to utilize the Marathon health center.

3. Have a consistent and reliable “brand”

GenXers are more brand-loyal than both Millennials and Boomers, so consistency in branding is vital. Consider seminars, classes, and engagement campaigns that not only advertise the clinic’s capabilities but also educate your employees on best practices in health as part of your employee communication plan.

Generation wellness tips for Boomers

The Boomers are declining as a workforce in America as retirement age looms, but they still make up a significant chunk of American labor. Running from ages ~55-75, they’re also often the biggest contributors to a business’ healthcare spend and claims costs.

They are much more likely to trust the authority of a primary care clinician or doctor and much less likely to use the Web for healthcare information than both GenXers and Millennials.

There are a few ways that your wellness program can speak to and engage Boomer workers. Consider these generational wellness tips for better results:

1. Prioritize face-to-face engagement

In a study from the American Institute for Preventive Medicine, Boomers prefer more in-person learning than younger people. Consider seminars and lessons from trusted authorities (clinicians and Wellness Coaches) that can leave Boomers feeling confident about what they’re learning. Marathon’s robust wellness programs can provide yearly, monthly, and even weekly classes on diet, exercise, and emotional well-being.

2. Don’t neglect traditional communication

Both GenXers and Boomers are still likely to check their mail habitually, whereas Millennials are used to communications within the digital realm. Don’t forget traditional communication in both marketing your onsite clinic as well as providing healthcare updates. For example, an Marathon Health Risk Assessment event sends out a patient’s biometric results across multiple channels, including physical mail and an upload to a participant’s Patient Portal, to ensure that no patient misses important health findings.

3. Emphasize Chronic Condition Management

Boomers are the most likely subset of your workforce to be experiencing chronic conditions. These conditions are, in turn, often the biggest contributors to your organization’s healthcare spend. It’s important to remind your employees of the clinic’s full capabilities, including comprehensive chronic care and prescription dispensing. Many Boomers may not visit the clinic if they mistakenly believe that it is just a wellness program.

It’s difficult to overstate just how important generational wellness is to an organization. Your onsite clinic model should be flexible and multi-faceted in both the services it provides as well as they way it markets itself. Partner with Marathon Health today and examine the make-up of your workforce. How will you be reaching each generation that’s on your payroll?