Workplace Health Promotion Initiatives Research Articles

A Workplace Health Promotion Program for a Predominantly Military Population: Associations with General Health, Mental Well-Being and Sustainable Employability.

Due to the globally increasing life expectancies, many countries are raising their official retirement age to prevent labor shortages and sustain retirement systems. This trend emphasizes the need for sustainable employability. Unhealthy lifestyles pose a risk to sustainable employability as they contribute to chronic diseases and decreased productivity. Workplace Health Promotion (WHP) programs have gained attention as a strategy to enhance employee health and well-being. The Netherlands Armed Forces, a unique employer with demanding psychological and physical requirements, was used as a case study to investigate the associations of a WHP Program with workers health and sustainable employability. The program offered tailor-made guidance to participants (N = 341) through individual coaching trajectories. The program's impact was evaluated by measuring self-reported health, mental well-being, and sustainable employability over a 6-month period. Results indicated significant improvements across all these dimensions after participation in the program. This study provides valuable insights into the benefits of tailor-made WHP programs. While this was an observational study without a control group, this study supports the importance of incorporating individualized approaches in WHP initiatives to foster positive outcomes in health and sustainable employability.

Positive psychological strategies in the service of health promotion: introducing the Balance Program

INTRODUCTION: With the rise of positive psychology, attitudes towards health have also changed perspective: views on mental health and quality of life have been significantly rearranged. The general aspiration of the approach was the expectation that psychological well-being, happiness and healthy personality functioning should be given as much emphasis as possible. At the same time, the development of mental health is inseparable from the space of lifestyle and physical activity. This is why the Balance Program focuses on these three components of health. METHODS: In the Balance Program, we used measuring instruments for measuring mental health and health behaviors, which proved to be suitable for determining individual development directions. Based on the Mental Health Test, the Mental Health Continuum Scale, the Values ​​In Action Questionnaire and the Health-Related Attitudes Questionnaire, various indicators of mental health were assessed in order for the Program's psychologist, dietician and personal trainer to provide optimal, individualised development to the participants. RESULTS: In its current form, the Balance Program does not focus on collecting data for statistical purposes but on supporting personal development. The Program works in a positive psychological approach and with methods and tools applied in positive psychology, which the participants evaluated as attention-grabbing, novel and easy to learn in their subjective reports. And the positive changes became the forerunners of the need for individual development and motivation. CONCLUSIONS: The practical experience of the Balance Program shows a significant demand for workplace health promotion initiatives, which, with proper implementation, also anticipates a positive change in the health behaviour of the participating persons.

Workplace health promotion initiatives for Italian healthcare workers demonstrate an investment for workers, the organization and the society in the context of total worker health

Workplace health promotion initiatives for Italian healthcare workers demonstrate an investment for workers, the organization and the society in the context of total worker health

Examining the Theme: A Healthy Work Place and its Role in Promoting Work Place Health

Workplace health promotion initiatives that aim to improve employees' health and fitness have steadily increased throughout time. Previous studies have looked at the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and barriers to participating in workplace health promotion. The number of studies supporting the effectiveness of workplace health promotion in improving employees' health and well-being through changing their health behaviors is rising. This paper focuses on the importance of workplace health promotion in assuring employees' general well-being and the relevance of these perspectives in dealing with workplace illness prevention.

Health and wellness in the Australian coal mining industry: A cross sectional analysis of baseline findings from the RESHAPE workplace wellness program.

Overweight and obesity has reach pandemic levels, with two-thirds (67%) of adult Australians classified as overweight or obese. As two of the most significant behavioral risk factors for obesity are modifiable (diet and exercise), there exists an opportunity for treatment through workplace health promotion initiatives. As one of Australia's largest industries with its own unique workplace factors, the mining industry has previously reported higher than population levels of overweight and obesity. This represented an opportune setting to test the RESHAPE workplace wellness program. RESHAPE is an eight-step framework (based on the WHO 'Health Workplace Framework and Model') which aims to provide a sustained approach to wellness in the workplace. This paper presents baseline findings from a pilot study that aimed to implement RESHAPE at three mine sites in NSW, Australia, and investigates the issue of overweight and obesity in the coal mining industry. Across three mine sites, 949 coal miners were examined cross-sectionally on a range of workplace, wellness, health, diet, and exercise factors using a paper-based survey. This was a predominantly male sample (90.4%) with the majority (59.2%) of participants aged 25-44 years. Self-reported height and weight measures indicated that less than 20 percent (18.9%) of participants were in a healthy BMI range, while there were effectively equal numbers of overweight (40.9%) and obese (39.1%) participants. Only 3.5% of participants met the daily recommendation for vegetables (5 serves) and shift-workers had greater association with elevated BMI compared to non-shift workers (B = 1.21, 95% CI: 0.23, 2.20, p = 0.016). Poor nutrition is likely to be a key component in elevated levels of overweight and obesity within this industry, with workplace factors compounding challenges workers face in implementing health behavior change. Future studies would benefit from assessing diet and physical activity knowledge in relation to recommendations and serving sizes.

Tracking Changes in US Organizations' Workplace Health Promotion Initiatives: A Longitudinal Analysis of Performance Against Quality Benchmarks.

To examine changes in organizations' workplace health promotion (WHP) initiatives over time associated with repeated self-assessment using the Well Workplace Checklist (WWC). Well Workplace Checklist data include a convenience sample of US organizations that selected to assess their performance against quality WHP benchmarks. Workplaces. In total, 577 US organizations completed the WWC in 2 or more years from 2008 to 2015. The WWC is a 100-item organizational assessment that measures performance against the original set of quality benchmarks that were established by the Wellness Council of America (WELCOA). This study examined changes in overall WWC scores as well as 7 separate benchmark scores. Multilevel modeling was used to examine changes in scores associated with repeated assessments, controlling for the year of assessment and organizational characteristics. There were significant increases in overall WWC scores (β = 2.93, P < .001) associated with the repeated WWC assessments, after controlling for organizational characteristics. All 7 benchmark scores had significant increases associated with reassessment. Compared to other benchmarks, operating plan (β = 6.18, P < .001) and evaluation (β = 4.91, P < .001) scores increased more with each reassessment. Continued reassessment may represent more commitment to and investment in WHP initiatives which could lead to improved quality. Other factors that may positively influence changes in performance against benchmarks include company size, access to outside resources for WHP, and a history with implementing WHP.

Barriers and facilitators to sitting less at work in different organisations: a qualitative study

BackgroundLong-term sitting is associated with increased risks of chronic disease and premature mortality. Since workplaces contribute to a large proportion of daily sitting time, reducing sitting in the workplace is a relevant public health objective. To develop effective interventions, factors that can influence reduced sitting behaviour at work must be understood. This study aimed to explore these barriers and facilitators and determine how they might differ by organisation type. MethodsFour organisations based in Yorkshire, UK, which varied by size and sector, were opportunistically selected to participate; they included a local authority, corporation, charity, and small business. Convenience samples of office-based employees (n=40) were then recruited via email. Focus groups (n=10) took place in participants' workplaces and were audiorecorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were coded and thematically analysed. Further analysis explored differences in barriers and facilitators across the four organisations. FindingsFour main themes were identified—namely, factors at the individual, social, organisational, and environmental level. Many of the themes were consistent across the four organisations, but there were some key discrepancies. Organisational-level factors were less pronounced in the small business, where subthemes relating to presenteeism, the role of managers, or the ways of working were not raised, but were common among the other organisations. Social-level factors, such as “doing things as a group”, were key facilitators for sitting less in the small business compared with the other organisations. InterpretationThese finding demonstrate a variety of barriers and facilitators to sitting less at work, which can vary by organisation. Variations can be explained by organisation size, structure or culture. When developing sit less at work interventions, it is important to understand an organisation's barriers and facilitators to sitting less so that these can be addressed or harnessed by the intervention. The need to understand organisation-specific barriers and facilitators may also be relevant to other workplace health promotion initiatives. FundingSupported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) (doctoral research fellowship for KM DRF-2016-09-023). The funder was not involved in the design of the study, or the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data, or in writing the abstract.

Reasons for presenteeism in nurses working in geriatric settings: A qualitative study

Objective: To explore the perceived causes of presenteeism in nurses on geriatric wards.Background: Presenteeism, defined as working when unwell, is associated with lost productivity and increased absenteeism. It is more commonly reported by employees in the healthcare sector than other sectors.Methods: An exploratory, qualitative study using semi-structured interviews, thematically analysed. Data collected via 18 recorded interviews with nurses working with patients on geriatric medical wards in Malta.Results: Four major themes emerged that related to nurses’ decisions to engage in presenteeism: illness perceptions, which included participants’ views and experiences of their own health complaints; attitudes to their employing organisation, co-workers and patients; organisational aspects such as culture and administrative arrangements; and personal reasons including illness behaviour preference and personal circumstances.Conclusions: Nurses’ decisions to attend work when unwell were reported as dependent upon four themes. Further studies are warranted to determine if findings are applicable to nurse populations other than those represented in this study.Implications: Workplace health promotion initiatives should target nurses’ management of their own health, particularly if they have chronic illnesses. Workplace policies and arrangements should be examined with a view to controlling presenteeism.

Facilitating and limiting factors of workplace health promotion at Rhodes University, South Africa.

Workplace health promotion programs, when well designed and implemented are beneficial to both employees and their employers. To investigate the factors that affect workplace health promotion initiatives intended for support staff at Rhodes University. To explore ways in which future initiatives that aim to reduce the prevalence of non-communicable diseases in the workplace may be improved. A qualitative study, using semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with key stakeholders and support staff. All interviews and focus group discussions were voice recorded and then transcribed verbatim. Transcripts were uploaded into NVivo® 10 for coding and thematic analysis. Key stakeholders reported that health promotion initiatives have been attempted and were advertised, however the turnout was poor. The support staff in turn, stated that past initiatives were not tailored to their health needs and they lacked context-specificity and cultural sensitivity. They also suggested improvements for future initiatives such as convenient venues and using films and short plays as a means of delivering health information. Based on inputs from key stakeholders and support staff, there are several factors that affect the success of health promotion initiatives in the workplace. Employees, who are the recipients of the planned initiatives, need to be involved in all stages of the planning and implementation.

Who initiates and organises situations for work-related alcohol use? The WIRUS culture study.

Alcohol is one of the leading causes of ill health and premature death in the world. Several studies indicate that working life might influence employees' alcohol consumption and drinking patterns. The aim of this study was to explore work-related drinking situations, with a special focus on answering who initiates and organises these situations. Data were collected through semi-structured group interviews in six Norwegian companies from the private ( n=4) and public sectors ( n=2), employing a total of 3850 employees. The informants ( n=43) were representatives from management and local unions, safety officers, advisers from the social insurance office and human-resource personnel, health, safety and environment personnel, and members from the occupational environment committee. Both qualitative and quantitative content analyses were applied in the analyses of the material. Three different initiators and organisers were discovered: the employer, employees and external organisers. External organisers included customers, suppliers, collaborators, sponsors, subcontractors, different unions and employers' organisations. The employer organised more than half of the situations; external organisers were responsible for more than a quarter. The differences between companies were mostly due to the extent of external organisers. The employer initiates and organises most situations for work-related alcohol use. However, exposure to such situations seems to depend on how many external relations the company has. These aspects should be taken into account when workplace health-promotion initiatives are planned.

Culture, management and finances as key aspects for healthy workplace initiatives.

The aim of this study was to qualitatively explore the barriers and enablers to implementing healthy workplace initiatives in a sample of workplaces based in Perth, Western Australia. In-depth interviews were conducted with representatives from 31 organizations representing small, medium and large businesses in the Perth metropolitan area which reported having healthy workplace initiatives. In total, 43 factors were mentioned as influencing the implementation of healthy workplace initiatives. Factors appearing to exert the most influence on the implementation of health promoting initiatives in this sample were culture; support from managers and staff; collaboration with industry providers; financial resources circumstances and the physical environment. These factors appeared to be mutually reinforcing and interconnected. Findings suggest there may be merit in applying an organizational development lens to the implementation of workplace health promotion initiatives as this could assist in leveraging enablers and minimizing barriers.

Communicating Health at Work: Organizational Wellness Programs as Identity Bridges

ABSTRACTWith the growth in workplace health promotion (WHP) initiatives, organizations are asking employees to enact their personal health identities at work. To understand this prominent yet poorly understood phenomenon, we surveyed 204 employees at a company with a WHP program and found that participation in the wellness program mediated personal health and organizational identities. Results fill a gap in communication literature by demonstrating the effect of individual identity enactment on organizational identification and contribute to recent research stressing the relationship between identity and health behaviors. In addition, findings illuminate the role of situated activity in identity negotiation, suggesting that certain activities in organizations, like wellness programs, serve as identity bridges between personal and work-related identity targets.

Beyond ROI: Using Value of Investment to Measure Employee Health and Wellness.

Population Health ManagementVol. 19, No. 4 CommentariesBeyond ROI: Using Value of Investment to Measure Employee Health and WellnessRonald J. Ozminkowski, Seth Serxner, Karen Marlo, Rohit Kichlu, Erin Ratelis, and Jennifer Van de MeulebroeckeRonald J. OzminkowskiConsumer Solutions Group, Optum, Ann Arbor, Michigan.Search for more papers by this author, Seth SerxnerConsumer Solutions Group, Optum, Minneapolis, Minnesota.Search for more papers by this author, Karen MarloNational Business Group on Health, Washington, DCSearch for more papers by this author, Rohit KichluOptum, East Windsor, New Jersey.Search for more papers by this author, Erin RatelisOptum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.Search for more papers by this author, and Jennifer Van de MeulebroeckeTRC Market Research, Fort Washington, Pennsylvania.Search for more papers by this authorPublished Online:18 Jul 2016https://doi.org/10.1089/pop.2015.0160AboutSectionsView articleView Full TextPDF/EPUB Permissions & CitationsPermissionsDownload CitationsTrack CitationsAdd to favorites Back To Publication ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail View articleFiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsCited byIdentifying and understanding benefits associated with return-on-investment from large-scale healthcare Quality Improvement programmes: an integrative systematic literature review24 August 2022 | BMC Health Services Research, Vol. 22, No. 1The development of the concept of return-on-investment from large-scale quality improvement programmes in healthcare: an integrative systematic literature review7 December 2022 | BMC Health Services Research, Vol. 22, No. 1The mutual interdependences between safety and operations: A systematic literature reviewSafety Science, Vol. 153Workplace Health Promotion, Employee Wellbeing and Loyalty during Covid-19 Pandemic—Large Scale Empirical Evidence from Hungary9 April 2021 | Economies, Vol. 9, No. 2Tracking Changes in US Organizations’ Workplace Health Promotion Initiatives: A Longitudinal Analysis of Performance Against Quality Benchmarks23 October 2019 | American Journal of Health Promotion, Vol. 34, No. 2The relationship between employment and health and health care among working-age adults with and without disabilities in the United States20 May 2018 | Disability and Rehabilitation, Vol. 41, No. 19Association of Worksite Food Purchases and Employees’ Overall Dietary Quality and HealthAmerican Journal of Preventive Medicine, Vol. 57, No. 1Wellness as an Enabler of Safety and Productivity – Implications for Safe Operations16 April 2018 Volume 19Issue 4Aug 2016 InformationCopyright 2016, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.To cite this article:Ronald J. Ozminkowski, Seth Serxner, Karen Marlo, Rohit Kichlu, Erin Ratelis, and Jennifer Van de Meulebroecke.Beyond ROI: Using Value of Investment to Measure Employee Health and Wellness.Population Health Management.Aug 2016.227-229.http://doi.org/10.1089/pop.2015.0160Published in Volume: 19 Issue 4: July 18, 2016Online Ahead of Print:January 29, 2016PDF download

The Association Between Body Mass Index Status and Sick Leave and the Role of Emotional Exhaustion—A Mediation Analysis Among a Representative Sample of Dutch Employees

To investigate the associations between body mass index (BMI) and sick leave, and the mediating role of emotional exhaustion. Data were collected from a large survey among Dutch employees (n = 35,022). The causal pathway approach consisting of four regression analyses was applied. In women, moderate overweight and obesity were associated with higher sick leave; in men, obesity, but not moderate overweight, was associated with higher sick leave. Obese workers were at increased risk for emotional exhaustion. Emotional exhaustion was also associated with higher sick leave rates. Adjustment for emotional exhaustion in the association between BMI and sick leave hardly changed the effect size and significance remained. The association between BMI status and sick leave can be explained partially by the presence of emotional exhaustion. Workplace health promotion initiatives should take this into account.

Designing Employee Health Contracts for a Workplace that is Slim by Design

Would employee health contracts be viable for workplace health promotion (WHP)? Two studies explore the benefit and drawbacks of such a policy, as well as the standards and incentives for promoting employee health. Two studies were conducted: Study 1 is a qualitative study that collected salient employee attitudes toward and design factors for employment health contracts among a subset of the target population (n=8), Study 2 tested these factors with a closed-end questionnaire among a broader sample of the target population (n=147). Regression analyses and hypothesis testing are conducted to understand the demographic variables that contribute to attitudes toward the policy, and beliefs for how it should be structured. Results revealed the lowest support from high body mass index (BMI) respondents. There was otherwise moderate to strong support across demographic groups for the policy and use of rewards, yet far less for use of consequences. Previous research has addressed how rewards can promote good health, with far less attention to consequences. This study is one of the first to comprehensively address the role of structuring consequences for poor employee behavior, and demographic groups that offer the lowest support for workplace wellness initiatives. Future research and policy implications are for WHP initiatives are discussed.

Prolonged sedentary time and physical activity in workplace and non-work contexts: a cross-sectional study of office, customer service and call centre employees

BackgroundTo examine sedentary time, prolonged sedentary bouts and physical activity in Australian employees from different workplace settings, within work and non-work contexts.MethodsA convenience sample of 193 employees working in offices (131), call centres (36) and customer service (26) was recruited. Actigraph GT1M accelerometers were used to derive percentages of time spent sedentary (<100 counts per minute; cpm), in prolonged sedentary bouts (≥20 minutes or ≥30 minutes), light-intensity activity (100–1951 cpm) and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA; ≥1952 cpm). Using mixed models adjusted for confounders, these were compared for: work days versus non-work days; work hours versus non-work hours (work days only); and, across workplace settings.ResultsWorking hours were mostly spent sedentary (77.0%, 95%CI: 76.3, 77.6), with approximately half of this time accumulated in prolonged bouts of 20 minutes or more. There were significant (p<0.05) differences in all outcomes between workdays and non-work days, and, on workdays, between work- versus non-work hours. Results consistently showed “work” was more sedentary and had less light-intensity activity, than “non-work”. The period immediately after work appeared important for MVPA. There were significant (p<0.05) differences in all sedentary and activity outcomes occurring during work hours across the workplace settings. Call-centre workers were generally the most sedentary and least physically active at work; customer service workers were typically the least sedentary and the most active at work.ConclusionThe workplace is a key setting for prolonged sedentary time, especially for some occupational groups, and the potential health risk burden attached requires investigation. Future workplace regulations and health promotion initiatives for sedentary occupations to reduce prolonged sitting time should be considered.

Implementing workplace health promotion initiatives: who should we target?

With recent increase in focus on population-based interventions in workplaces, targeting lifestyle risk factors for chronic disease, there is a need to ensure that interventions maximise total reach while still reaching more disadvantaged groups within the workforce. This requires assembling information on NSW workforce and health risks data in a way that is useful to guide planning in health promotion. This paper aims to describe the NSW workforce by employer size, industry divisions, occupation classification, geographic location and risk factor prevalence. Data from a unique combination of public and non-publicly available data sets was used to describe the NSW workforce by demographic, setting-specific variables and risk factor prevalence. NSW represents 31% of Australia's workforce. Large employers represent 1% of businesses but employ 33% of the NSW workforce. Reaching large numbers of NSW workers can be achieved by targeting large employers in metropolitan regions; however, a high proportion of workers with multiple health risks are located in non-metropolitan areas and industries that have a high proportion of small employers. The workplace as a setting for population based health promotion interventions provides a number of challenges due to the fragmented nature and dispersed distribution of the workforce.

Employees' Perception of Workplace Health Promotion Initiatives in Taiwan: A Cross-sectional Survey of 30 Worksites

The present study was to describe the input/process and evaluate the effectiveness of Taiwanese Workplace Health Promotion Initiatives based on employees' perspectives. This study employed a cross-sectional design by a structured questionnaire that was completed by 842 employees in 30 workplaces that participated in the Taiwan Workplace Health Promotion (WHP) Initiatives which supported by Ministry of Health from 2004 to 2006. The results found that the employees generally agreed that WHP improved their personal health skills. There was a lower level of agreement with respect to other input/process domains such as workplace healthy policy, workplace supportive health environments and WHP activities and services and the WHP effectiveness. With regard to the prediction of WHP effectiveness, the domain of workplace health activities/services could only predict 50.5% of the variation of the effectiveness in a regression model. Three domains of workplace - health activities/services, personal health skills and supportive health environments - were significantly correlated to the agree level of health promotion effectiveness. The results suggest that companies that intend initiating health promotion programs need to conduct a detailed assessment of the nature of the workplace settings and the perceptions of employees.

Addressing Organisationally Induced Stress in a Police Jurisdiction: An Australian Case Study

Over 3,500 employees in a police jurisdiction have participated in a health promotion initiative designed to encourage staff to take responsibility for their health. This project was part of a range of initiatives to address workplace stress and involved physical and medical testing and advice. This paper presents the results of interviews with 83 participants about the impact of the programme on their health behaviours and the extent to which they feel it has helped them manage workplace stress better. Although health promotion in the workplace is often criticised as a common response by organisations seeking to reduce stress for their workforce by placing the responsibility for that back on to the individual, this study demonstrates that there can be several positive outcomes. Not least of these is a reported increase in morale due to the perception that the organisation acknowledged that stress was generated by the workplace and was acting to provide support. The vast majority of those interviewed also reported changed health behaviours. The factor which reduced the participation rate (38 per cent) in the opinion of those interviewed was, however, a lack of trust on the part of workers about the objectives of the programme. The study reported here contains information useful to those both planning workplace health promotion initiatives and those organisations seeking to reduce workplace stress.

Who comes to a workplace health risk assessment?

Workplace health promotion initiatives have proliferated, but there are difficulties in recruiting employees of lower socioeconomic status and at higher risk of disease. A survey of health behaviors and attitudes was administered in 20 worksites and the opportunity to attend a health risk assessment promoted. Those more likely to attend were women, those of higher occupational prestige, and those from a non-English-speaking background. After adjustment for these variables, the only health behavior associated with attendance was smoking status. Perceived risk of lung cancer was significant, even after adjustment for smoking status. Stage of readiness to change health behaviors was associated with attendance, with those in the preparation stage being more likely to attend than those in the precontemplation stage. However, this association was statistically significant only for fruit and vegetable consumption. There was no relation between attendance and support for health promotion, perceived general health, or other perceived risk of disease. These findings suggest that additional risk communication strategies and environmental support are required to involve those with less prestigious occupations.