Even Surveys Don't Give Us A Break

[KathyG]

I saw the other thread talking about how so many people expect us to "get over" our losses and "move on." But something happened today that ticked me off.

My employer's health care plan includes a health savings account for each associate, and they add extra money to the fund for each person who completes an online health questionnaire - they call it an assessment. (The information is kept confidential; it's supposed to help you identify health-related concerns you should work on.)

Anyway, I completed the questionnaire so I'd qualify for the extra money. I expected to get a fairly high score because over the last year, I lost a lot of weight, started exercising and dropped my cholesterol way down. Instead, my score was less than last year's by almost half.

Never mind that I've made all these health improvements - I scored badly because many of the questions asked about my emotional state - like whether I feel depressed, how often I feel sad, etc. Even though one of the questions asked if a loved one had died during the past year, the comments at the end of the survey told me that I'm in "serious jeopardy" due to "emotional chaos" and "I should really work harder at relaxing."

Work harder at relaxing?! Hello! I just lost the love of my life and they're telling me to relax? And I'm not suicidal, so where's this jeopardy supposed to be coming from? Under the circumstances, I think "emotional chaos" is pretty normal!

Yes, it was just a questionnaire. But it was so typical of the way society expects us to rebound from life-shattering grief like nothing happened.

[karenb]

That just plain disgusts me! I hope you let them know how unfair that was. You just keep on doing what you do, we all are doing the same and probably would have scored the same. They need to relook at this thing they're doing. Hang in there, girl, you're doing great!

Your friend, Karen P.S. Congrats on all those wonderful improvements. That really takes commitment and a whole lot of energy. I exercise 3 times a week and miss it if I don't. Hang in there.

[DesertBob]

Even though one of the questions asked if a loved one had died during the past year, the comments at the end of the survey told me that I'm in "serious jeopardy" due to "emotional chaos" and "I should really work harder at relaxing."

That smells to this software developer a lot like a program that assigns scores for stress and other factors and then spits out boilerplate text. You have been insulted by a bunch of electrons. Probably assembled by some guy in India who was working off a poorly-written specification.

Frankly I don't think these health assessment services are a good thing to give out information to. Their purpose is not to help employees but to save employers money. The emphasis, as you can see, is on putting you in a particular box and applying some standard admonishment that will hopefully cut claims down the road. It's all couched in terms of caring and common sense but I don't trust these invasive and impertinent questions from some trained monkeys or half-baked software. If I want advice I can pay my doctor for it.

Buy yourself some privacy and sanity and let them keep their bribes.

Best,

--Bob

[karenb]

Absolutely, Bob! You certainly pinpointed it and good for you. I really feel he's right, Kathy.

Your friend, Karen

[Elizabeth A.]

Oh geez, Kathy I'm sorry you had to go through that. Bob put it right, a mess of dump electrons. I did one of those things (but my reasons weren't as good as yours for saving money) mine told me I sleep to much. Right, uh hu, now I CAN'T sleep wonderful hu? I'd take my 9 hours over the amount of little amount of sleep I've gotten in the past two weeks since the computer lectured me. Sheesh.

Congrats on your great changes. I give you 100%, you're here, you're looking out for yourself and you've even made improvements. You get a kudos from me, down with the dump computer....

Oh no shouldn't have typed that, now I'm sure to have trouble with my little pc...