Podcast Interview: Dr. Ron Goetzel

Dr. Ron Goetzel is the VP of consulting and applied research for IBM Watson Health. He holds a second position as Senior Scientist and Director of the Institute for Health and Productivity Studies at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Goetzel leads research projects for employers and other healthcare purchasers interested in the relationship between health and wellbeing, medical costs, and work-related productivity. Dr. Goetzel is an internationally recognized and widely published expert in, among other things, evaluations of health promotion programs and return on investment (ROI) from such programs. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, and frequently presents at intern’l business and scientific forums. We discuss his work, and his findings on why wellness has largely failed in the workplace, and what is needed. He emphasizes the importance of a culture of wellbeing as the basis for focused programs.