The Occupational Therapist's Role in Employee Health Promotion Programs

Abstract

The first challenge in developing an effective health promotion program for employees is the performance of a health needs assessment on the target population. In an effort to meet this challenge, 600 corporate employees were surveyed and compared with respect to the allotment of time to work, leisure, and self/family care activities; health risk factors; perceived health; and activity satisfaction. The results of the study indicated that the employees participating in the corporate health and fitness programs were not the high risk individuals who consume the majority of the corporate medical dollar. The role of the occupational therapist in meeting the needs of high risk employees is discussed. A brief review of the literature addresses research efforts in the area of health promotion in industry and the role of the occupational therapist in disease prevention. The appropriateness of occupational therapy education, training and theory in relation to health promotion programs and the utilization of the five occupational performance components in the evaluation of employee populations is outlined. Finally, the role of the occupational therapist working in specific areas of health promotion is reviewed, including: back pain reduction, substance abuse treatment, cardiac fitness/rehabilitation and hypertension control, smoking cessation, weight reduction, stress management, industrial accident and injury prevention, and self-responsibility for health instruction.