Health promotion in the Scottish workplace: a case for moving the goalposts

Increasing the Health Promotion Practices of Workplaces in Australia with a Proactive Telephone-Based Intervention

Purpose.

The aim of this study was to explore the potential effectiveness of a proactive telephone-based intervention in increasing workplace adoption of health promotion initiatives.

Methods.

A telephone-based direct marketing strategy was used to contact a sample of Australian workplaces to encourage the adoption of health promotion initiatives. Workplaces were offered free services and resources designed to facilitate adoption of health promotion initiatives.

Results.

A total of 227 (71%) workplaces provided informed consent to participate in both baseline and 4-year follow-up surveys. Significant increases were evident for seven of the eight health promotion initiatives.

Discussion.

The findings of this study suggest that a proactive telephone-based intervention has the potential to be effective in increasing the prevalence of health promotion initiatives across a range of health topics in a large population of workplaces. Given the capacity to reach an entire population of workplaces, this approach represents a promising means of achieving the established potential of workplace health promotion.

Patterns and predictors of workplace health promotion: cross-sectional findings from a company survey in Germany

Background

Although the popularity of workplace health promotion (WHP) has considerably increased over the years, there are still concerns about the way this concept is being implemented by the companies. There is, however, a seeming lack of empirical knowledge about variations in WHP practice. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of different patterns (and related quality levels) of WHP activity and the effect of organisational predictors on the chances of these WHP activity levels being implemented.

Methods

Data from an establishment survey (N = 6,500) were used to calculate the prevalences of four configurations of WHP among German companies. Furthermore, multinominal logistic regressions were performed to determine odds ratios for these WHP activity levels according to several organisational characteristics.

Results

9% of companies exhibited the most comprehensive type of WHP including analysis, individual-directed prevention measures and participatory groups concerned with working conditions improvement (level A), 18% featured a combination of analysis and individual-directed prevention (level B), 29% had reported measures from only one of these categories (level C), and 44% showed no WHP activity at all (level D). In the multivariate analysis company size turned out to be the strongest predictor of WHP at all levels. WHP was also predicted by a good economic situation of the company, the availability of safety specialist assistance, the availability of specialist assistance in occupational health and the presence of an employee representative body. These effects usually became stronger when moving up in the hierarchy of WHP levels. For the two sector-level variables (private vs. public, production vs. services) no statistically significant associations with WHP were found.

Conclusions

WHP still shows great potential for improvement both in quantitative and qualitative terms. Especially required are additional efforts in developing and implementing WHP practice models and dissemination strategies which are tailored to the particular conditions and needs of small companies. However, findings suggest that the chances for achieving progress in WHP also depend on developments in adjacent policy areas such as labour relations or occupational safety and health.

At the sources of one's well-being: early rehabilitation for employees with symptoms of distress

OBJECTIVE

To examine the effects of a new multifaceted early rehabilitation program on employee well-being targeted on distressed employees in small-to-medium sized workplaces.

METHODS

Fifty-two employees (92% women; age: 34 to 66 years) participated in five biweekly sessions with one follow-up day at 6 months. Rehabilitation professionals specially trained for the mindfulness method covered topics from health, nutrition, sleep, physical activity to stress management. Employees were divided by their well-being level at baseline into "healthy" and "symptomatic" groups. Main outcomes were job, mental, and physical well-being.

RESULTS

Well-being among the symptomatic employees reached that of the healthy ones at baseline. Also, the healthy participants benefited from the program to a small degree.

CONCLUSIONS

The preliminary findings of this new program are promising although more research is needed on its effects and cost-effectiveness.