{"id":93145,"date":"2026-07-10T17:23:06","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T17:23:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/?p=93145"},"modified":"2026-07-10T17:23:06","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T17:23:06","slug":"how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Run High-Engagement Wellness Challenges in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_75 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\/#Most_Challenges_Start_Well_But_Few_Finish_That_Way\" >Most Challenges Start Well, But Few Finish That Way<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\/#Why_Most_Wellness_Challenges_Lose_Momentum\" >Why Most Wellness Challenges Lose Momentum<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\/#Step_1_Define_the_Outcome_Before_Choosing_the_Format\" >Step 1: Define the Outcome Before Choosing the Format<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\/#Step_2_Choose_Daily_Goal_Types_That_Include_Everyone\" >Step 2: Choose Daily Goal Types That Include Everyone<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\/#Step_3_Design_for_Distributed_Teams_from_Day_One\" >Step 3: Design for Distributed Teams from Day One<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\/#Step_4_Build_a_Prize_System_That_Motivates_the_Whole_Team\" >Step 4: Build a Prize System That Motivates the Whole Team<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\/#Step_5_Use_the_Leaderboard_as_a_Communication_Tool_Not_Just_a_Scoreboard\" >Step 5: Use the Leaderboard as a Communication Tool, Not Just a Scoreboard<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\/#Step_6_Involve_a_Coach_Not_Just_a_Scoreboard\" >Step 6: Involve a Coach, Not Just a Scoreboard<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\/#Step_7_Engineer_the_Streak_Not_Just_the_Launch\" >Step 7: Engineer the Streak, Not Just the Launch<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\/#Step_8_Use_HR_Analytics_to_Improve_as_You_Go_Not_Just_Report_at_the_End\" >Step 8: Use HR Analytics to Improve as You Go, Not Just Report at the End<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\/#Putting_It_Together_A_Pre-Launch_Checklist\" >Putting It Together: A Pre-Launch Checklist<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\/#FAQs\" >FAQs<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-13\" href=\"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\/#How_long_should_a_wellness_challenge_run_for\" >How long should a wellness challenge run for?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-14\" href=\"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\/#How_many_employees_need_to_participate_for_a_challenge_to_work\" >How many employees need to participate for a challenge to work?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-15\" href=\"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\/#How_do_you_keep_remote_employees_engaged_in_a_wellness_challenge\" >How do you keep remote employees engaged in a wellness challenge?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-16\" href=\"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\/#Whats_the_best_way_to_structure_prizes_for_a_distributed_team\" >What&#8217;s the best way to structure prizes for a distributed team?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-17\" href=\"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\/#How_do_you_measure_whether_a_wellness_challenge_was_successful\" >How do you measure whether a wellness challenge was successful?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-18\" href=\"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\/#Should_wellness_challenges_be_mandatory\" >Should wellness challenges be mandatory?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-19\" href=\"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\/#How_BetterMe_Business_Is_Built_for_This\" >How BetterMe Business Is Built for This<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A step-by-step guide showing HR teams how to design, launch, and sustain gamified employee wellness challenges for distributed teams\u2014using rewards, leaderboards, and participation tactics that actually hold.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Most_Challenges_Start_Well_But_Few_Finish_That_Way\"><\/span><b>Most Challenges Start Well, But Few Finish That Way<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The launch week looks great. Then, quietly, the number&#8217;s drop.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gamified workplace wellness programs may generate strong initial engagement, but participation can decline substantially over the first several weeks, which highlights the importance of designing programs with long-term engagement in mind (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/publication\/349982830_Promoting_Occupational_Health_through_Gamification_and_E-Coaching_A_5-Month_User_Engagement_Study\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">). The problem is rarely the platform. It&#8217;s the design, and the assumption that novelty alone is enough to carry a program over several weeks or months.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If done well, a wellness challenge can become one of the most effective engagement tools an HR team runs. It builds team cohesion, introduces daily habits, generates meaningful participation data, and creates shared momentum, particularly across distributed teams who rarely interact outside of work deliverables. But this outcome doesn&#8217;t happen automatically\u2014it has to be engineered.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This guide walks through each stage of building a high-engagement wellness challenge for 2026: what to decide before launch, how to design for the long term, and what separates programs that sustain participation from those that plateau after week one.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.betterme.world\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/b2b-11.png\" \/><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_Most_Wellness_Challenges_Lose_Momentum\"><\/span><b>Why Most Wellness Challenges Lose Momentum<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before getting into the steps, it&#8217;s worth naming the patterns that undermine most programs\u2014because many are structural, not motivational.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>The format is too narrow.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> A step-only challenge excludes employees who can&#8217;t walk long distances, work in sedentary roles, or simply don&#8217;t wear a tracker (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.giveriver.com\/blog\/employee-wellness-gamification-tips\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">). When the daily goal is one-dimensional, so is participation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>The social layer is missing.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Leaderboards alone don&#8217;t sustain engagement. Without a way for employees to communicate, encourage each other, or celebrate progress together, the challenge becomes a silent competition rather than a shared experience. Silent competitions fade.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Rewards feel arbitrary.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Points that don&#8217;t lead anywhere, prizes that feel disconnected from the effort, or reward structures that only recognize the top performer leave most of the team feeling like the outcome was never really for them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>There&#8217;s no streak logic.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Programs that treat every day as a fresh start remove the psychological hook that makes daily habits stick. When there&#8217;s no consequence to missing a day\u2014and no recognition for showing up consistently\u2014the urgency to participate disappears.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Launch is treated as the finish line.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Many programs put all their energy into the campaign that announces the challenge and very little into what happens at week three, when novelty has worn off and re-engagement is needed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Knowing these failure modes makes the design decisions that follow much clearer.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.betterme.world\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/29-1.png\" \/><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_1_Define_the_Outcome_Before_Choosing_the_Format\"><\/span><b>Step 1: Define the Outcome Before Choosing the Format<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The most common mistake in wellness challenge design is starting with the format\u2014&#8221;we&#8217;ll do a step challenge&#8221;\u2014before deciding what success actually looks like.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before anything else, define what you want to achieve. The answer will shape every decision that follows.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If the goal is building a daily well-being habit across your workforce, the challenge should reward consistent participation over time\u2014streaks, not one-off completions. The format should allow multiple goal types so employees with different work styles and physical abilities can all participate meaningfully.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If team connection is a goal, wellness challenges can incorporate features that encourage regular communication, collaboration, and teamwork, particularly across remote or hybrid teams (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hhs.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/workplace-mental-health-well-being.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">3<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If demonstrating program value is a priority, choose a challenge that provides measurable participation and outcome data that can be tracked against relevant wellness KPIs (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/wifitalents.com\/corporate-wellness-program-statistics\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">4<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most well-designed programs target all three, but naming the primary outcome keeps the rest of the design decisions grounded.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.betterme.world\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/b2b-3.png\" \/><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_2_Choose_Daily_Goal_Types_That_Include_Everyone\"><\/span><b>Step 2: Choose Daily Goal Types That Include Everyone<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the highest-leverage design decisions is what counts as a daily goal. The broader this definition, the wider the participation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The strongest challenge formats allow employees to choose from a range of goal types each day: steps, a completed workout, a meditation session, or a reading activity. This approach works for several reasons.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It removes the most common barrier to participation\u2014&#8221;I can&#8217;t do this because I don&#8217;t have the right equipment\/fitness level\/lifestyle.&#8221; An employee who works from a desk all day and can&#8217;t realistically hit a step target can still complete a meditation or a reading activity and contribute to their team. Program variety can help increase employee participation (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/ejtd\/article\/48\/10\/37\/1236586\/How-do-employees-feel-their-health-is-valued-a\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">5<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Looking beyond step counts and assessing both physical and mental well-being can give employers a more complete view of worker well-being (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/niosh\/twh\/php\/wellbq\/index.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">6<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The key is that every goal type carries equal weight in the challenge scoring. If steps are worth more points than meditation, you&#8217;ve implicitly told employees which well-being behaviors your company values and excluded people who can&#8217;t participate in the higher-value activity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.betterme.world\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/27-1.png\" \/><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_3_Design_for_Distributed_Teams_from_Day_One\"><\/span><b>Step 3: Design for Distributed Teams from Day One<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Distributed teams need specific design choices that on-site programs often skip. These aren&#8217;t nice-to-haves\u2014they can determine whether remote or internationally located employees feel like the program is for them or just for the main office.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Make participation location-agnostic.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Every goal type in the challenge should be completable without a gym, a specific office, or any physical equipment beyond a phone. Steps work outdoors. Workouts should include at-home options. Meditation and reading are inherently portable.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Build communication into the program.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> A group chat within the challenge\u2014not a separate Slack channel or email thread\u2014keeps the social layer alive without adding admin overhead. When employees can congratulate each other, share progress, or react to a colleague&#8217;s streak inside the challenge platform itself, engagement becomes self-sustaining. Without this, remote employees are participating in isolation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Mind the time zones.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Daily goals should reset at a time that works across your key locations, or give employees a window (e.g. the calendar day in their timezone) rather than a fixed global cutoff. A challenge that technically &#8220;ends&#8221; before a team in Asia-Pacific has woken up is not a distributed-team program.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Be specific about language.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> If your challenge includes reading activities or educational content, be clear about which languages are supported. This is particularly relevant for multilingual workforces, both to set expectations and to ensure no team members feel excluded from content-based goals. Consider supplementing with goal types that are language-neutral (steps, workouts, meditation) for team members where language coverage is limited.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.betterme.world\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/banner-6.png\" \/><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_4_Build_a_Prize_System_That_Motivates_the_Whole_Team\"><\/span><b>Step 4: Build a Prize System That Motivates the Whole Team<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most reward systems in wellness challenges have the same structural flaw: they&#8217;re designed to excite the people who were already going to participate, and do little for everyone else.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A prize system that drives broad participation across a distributed team needs to solve three separate motivation problems.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>The &#8220;it&#8217;s not worth it&#8221; problem.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> If the reward for hitting a wellness goal is a small number of points with no clear redemption value, employees will deprioritize participation the first time something else competes for their attention. Prizes need to feel worth the effort\u2014in size, in relevance, or in meaning.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>The &#8220;I can&#8217;t win anyway&#8221; problem.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Programs that only reward the top performer or the team with the highest overall score exclude the middle, which is where most of your workforce lives. A well-designed prize system rewards the longest streak (effort over time), not just the highest total score (which often reflects prior fitness level more than program engagement). When any employee can be recognized for showing up consistently, the program belongs to everyone.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>The &#8220;my team won&#8217;t win&#8221; problem.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Team-based prizes with multiple tiers\u2014not just first place\u2014keep more teams invested later in the challenge. When a team falls behind the leader, they stop competing and participation drops. Team-based competitions, milestone rewards, and recognition can help support collaboration, consistency, and ongoing motivation (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.zomohealth.com\/blogs\/gamified-fitness-challenges-drive-roi-in-corporate-wellness\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">7<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A practical prize structure might include: an individual longest-streak prize, a team prize for average participation rate (not total score), milestone rewards for reaching a personal goal for the first time, and a random draw element that gives any active participant a chance to win regardless of standing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.betterme.world\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/b2b-5.png\" \/><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_5_Use_the_Leaderboard_as_a_Communication_Tool_Not_Just_a_Scoreboard\"><\/span><b>Step 5: Use the Leaderboard as a Communication Tool, Not Just a Scoreboard<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Leaderboards are the most visible feature of any gamified challenge, and the most misused one.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A leaderboard that shows only the current ranking may struggle to motivate participants in the middle of the field (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S074756322400400X\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">8<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">). The top three teams are motivated. Everyone else is watching the gap between themselves and the leader grow.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The leaderboards that sustain engagement do several things differently.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Leaderboards can show movement as well as current position. Highlighting upward progress, such as moving from 12th to 8th place, may help support motivation (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/repository.eduhk.hk\/en\/publications\/the-winner-takes-it-all-effects-of-leaderboard-based-feedback-on-\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">9<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They track streaks alongside scores. A longest-streak leaderboard runs in parallel with the points leaderboard, giving employees who aren&#8217;t in contention for the top score a separate competition to care about. Streaks are also more equitable\u2014a new hire with no previous fitness habit can build an impressive streak from day one.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They create conversation prompts. The most effective leaderboards in team challenges are the ones employees talk about in the group chat. When leaderboards are connected to group interaction rather than used only as static ranking displays, they may encourage participation, social comparison, and a stronger sense of group identity (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S0167923624001684\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">10<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.betterme.world\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/b2b-10.png\" \/><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_6_Involve_a_Coach_Not_Just_a_Scoreboard\"><\/span><b>Step 6: Involve a Coach, Not Just a Scoreboard<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the most underused engagement tools in corporate wellness challenges is coach support\u2014not 1:1 coaching for individuals who request it, but active coach presence within the challenge itself.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A coach who responds to employees, offers customized guidance, and recognizes their progress can add encouragement, accountability, and social support that an automated points system alone may not provide (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jmir.org\/2023\/1\/e42864\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">11<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This support can be particularly valuable several weeks after launch, when the initial novelty may begin to fade and additional engagement strategies may be needed to sustain participation (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/games.jmir.org\/2025\/1\/e65498\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">12<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">). A coach who surfaces individual achievements (&#8220;three of you hit a seven-day streak this week\u2014here&#8217;s what they said about it&#8221;) creates the kind of social proof and recognition that keeps people engaged when the initial momentum has worn off.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For HR teams running challenges at scale, in-challenge coach support doesn&#8217;t require hiring a wellness coach per team. Platforms that build this into the challenge structure make it possible to maintain coach presence across many simultaneous teams with manageable overhead.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.betterme.world\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/b2b-12.png\" \/><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_7_Engineer_the_Streak_Not_Just_the_Launch\"><\/span><b>Step 7: Engineer the Streak, Not Just the Launch<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The engagement patterns that matter most in a wellness challenge are not the ones from day one. They&#8217;re the ones from day 21 and day 42\u2014when the habit is either forming or falling apart.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Streak mechanics, when designed well, are the most powerful tool for getting past those inflection points. But &#8220;streak&#8221; needs to mean something specific in your program design.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A streak should be the most visible personal metric in the challenge\u2014more prominent than total points, because it reflects what the program is actually trying to build: consistency. The longest streak, not the highest score, should be the primary source of individual recognition.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The design should also account for the cost of breaking a streak. When an employee misses a day and their streak resets to zero, the motivational cost is high enough that many simply disengage. Some programs offer a single &#8220;streak protection&#8221; day per challenge\u2014a buffer that absorbs one missed day without resetting progress. This reduces the cliff-edge effect that causes mid-challenge drop-off without undermining the habit-building purpose.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reactivation moments also matter. A participant who broke their streak on day 14 has a decision to make: restart and try again, or quietly stop participating. Programs can acknowledge this moment with a coach note, a group chat shoutout when someone rebuilds a streak, or a milestone reward for restarting, rather than treating the break as a silent exit.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.betterme.world\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/b2b-7.png\" \/><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_8_Use_HR_Analytics_to_Improve_as_You_Go_Not_Just_Report_at_the_End\"><\/span><b>Step 8: Use HR Analytics to Improve as You Go, Not Just Report at the End<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wellness challenge data is most useful when it&#8217;s reviewed throughout the program and used for continuous improvement, rather than examined only in the end-of-program report (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/mmwr\/volumes\/73\/rr\/rr7306a1.htm\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">13<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/workplace-health-promotion\/php\/model\/building.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">14<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The participation patterns that tell you the most\u2014when engagement drops, which teams are lagging, which goal types are underperforming, which day of the week shows the lowest completion\u2014are visible during the challenge. Acting on them during the program is what separates programs that sustain engagement from those that coast to the end with declining numbers and a polished summary slide.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An HR dashboard that shows these metrics without requiring a manual export makes this kind of in-program adjustment possible. If your platform requires a data request to see participation by department, that friction will prevent most HR teams from acting on the data until it&#8217;s too late to matter.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.betterme.world\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/b2b.png\" \/><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Putting_It_Together_A_Pre-Launch_Checklist\"><\/span><b>Putting It Together: A Pre-Launch Checklist<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before launching any wellness challenge, run through these questions. They surface the design gaps most commonly responsible for mid-challenge drop-off.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Have you defined the primary outcome\u2014habit building, team cohesion, or ROI demonstration\u2014and made sure the format reflects it? Have you confirmed that the daily goal types are diverse enough for your full employee population, including remote, sedentary, and multilingual team members? Have you built a prize structure that motivates the middle of the field, not just the top performers? Is there a group chat or social layer within the challenge, not just a leaderboard? Is coach support part of the program plan, not an afterthought? Have you mapped out what you&#8217;ll do at day 21 when novelty fades\u2014a reactivation campaign, a coach moment, a mid-challenge milestone reward? Do you have access to participation analytics by team and goal type during the challenge, not just at the end?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If the answer to any of these is no, the design has a gap that&#8217;s worth closing before launch day.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.betterme.world\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/b2b-8.png\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"FAQs\"><\/span><b>FAQs<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><ul><li><h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_long_should_a_wellness_challenge_run_for\"><\/span><strong>How long should a wellness challenge run for?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3><\/li><\/ul><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A six-week format can provide enough time for employees to participate consistently while keeping the challenge clearly time-limited (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2227-9032\/12\/13\/1255\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">15<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">). Shorter challenges don&#8217;t give enough time for habits to form or for streak mechanics to become meaningful. Longer challenges\u201412 weeks or more\u2014work well for experienced programs with strong social infrastructure, but require more active engagement management to prevent midpoint drop-off. For a first challenge, six weeks hits the balance: long enough to matter, short enough to maintain urgency.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul><li><h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_many_employees_need_to_participate_for_a_challenge_to_work\"><\/span><strong>How many employees need to participate for a challenge to work?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3><\/li><\/ul><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There&#8217;s no hard minimum, but team-based challenges require enough participants to form genuine teams\u2014typically five to 10 people each. Below that, the social dynamics that make team competition meaningful don&#8217;t fully form. For a company of 100 employees, a challenge with 50-60 active participants across eight to ten teams will generate more engagement than a challenge with 80 registered participants who never interact within the platform.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul><li><h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_do_you_keep_remote_employees_engaged_in_a_wellness_challenge\"><\/span><strong>How do you keep remote employees engaged in a wellness challenge?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3><\/li><\/ul><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For distributed teams, consider using location-flexible goals, an in-challenge group chat, and recognition for consistent participation. Remote employees disengage when the challenge feels designed for people who see each other in an office\u2014step challenges that reference walking routes, social mechanics that depend on in-person interaction, or launch events that only happen on-site. Design for distributed participation first, and on-site employees will follow.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul><li><h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Whats_the_best_way_to_structure_prizes_for_a_distributed_team\"><\/span><strong>What&#8217;s the best way to structure prizes for a distributed team?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3><\/li><\/ul><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Keep prizes digital and flexible where possible. Digital gift cards and charitable donation options can give employees local choice across regions without requiring physical shipping (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.giftbit.com\/blog\/european-digital-gift-cards\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">16<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">). For team prizes, consider experiences that don&#8217;t require co-location (virtual team events, group subscriptions) alongside individual redemption options. The structure matters more than the specific prizes: longest streak, team participation rate, and a random-draw element for all active participants covers the three motivation problems described earlier.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul><li><h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_do_you_measure_whether_a_wellness_challenge_was_successful\"><\/span><strong>How do you measure whether a wellness challenge was successful?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3><\/li><\/ul><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Define success metrics before launch. Consider tracking participation beyond launch, the share of employees who remain active through most of the challenge, typical streak length, and any self-reported engagement or well-being data collected at the end. Comparing these against your first challenge gives you a baseline to improve from. Presenting them to leadership is straightforward when the platform generates the data automatically.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul><li><h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Should_wellness_challenges_be_mandatory\"><\/span><strong>Should wellness challenges be mandatory?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3><\/li><\/ul><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No. Mandatory participation undermines the psychological mechanism that makes challenges work\u2014voluntary engagement creates ownership (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.giveriver.com\/blog\/employee-wellness-gamification-tips\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">). Mandatory enrollment creates resentment and produces participation that looks good in a report but changes nothing about daily habits. Strong launch communications, visible social proof (colleagues already joining), and a prize structure worth competing for are far more effective at driving participation than compulsion.<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.betterme.world\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/b2b-15.png\" \/><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_BetterMe_Business_Is_Built_for_This\"><\/span><b>How BetterMe Business Is Built for This<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">BetterMe Business is designed around the challenge model described in this guide. Employees choose their daily goal from steps, workouts, meditation, or reading, and build their streak across the challenge window. A built-in group chat keeps the social layer active without needing a separate tool. Coach support is embedded in the challenge experience. A prize system rewards the longest streaks and team participation\u2014not just the overall winner.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The HR workspace gives administrators participation analytics by team, goal type, and time\u2014available during the challenge, not just at the end. Implementation is lightweight: access is provisioned by email list or company domain, with a dedicated Customer Success Manager supporting the program from setup through ongoing cycles.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The BetterMe app runs alongside the challenge program, giving employees access to 4,000+ customized workouts, nutrition plans, meditations, and breathing exercises in 30+ languages\u2014so the well-being support continues beyond the challenge window.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you&#8217;re building a wellness challenge program for 2026 and want to see how the platform works in practice, the BetterMe Business team can walk you through a live demo.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/meetings-eu1.hubspot.com\/dkacheishvili\/demo-requested-seo-lp\"><b>Book a demo \u2192<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A step-by-step guide showing HR teams how to design, launch, and sustain gamified employee wellness challenges for distributed teams\u2014using rewards, leaderboards, and participation tactics that actually hold. Most Challenges Start Well, But Few Finish That Way The launch week looks great. Then, quietly, the number&#8217;s drop. Gamified workplace wellness programs may generate strong initial engagement, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":93147,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[206],"tags":[],"coauthors":[45],"class_list":["post-93145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-corporate-wellness-articles"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.8 (Yoast SEO v27.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How to Run High-Engagement Wellness Challenges in 2026 - BetterMe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u2605 HOW TO RUN HIGH-ENGAGEMENT WELLNESS CHALLENGES IN 2026 \u27a4: learn how HR teams can design inclusive, gamified programs that sustain participation.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Run High-Engagement Wellness Challenges in 2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u2605 HOW TO RUN HIGH-ENGAGEMENT WELLNESS CHALLENGES IN 2026 \u27a4: learn how HR teams can design inclusive, gamified programs that sustain participation.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"BetterMe Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/betterme.health.coaching\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"#\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn.betterme.world\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1461-How-to-Run-High-Engagement-Wellness-Challenges-in-2026-1024x640.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"BetterMe\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@betterme\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@betterme\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"BetterMe\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"14 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/betterme.world\\\/articles\\\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/betterme.world\\\/articles\\\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"BetterMe\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/betterme.world\\\/articles\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/39ad9807cee0673a1503badef816961b\"},\"headline\":\"How to Run High-Engagement Wellness Challenges in 2026\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/betterme.world\\\/articles\\\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":2472,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/betterme.world\\\/articles\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/betterme.world\\\/articles\\\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn.betterme.world\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1461-How-to-Run-High-Engagement-Wellness-Challenges-in-2026.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Corporate Wellness\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"articleBody\":\"<i><span style=\\\"font-weight: 400;\\\">A step-by-step guide showing HR teams how to design, launch, and sustain gamified employee wellness challenges for distributed teams\u2014using rewards, leaderboards, and participation tactics that actually hold.<\\\/span><\\\/i>\\r\\n<h2 style=\\\"text-align: center;\\\"><b>Most Challenges Start Well, But Few Finish That Way<\\\/b><\\\/h2>\\r\\n<span style=\\\"font-weight: 400;\\\">The launch week looks great. Then, quietly, the number's drop.<\\\/span>\\r\\n\\r\\n<span style=\\\"font-weight: 400;\\\">Gamified workplace wellness programs may generate strong initial engagement, but participation can decline substantially over the first several weeks, which highlights the importance of designing programs with long-term engagement in mind (<\\\/span><a href=\\\"https:\\\/\\\/www.researchgate.net\\\/publication\\\/349982830_Promoting_Occupational_Health_through_Gamification_and_E-Coaching_A_5-Month_User_Engagement_Study\\\"><span style=\\\"font-weight: 400;\\\">1<\\\/span><\\\/a><span style=\\\"font-weight: 400;\\\">). The problem is rarely the platform. It's the design, and the assumption that novelty alone is enough to carry a program over several weeks or months.<\\\/span>\\r\\n\\r\\n<span style=\\\"font-weight: 400;\\\">If done well, a wellness challenge can become one of the most effective engagement tools an HR team runs. It builds team cohesion, introduces daily habits, generates meaningful participation data, and creates shared momentum, particularly across distributed teams who rarely interact outside of work deliverables. But this outcome doesn't happen automatically\u2014it has to be engineered.<\\\/span>\\r\\n\\r\\n<span style=\\\"font-weight: 400;\\\">This guide walks through each stage of building a high-engagement wellness challenge for 2026: what to decide before launch, how to design for the long term, and what separates programs that sustain participation from those that plateau after week one.<\\\/span>\\r\\n\\r\\n<img src=\\\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn.betterme.world\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/b2b-11.png\\\" \\\/>\\r\\n<h2 style=\\\"text-align: center;\\\"><b>Why Most Wellnes ...\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/betterme.world\\\/articles\\\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/betterme.world\\\/articles\\\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\\\/\",\"name\":\"How to Run High-Engagement Wellness Challenges in 2026 - 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2026","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\/"},"wordCount":2472,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.betterme.world\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1461-How-to-Run-High-Engagement-Wellness-Challenges-in-2026.jpg","articleSection":["Corporate Wellness"],"inLanguage":"en-US","articleBody":"<i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A step-by-step guide showing HR teams how to design, launch, and sustain gamified employee wellness challenges for distributed teams\u2014using rewards, leaderboards, and participation tactics that actually hold.<\/span><\/i>\r\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>Most Challenges Start Well, But Few Finish That Way<\/b><\/h2>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The launch week looks great. Then, quietly, the number's drop.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gamified workplace wellness programs may generate strong initial engagement, but participation can decline substantially over the first several weeks, which highlights the importance of designing programs with long-term engagement in mind (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/publication\/349982830_Promoting_Occupational_Health_through_Gamification_and_E-Coaching_A_5-Month_User_Engagement_Study\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">). The problem is rarely the platform. It's the design, and the assumption that novelty alone is enough to carry a program over several weeks or months.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If done well, a wellness challenge can become one of the most effective engagement tools an HR team runs. It builds team cohesion, introduces daily habits, generates meaningful participation data, and creates shared momentum, particularly across distributed teams who rarely interact outside of work deliverables. But this outcome doesn't happen automatically\u2014it has to be engineered.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This guide walks through each stage of building a high-engagement wellness challenge for 2026: what to decide before launch, how to design for the long term, and what separates programs that sustain participation from those that plateau after week one.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<img src=\"https:\/\/cdn.betterme.world\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/b2b-11.png\" \/>\r\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>Why Most Wellnes ..."},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\/","url":"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\/","name":"How to Run High-Engagement Wellness Challenges in 2026 - BetterMe","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.betterme.world\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1461-How-to-Run-High-Engagement-Wellness-Challenges-in-2026.jpg","description":"\u2605 HOW TO RUN HIGH-ENGAGEMENT WELLNESS CHALLENGES IN 2026 \u27a4: learn how HR teams can design inclusive, gamified programs that sustain participation.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cdn.betterme.world\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1461-How-to-Run-High-Engagement-Wellness-Challenges-in-2026.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.betterme.world\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1461-How-to-Run-High-Engagement-Wellness-Challenges-in-2026.jpg","width":1920,"height":1200,"caption":"Team applauds a colleague during a workplace wellness meeting about running high-engagement wellness challenges."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/how-to-run-high-engagement-wellness-challenges-in-2026\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Corporate Wellness","item":"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/corporate-wellness-articles\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"How to Run High-Engagement Wellness Challenges in 2026"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/#website","url":"https:\/\/betterme.world\/articles\/","name":"BetterMe Blog","description":"Health &amp; 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