Optimizing financial incentives to improve health among military personnel: Differences by pay grade and across branches

摘要

The focus of this volume is to provide information on financial incentives to develop and sustain habits that can improve the health of military personnel. There are several reasons to use financial incentives in the military, including that the military already successfully relies on incentives to recruit and retain personnel. Furthermore, substantial evidence already indicates that financial incentives can improve health habits in the civilian population. They have been shown to reduce the use of illicit drugs (e.g., Higgins et al., 2008; Higgins et al., 2004; Lussier et al., 2006), help smokers to quit smoking (Heil et al., 2008; Volpp et al., 2006, 2009a; Sindelar, 2008), encourage others to lose weight (John et al., 2011; Volpp et al., 2008a) and address other health habits (Volpp et al., 2008b). However, research is needed in military populations to assess the effectiveness and cost-benefit of incentive systems as well as to adapt them to specifics of the military.