Health-promoting organization and organizational effectiveness of health promotion in hospitals: a national cross-sectional survey in Taiwan

Abstract

To assess the organizational health-promotion (HP) status and its effect on the organizational effectiveness of HP in a national cross-sectional survey of all hospitals above the local community hospital level in Taiwan's hospitals, questionnaires were sent to 474 hospitals, of which 162 (34.18%) hospitals returned them and were rendered valid. The results of the organizational HP status reveal that the standardized overall score achieved is 76.26, suggesting that there is considerable room for improvement. The results of correlation analysis partially support the proposition of this study, suggesting that the higher the organizational HP status, the better the self-evaluated overall organizational and administrative effectiveness of its HP. When hierarchical multiple regression was performed, support for ownership (private hospitals), hospital accreditation grades (academic medical centers) and overall score of the Organizational Health of Hospital Assessment Scale were significant predicators of self-evaluated overall organizational effectiveness (F = 11.097, p < 0.01, R(2) = 0.369). Moreover, drafted annually, HP policies and plans and the number of staff HP training activities were found to partially mediate the relation between the organizational HP status, hospital characteristics and self-evaluated overall organizational effectiveness. The results contribute to clarify the conception of health-promoting hospital organizations and to identify a number of dimensions of health-promoting organizations related to the organizational effectiveness of HP in hospitals, which could allow hospitals to establish a healthier organization and more effective HP programs. This study also supplies the research field with important data and insights that can be used in future research.