Employee Health Behaviors Research Articles

The influence of job enrichment on job embeddedness and sick presenteeism among nurses.

To understand how job enrichment influences job embeddedness and sick presenteeism among nurses. Job satisfaction and retention are critical issues in healthcare, particularly among nurses. Job enrichment has been identified as a potential strategy to enhance job satisfaction and reduce turnover rates. Understanding its impact on job embeddedness and sick presenteeism can inform policies to improve nurse well-being and organizational effectiveness. A cross-sectional descriptive design following STROBE guidelines was used. Data were collected from 360 nurses working in critical care units of a large university hospital. Three scales were used to measure job enrichment, job embeddedness, and sick presenteeism. Nurses reported high job enrichment and embeddedness levels. However, a significant proportion also exhibited high levels of sick presenteeism. Strong positive correlations existed between job enrichment, job embeddedness, and sick presenteeism. Regression analyses revealed that job enrichment significantly predicted job embeddedness and sick presenteeism. The findings highlight the complex interplay between job characteristics, organizational commitment, and employee health behaviors among nurses. Job enrichment emerged as a critical factor influencing job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and sick presenteeism. The study underscores the need for health policies that promote job enrichment strategies, as they can contribute to nurse retention, reduce sick presenteeism, and enhance productivity in healthcare settings. Nurse retention and job satisfaction can be improved by implementing job enrichment practices in healthcare organizations. Policies to reduce sick presenteeism should prioritize creating healthier work environments and promoting employee well-being. Understanding the cost-effectiveness and productivity gains associated with job enrichment can inform workforce planning and staffing policies, ensuring adequate nurse staffing levels and quality patient care.

Health care utilization and behavior changes after workplace genetic testing at a large US health care system

PurposeThis study explored employee health behavior changes and health care utilization after workplace genetic testing (wGT). Wellness-program-associated wGT seeks to improve employee health, but the related health implications are unknown. MethodsEmployees of a large US health care system offering wGT (cancer, heart disease, and pharmacogenomics [PGx]) were sent electronic surveys. Self-reported data from those who received test results were analyzed. Descriptive statistics characterized responses, whereas logistic regression analyses explored correlates of responses to wGT. Results53.9% (n = 418/776) of respondents (88.3% female, mean age = 44 years) reported receiving wGT results. 12.0% (n = 48/399) received results indicating increased risk (IR) of cancer, 9.5% (n = 38/398) had IR of heart disease, and 31.4% (n = 125/398) received informative PGx results. IR results for cancer and/or heart disease (n = 67) were associated with health behavior changes (adjusted odds ratio: 3.23; 95% CI 1.75, 6.13; P < .001) and health care utilization (adjusted odds ratio: 8.60; 95% CI 4.43, 17.5; P < .001). Informative PGx results (n = 125) were associated with medication changes (PGx-informative: 15.2%; PGx-uninformative: 4.8%; P = .002). ConclusionThis study explored employee responses to wGT, contributing to the understanding of the ethical and social implications of wGT. Receiving IR results from wGT may promote health behavior changes and health care utilization in employees.

Supplemental Material for Identifying Job Demands and Resources Typologies and Exploring Their Differences on Employee Health Behaviors

Supplemental Material for Identifying Job Demands and Resources Typologies and Exploring Their Differences on Employee Health Behaviors

Identifying job demands and resources typologies and exploring their differences on employee health behaviors.

Identifying job demands and resources typologies and exploring their differences on employee health behaviors.

Effectiveness of eHealth Interventions Targeting Employee Health Behaviors: Systematic Review.

The number of people with noncommunicable diseases is increasing. Noncommunicable diseases are the major cause of disability and premature mortality worldwide, associated with negative workplace outcomes such as sickness absence and reduced work productivity. There is a need to identify scalable interventions and their active components to relieve disease and treatment burden and facilitate work participation. eHealth interventions have shown potential in clinical and general populations to increase well-being and physical activity and could be well suited for workplace settings. We aimed to provide an overview of the effectiveness of eHealth interventions at the workplace targeting employee health behaviors and map behavior change techniques (BCTs) used in these interventions. A systematic literature search was performed in PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, Cochrane CENTRAL, and CINAHL in September 2020 and updated in September 2021. Extracted data included participant characteristics, setting, eHealth intervention type, mode of delivery, reported outcomes, effect sizes, and attrition rates. Quality and risk of bias of the included studies were assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration risk-of-bias 2 tool. BCTs were mapped in accordance with the BCT Taxonomy v1. The review was reported according to the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) checklist. In total, 17 randomized controlled trials met the inclusion criteria. The measured outcomes, treatment and follow-up periods, content of eHealth interventions, and workplace contexts had high heterogeneity. Of the 17 studies, 4 (24%) reported unequivocally significant findings for all primary outcomes, with effect sizes ranging from small to large. Furthermore, 53% (9/17) of the studies reported mixed results, and 24% (4/17) reported nonsignificant results. The most frequently targeted behavior was physical activity (15/17, 88% of the studies); the least frequently targeted behavior was smoking (2/17, 12% of the studies). Attrition varied greatly across the studies (0%-37%). Risk of bias was high in 65% (11/17) of the studies, with some concerns in the remaining 35% (6/17). Interventions used various BCTs, and the most frequently used were feedback and monitoring (14/17, 82%), goals and planning (10/17, 59%), antecedents (10/17, 59%), and social support (7/17, 41%). This review suggests that, although eHealth interventions may have potential, there are still unanswered questions regarding their effectiveness and what drives the mechanism behind these effects. Low methodological quality, high heterogeneity and complexity, the characteristics of the included samples, and often high attrition rates challenge the investigation of the effectiveness and the making of sound inferences about the effect sizes and significance of the results. To address this, new studies and methods are needed. A megastudy design in which different interventions are evaluated in the same population over the same period on the same outcomes may solve some of the challenges. PROSPERO CRD42020202777; https://www-crd-york-ac-uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=202777.

Health behavior profiles: A person-centered approach to employee health

ABSTRACT Employee health and well-being scholars have investigated employee health behaviors such as diet, exercise, and sleep and how they may influence work outcomes. Such research has taken a variable-centered approach to investigate the health behaviors as co-existing variables in a model or as moderators of one another. However, a person-centered approach considers the variables collectively for individuals and provides important insight into the role of health behavior profiles. In this paper, we draw on the work-life literature and take a holistic, person-centered approach to investigating employee health behaviors. We conducted two studies, one with a U.S. sample and one with an international sample and analyzed the data using latent profile analysis. In both studies, four health profiles emerged. We further discovered that health locus of control is a predictor of profile membership, and that general health and work performance are outcomes. Overall, our findings contribute to a better, more holistic understanding of health behaviors.

Extension Employee Health Behaviors, Needs, and Interests: A Utah-Based Survey

The goal of our study was to better understand the health and wellness practices, needs, and interests within Cooperative Extension. We used a Qualtrics web-based survey to collect data from Extension employees at Utah State University. Extension employees demonstrated interest in making healthier lifestyles a priority through Extension-specific wellness programs focused on exercise and physical activity, promotion of optimal mental health, and opportunities for personal development. Extension leaders and administrators are encouraged to offer targeted programming to enhance health and wellness within Cooperative Extension.

Analysis of interest in vaccination against COVID-19 and other pro-health initiatives at the workplace among employees in Poland.

The COVID-19 pandemic re-raised the subject of vaccines and their importance for public health. Given the number of employees, one of the key environments in which vaccination should be promoted is the workplace. An original, anonymous and voluntary questionnaire with 13 questions regarding health behaviors of employees in Poland was distributed through HR departments of the companies invited to the research (Computer-Assisted Web Interview - CAWI technique) This publication presents the results of answers to the 3 chosen questions concerning: health issues related to work, interest in health promoting initiatives and following recommendations for physical activity. According to the research presented in this article, 39% of employees in Poland were interested in vaccination against COVID-19. The most popular preventive initiatives are still healthy eating and sport activities. The government allowed organizing vaccinations at the workplace, which gives new opportunities but also obligations and risks. Overall, the potential of a workplace in fighting the coronavirus seems to be used to a very small extent. This carries the need to consult systemic solutions with representatives of employers and occupational medicine practitioners as well as the government. The workplace should be one of the key habitats for health promoting activities, including vaccinations. The above-mentioned issue should still be the subject of research for solutions tailored to the needs and capabilities of each group (employers, occupational medicine professionals and government). One of the circumstances of promoting the health of employees should be preventive examinations of employees - a doctor's visit and contact with an occupational medicine nurse. The potential of preventive employee examinations in this area seems to be unused and limited. The level of immunization of employees has an obvious impact on the state of the economy. In view of the voluntary vaccination against COVID-19, this requires educational campaigns aimed at both employees and employers. Med Pr. 2021;72(6):653-9.

Discover Wellness: A Worksite Wellness Program for Higher Education

Sixty percent of adults in the United States suffer from chronic disease. Worksite wellness programs that target at-risk populations have positive health benefits. Discover Wellness: Find a Healthier You (DW) is a worksite wellness program intended to improve the higher education employee health by providing an opportunity for participants to learn and practice healthy behaviors. The purpose of this study was to evaluate DW program impact on employee behavior change to reduce chronic disease risk. This study employed a pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design that assessed self-efficacy and health behaviors of employees of a state university in the northeast United States. Participants experienced significant improvement in stress (t23 = -31.602, p &lt; 0.001), nutrition (t21 = -36.313, p &lt; 0.001), physical activity (t22 = -34.380, p &lt; 0.001), and sleep (t23 = -18.450, p &lt; 0.001). Additionally, anecdotes from participants revealed themes of comradery and reflection on health behaviors.

How Managers Affect Followers’ Health Behavioral Change: A Systematic Literature Review

Employee health is of direct importance to managers of organizations, teams, and individuals. How managers affect employee health behaviors, and changes thereof, is still unknown. Only a few studies have sought these mechanisms associated with “healthy leadership”, including studies that charted how managers/leaders affect employees’ private health lives. In this systematic literature review of fourteen studies, we analyze the mechanisms that have been explored and substantiated so far. We identified eleven categories of variables that can explain the effects of leadership on employee health behaviors. The findings were incorporated into a conceptual model, offering insight into how healthy leadership/management may affect follower health behavioral change. At the core of this individual-change model are: 1) a personal leader-employee relationship and 2) role modelling. It is suggested that this model should be tested empirically, and that the links among the thus far explored independent and outcome variables should be theorized further. Ultimately, efforts to advance effective healthy leadership at work might promote health behavioral changes among employees’ families and related social networks. In effect, managers may become crucial in the slow ascent of preventive medicine, thereby bringing ‘managers back in’ to pursue their potentially lofty, multi-purpose objectives.

1187 What Types Of Organizations Provide Sleep-focused Workplace Health Promotion Programs For Their Employees? An Analysis Of The 2017 CDC Workplace Health In America Survey

Abstract Introduction There has been a rise in workplace health promotion programs (WHPP)’s in the U.S., designed to improve a variety of employee health behaviors such as exercise and nutrition. Yet, relatively few focus on the third pillar of health: Sleep. Methods The CDC collected data from a nationally-representative cohort of companies in 2017. Participants in this Workplace Health in America study completed online surveys reporting the type of WHPP offerings at their worksite and characteristics of their worksite, including occupational field (e.g., agriculture, management, wholesale/retail), workforce size (i.e., small: &amp;lt;100; moderate: 100-499; and large: 500+) and company type (e.g., non-profit, profit-private, profit-public, government). We identified factors associated with an increased likelihood of sleep-focused WHPP using logistic regression adjusted for company size and type. Analyses were weighted for nationally-representative estimates. Results Of the N=2,843 companies that provided information, N=261 (11.74%) reported having a sleep program. Worksites with large workforces (OR=4.8, p&amp;lt;0.0005), for-profit public companies (OR=9.0, p&amp;lt;0.0005), in wholesale/retail (OR=3.8, p&amp;lt;0.0005), and those with employer-subsidized full health insurance (OR=12.7, p&amp;lt;0.0005) were more likely to have a sleep-focused WHPP. Other predictors included more long-standing WHPP programs (6 years, OR=4.4, p&amp;lt;0.0005), the presence of employee health in the company’s mission (OR=4.5, p&amp;lt;0.0005), leadership buy-in (OR=3.5, p=0.007), and an annual health promotion budget &amp;gt;$50,000 (OR=11.3, p&amp;lt;0.0005). Conclusion In general, workplaces with higher budgets, more well-established health promotion programs, and a mission to promote workplace health are more likely to include a sleep program. Also, publicly-traded companies and government were more likely than private companies to have a sleep program. Future research may consider defining barriers among small business and non-profit organizations for implementing sleep-focused workplace health programs. Support T32HL007901

How does Organizational Climate Motivate Employee Safe and Healthy Behavior in Small Business?: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective.

This study evaluates the motivational processes between employee occupational safety and health climates and behaviors using the Theory of Self-Determination in a sample of diverse small businesses. We used cross-sectional data to assess whether employee safety/health intrinsic, identified, and external motives mediate the relationship between safety/health climate and behavior. All three types of motivation mediated the relationship between safety and health climates and behaviors. Small businesses seeking to engage employees in Total Worker Health efforts should build strong safety and health climates because of their influence on employees' motivation to participate in health promoting and health protective programs.

A Qualitative Investigation of Factors that Influence School Employee Health Behaviors: Implications for Wellness Programming.

Employee health promotion in the elementary school setting can support students' health and academic success. School employees can serve as role models, yet evidence suggests poor health in this population. We identified factors that influence school employee health behaviors to inform subsequent development of employee wellness programs. Focus groups (10 groups, total N=62) and interviews (N=5) were conducted with school employees. Participants were recruited from schools in socioeconomically disadvantaged, racially diverse districts in Massachusetts. We used a socioecological framework to identify multi-level factors that influence employee health behaviors. Factors were characterized as supports (+) or barriers (-) to health-promoting behaviors. Eight themes highlighted the importance of an organizational culture that sustains successful employee wellness programming. Intrapersonal themes included: High Stress (+/-), Desire to Adopt Healthy Behaviors (+), and Sufficient Health Knowledge (+). Interpersonal themes included: Strong Social Network (+) and a Desire to Role Model (+). Organizational themes included: Demanding Job (-), Lack of Wellness Culture (-), and Unhealthy Food (-). Our findings suggest that this population would be receptive to wellness programming. Promising strategies include supporting a dedicated wellness champion and creating recognizable top down wellness support for employees.

Obesity in the Workplace: a Systematic Review of Barriers and Facilitators to Healthy Lifestyles

Workplace health promotion has become a major focus for many organizations, but for these efforts to be effective, they need to recognize that there are barriers to individuals choosing and participating in healthy nutrition and physical activity behavior. This systematic review seeks to identify, classify, and discuss several of these barriers, as well as facilitators, integrate important theories that explain their effects on behavior outcomes and provide scientific evidence for their existence and importance in employee health behavior choices. Our search identified 14 articles that sought specifically to identify barriers and/or facilitators to healthy choices in the workplace. An analysis of these barriers and facilitators determined that they could be classified into one of four categories: physical, personal, social, and organizational factors. Suggestions for best practices for utilizing this information for health promotion and future research avenues are also discussed.

Correlational Analysis Between Depression and Health Behavior Among Employees in the State of Louisiana

Depression has become a canker that is eating up the social fabric of the majority of the employees in the State of Louisiana. Depression is a complex condition that requires intervention since it can affect anyone. There are side effects of depression, such as mental, physical, and social behavior, but this study looks at the psychological side effects in the form of mental health. The research is quantitative by nature and utilizes data from County Health Rankings and Roadmaps for the State of Louisiana. Sixty-four counties were used, for a period of 3 years; that is from 2016 to 2018. Correlation analysis and linear regression model were used to analyze the health behaviors of depressed employees. The two variables considered for the study include smoking and obesity. The report was done to observe if depression causes people to exhibit health behaviors such as smoking and excessive eating leading to obesity. As part of the findings, the study underscores that depressed employees’ actions have a higher adverse effect on work outcome. Also, employers’ attitudes are vital in effectively managing depression within the workplace. Above all, the results highlight the need for more considerable attention to an individual with a mental health problem. The study recommends that the early symptoms and notification by the management of an employee who is undergoing a level of unhealthy behavior should be advised to seek medical assistance or possibly be enrolled by the administration for support. Keywords : Depression, Mentally Unhealthy, Health Behaviors, Employees, Workplace DOI : 10.7176/PPAR/9-8-06 Publication date : August 31 st 2019

Stress Management Program in Selected Transport Companies in the Kingdom of Bahrain: it’s Influence on Job Performance

Nowadays in all the business organizations people are bullying at work for achieving various targets. Because of this, people are becoming sick. Stress of course is one of the reasons for cardiac arrest. So here a study has conducted in order to assess the extent of stress on the people in terms of their health, behavior, work performance effectiveness, personal life and development and also tried to analyze the level of effectiveness of the implementation of stress management technique in the business organizations and its influence on their job performance. To gather the data, survey questionnaires and interviews were conducted. The participant’s answers were analyzed by calculating weighted mean and correlation through SPSS. From the result it is clear that the respondents agree with the effect of stress on the performance level of employees in workplace and also in their daily life. Furthermore, the correlation conducted showed that there is no significance difference between the status and the level of effectiveness of stress management in business organizations. The managers and employees of Transport Companies in Bahrain are contended with the status of stress management program in terms of employee health, employee safety, performance management, stress relief and employee behavior. High cost of maintaining company health expenditures for stress-related disorders is one major problem faced by the transport companies related to stress management program. Anyways the management team in the co is high supportive for proper development and implementation of stress management program. Based on the analysis, the researcher has recommended that company should make provision for some good psychologists who have enough knowledge about stress handling techniques. Management staff and employees in the Company should get an ambiance for practicing stress management techniques on a daily basis and also they should be provided with good recreational facilities.

Diversity Management in the Context of Different Employees’ Health Behaviors

Diversity management is one of the methods of human resource management, which is based on accepting and respecting the diversity of employees. This difference is due to the identity of each member of the organization, one of which is a lifestyle that is shaped by, among other things, the health of the individual. On the other hand, care for the health of employees is the employer’s obligation under the health and safety regulations; it is also the subject of health promotion in the workplace, which aims to support the development of the organization through investing in strengthening the health of workers. The aim of this article is to identify the actions that can be undertaken by the organizations that promote health and the ways in which they are implemented in line with the objectives of managing diversity (in the context of the subject matter they deal with respecting differences in employee health behaviors). The objective of the first part of the study was to present the idea of managing diversity and characterize the behavior of human health. Literature studies were supplemented by the results of empirical research conducted in 2017, aimed at identifying health behaviors.

Factors Associated With Injury Among Employees at a U.S. Army Hospital.

The purpose of this study was to investigate injury incidence and factors associated with injury among employees at a large U.S. Army hospital to inform injury prevention planning and health promotion education efforts. Demographics, health behaviors, and injury history were collected by survey from hospital employees between October and December 2014. Descriptive statistics were reported and factors associated with injury were determined using multiple logistic regression. Respondents (380; 56% females, 44% males; 54% active duty military, 45% civilians) reported a prevalence of unhealthy behaviors (e.g., not enough exercise [58%] and poor sleeping habits [49%]). Nearly half of respondents (47%) reported at least one occupational injury in the past 12 months. Leading mechanisms of injuries were repetitive overuse (36%), falls (15%), and single twisting movement/overexertion (14%). Leading activities at the time of injury were physical training (24%), walking/hiking (15%), and lifting or moving objects (11%). Factors associated with injury included active duty military status, less education, tobacco use, overuse of alcohol or drugs, and stress. Health education efforts and materials intended for hospital staff should incorporate identified modifiable injury risk factors (e.g., alcohol and drug use, stress, tobacco use, poor sleep). Injury prevention initiatives should focus on physical training, walking/hiking, and lifting. Establishment of surveillance and routine review of employee injury, illness, and health behavior data are recommended to monitor program effects and collect data necessary to inform future prevention priorities and planning.

Reward Management

Companies invest enormous financial resources in reward systems and practices to attract, retain, and motivate employees and thereby ensure and improve individual, team, and organizational effectiveness. Organizational rewards comprise financial and nonfinancial rewards, such as appreciation, job security, and promotion. Financial rewards, also called tangible rewards, include direct forms (such as fixed and variable pay and share ownership) as well as indirect and/or deferred forms (such as benefits and perquisites). Fixed or base pay refers to the amount of money one receives in return for fulfilling one’s job requirements, the job’s grade, or the skill or competence level required to perform the tasks. Variable pay (such as cash bonuses and commissions as forms of short-term incentives, or stocks or stock options as forms of long-term incentives) depends, for example, on individual, team, and/or company performance or outcomes, and is based on quantitative and/or qualitative criteria. Benefits (such as pension plans or health programs) and perquisites (such as onsite fitness centers, medical care or health facilities, and company cars), among other forms, are indirect financial rewards (Milkovich, Newman, & Gerhart, 2016). Both qualitative reviews (Gerhart & Fang, 2014; Shaw & Gupta, 2015) and meta-analytic studies (Cerasoli, Nicklin, & Ford, 2014; Garbers & Konradt, 2014; Jenkins, Mitra, Gupta, & Shaw, 1998) have shown that extrinsic rewards (such as financial incentives) can improve employee motivation and performance and shape employee health (Giles, Robalino, McColl, Sniehotta, & Adams, 2014) and safety behavior (Mattson, Torbiorn, & Hellgren, 2014). However, empirical evidence regarding under which conditions particular rewards are most effective or lead to unintended consequences is still scarce. In short, compensation and incentive systems remain one of the most under-researched areas in personnel psychology and human resource management (Gupta & Shaw, 2015). This state of affairs poses risks. Reward management approaches may waste both money and effort, and may be ineffective in attracting, retaining, and motivating target personnel, if not grounded in a base of evidence. Added to this, in the face of the recent financial crisis and of serious cases of employee and company unethical behavior, company’s financial incentives, especially bonus and pay-for-performance (pfp) systems, have been widely criticized for their detrimental effects on individuals, companies, and society (Larcker, Ormazabal, Tayan, & Taylor, 2014). These examples of the dark sides of incentives highlight the importance of reward management research, not only from a human resources management (HRM) but also from a societal perspective. They also illustrate the need to understand the underlying mediating and moderating mechanisms linking reward systems and practices to individual, team, and organizational behavior and outcomes. This special issue contributes to the research on reward management by focusing on the contextual effects of financial rewards on employee motivation, behavior, and performance, and by analyzing the mediating mechanisms of different types of financial and nonfinancial rewards. The four studies included in this special issue address different issues of reward management research and take different theoretical perspectives. The first two studies analyze the interaction effects of financial incentives and individual factors, such as employee perceptions of distributive justice, and then how individual competitiveness moderates the effects of pay-for-performance (pfp) on employee motivation, behavior, and performance. These studies show which and how intended or unintended consequences of pfp occur. The other two studies differentiate the effects of tangible and intangible rewards on employee turnover and risk taking; they disentangle underlying mediating and moderating mechanisms by comparing the effects of benefits and perquisites, and of esteem, security, and promotion as nonfinancial rewards. In the following passages, we present a short overview of these four papers before we discuss their contribution and their implications for further research.

Is work keeping us from acting healthy? How workplace barriers and facilitators impact nutrition and exercise behaviors.

The purpose of this study was to identify common barriers and facilitators to healthy nutrition and exercise behaviors in the workplace and examine their relationships to those actual daily health behaviors. We utilized a concurrent embedded mixed methods approach to collect data from 93 participants over the span of four days. Participants reported 2.80 nutrition and 3.28 exercise barriers on average over the 4days, while reporting 2.93 nutrition and 1.98 exercise facilitators in the same timeframe. Results indicated that workload and temptations around the office prevented nutritious eating; exercise behaviors were frequently hindered by workload. The most commonly mentioned eating facilitator was proper planning, while having time to exercise facilitated physical activity. Furthermore, the number of barriers reported negatively related to their respective health behaviors (i.e., more nutrition barriers translated to poorer nutrition habits) and facilitators were positively related to them, both overall and more so on the specific day they were reported. The implications of these finding show the importance of barriers/facilitators in the workplace and aid in the creation of more targeted health promotion that could increase positive employee health behaviors by eliminating common barriers and enhancing facilitators.