Workplace Health Camps, but Better

Hello Reader!

If Drake made you open this email, no judgment at all! 👀 (It was just successful clickbait, that’s all.)

Happy Monday! With a fresh week comes the usual dose of chaos. If you’re not quite ready to dive back into work just yet, don’t worry—I’ve got just the thing to make the morning feel a bit lighter! Here’s a cozy newsletter to ease you in. Enjoy the read!

The concept of employer-sponsored healthcare dates back to the early 1900s, born out of necessity in high-risk industries like mining and railroads. Workers faced dangerous conditions daily and couldn’t afford private care, so employers found ways to keep them healthy and working.

Fast forward to today: with far more safer workplaces and improved affordability the excitement for initiatives like Health camps hasn’t quite carried over. And that’s the catch—without the urgency of need or affordability, health camps feel less relevant in today’s workplace.

Over the past six months, Madhu Kesarkar’s team has successfully organised over ten Health Melas for our customers with impressive participation rates, and overwhelming praise from participants.

In this edition I’ll walk you through some of the crucial research-informed decisions that inspired the journey of designing the Health Mela and how it all came together.

Read, enjoy, and share your feedback or questions at jahnavi@plumhq.com.

A brief context

On a pleasant Friday evening sometime in January this year, our plans of easing into the weekend were disrupted by a research brief landing in our inbox. We were the first recruits on the mission: Reimagine the health camp experience.

Our Co-founder and CTO, Saurabh Arora, was clear on the brief: "Enhance employee engagement and customer interaction by bringing curated health and wellness camps into the office." The goal? A seamless, impactful experience that would genuinely "wow" employees.

Traditional health camps—stiff hallway setups, awkward nudges, and disengaged employees—didn't match this vision. So, how could we redefine it?

We turned to our strengths: classic, authentic research—with a twist. With only 14 days to plan, design, recruit, print, organise, and promote, our cross-functional team from Product, Product Marketing, Design, and Research dove in.

The result? A wildly successful "Health Mela" with a 70% participation rate. Curious about how we pulled it off? Lessgoo!

The Secret Sauce

Boosting participation from the standard 30% to 70% wasn’t a miracle—it was the result of a carefully crafted research-informed strategy that drove success not only at Plum but in every Health Mela since. Here are the two crucial areas of insight behind our success:

#1 Experience, experience and experience

One unique aspect of a product-focused team designing a physical experience like a Health Mela is implementing a human-centred approach—reframing the Health Camp as a user experience, rather than just a routine activity.

When 15 out of 18 research participants described Health Camps as “boring,” it was clear that the experience needed a boost. This meant focusing on stages like the initial motivation, onboarding, participation milestones, and the final wrap-up.

We thought end-to-end as we worked on several iterations that could enhance these micro interactions to test them with our fellow Plum employees. Here are some experiences that came out of this exercise:

• Health passports and stamps: This element of gamification not just piqued users' interest, but attractive passports also encouraged them to join the camp, while stamps for each completed check-up motivated them to progress through each stage.
• Incentives Like Relaxing Massages: Adding a massage as a reward brought a sense of desirability to the experience, incentivising participants to complete more check-ups and earn enough stamps to qualify for the treat.
• App enabled registration: This simply eliminated wait times, allowing participants to dive into the Mela experience right away. It also gave us a chance to share “need-to-know” details, setting expectations and ensuring a smooth start.
• Instant Gratification Through Health Reports: Immediate, accurate reports are always appreciated. So we ensured that well-designed, detailed health reports landed in their inboxes on the very same day. These reports offered actionable insights to help participants better understand and improve their health markers.

#2 The Aspect of ‘Care’

Our research revealed that several bottlenecks and apprehensions that keep employees away from participation can be dealt with paying closer attention to certain aspects of care.

• Inclusion through ‘care’: When understanding healthcare needs for women, privacy and discretion are essential components. The preference for female consultants over male ones is a natural extension of this understanding. Historically, female participation in health camps has been low, sometimes dipping to less than 10%.
  
  Interviews with over ten female employees revealed that the key to solving this were simple yet crucial aspects of care – designated, private spaces specifically for women for certain health check-ups, adequately staffing female consultants and support staff on-site, advance notice regarding appropriate attire to help women feel comfortable and prepared for participation, etc., are some of these aspects.
• Thoughtful communication: Effective communication around health camps extends beyond just dates and times. Our research pointed out that a significant barrier to participation is the knowledge gap that breeds uncertainty. For example, Participant’s understanding of how a certain check-up experience could look like might be based on a ton of assumptions,
  
  “I am imagining that the doctor will plug all those wires all over my body.”, said a research participant when asked how they think a certain check-up will be done.
  
  “My friend told me that they draw 100 ml blood thrice for the blood test," said another participant.
  
  We delved into the specifics of communication to ease any apprehensions, addressing concerns about the invasiveness of check-ups, eligibility criteria, and follow-up actions based on results. We even included estimated times for each check-up, allowing participants to plan their day or drop by during breaks.

Read more about how we did this research exercise on the Plum Build blog.

How’s it going now? - A conversation with Madhu Kesarkar

Madhu recently stepped up as the Wellness Lead at Plum, and, together with her dedicated team, she’s organised a series of successful Health Melas over the past few months. They didn’t just nail the "secret sauce"—they kept improving the experience by listening to user and stakeholder feedback.

Nearly nine months after our first Health Mela, I caught up with Madhu over coffee to understand how our initial research insights continue to shape the experience.

Participation rates at Plum’s Health Melas have consistently averaged 50–60%, which is impressive. According to Madhu, much of the success is due to standardisation which follows the research-driven playbook for organising the Mela:
“We have a clear process for organising Health Melas at any scale, whether for a group of 50 or 1,000 employees. Standardising everything—from prerequisites and touchpoints to communications and reports—makes the whole thing much less chaotic.”

Once the team is able to get an estimate of the participation, they conduct a thorough rekky of the client’s office space.
“We need to ensure that we have enough discrete spaces for certain tests like physiotherapy, massage, etc. This is especially important for female employees.”
They also ensure that they have enough space to accommodate each zone – “The goal is to ensure great experience by not disrupting the day-to-day operations of our client.”

Three weeks before the Mela, they send a set of pre-drafted communications to HR for internal circulation, giving participants time to plan. “We also share a registration link so employees can sign up through the app,” Madhu explained. “By the start of the Mela, we usually have around 50% of the registrations already in. The health passports we issue to these early registrants often encourage others to sign up and join.”

Health Melas generate a lot of excitement. “For some, it’s a chance to understand their health better; for others, it’s a fresh start,” Madhu noted. “Many employees, without noticeable symptoms, end up surprised by their health reports.”

Same-day health reports are especially popular. “Employees often ask when the next Mela is happening or how they can follow up on their results. This is a great time for us to introduce them to Telehealth options and other perks,” she said.

Madhu’s team also compiles an organisational health report, shared with HR within a week. “These reports help spark discussions about new health initiatives Plum could bring to the organisation, providing HR with a clear roadmap for employee wellness.”

With nine Health Melas scheduled for November, I’ll be following Madhu and her team for one of the upcoming Newsletters to give you an on-ground report of the real experience.

Until next time,
Jahnavi :)