Lecture 3 - Health promotion at the worksite Flashcards
Generations WHP Programs, Focus on:
- Safety and quality products
- Top management
- Medical risk factors
- Health Behaviour
- ‘Health-wellness’ programmes
Why Health Promotion at the worksite?
- Life-styles are connected with mortality and morbidity, but also with e.g.:
- Absenteeism
- Health care costs (U.S.: employer based health insurance)
- Productivity
Employee risk factors: costs
costs for high risk employees (5 or more risk factors):
nearly 3 times as high as the costs for low risk employees (1–2 risk factors).
Costs associated with unhealthy lifestyles / health risks
Some estimates from the Dutch context:
- Smokers have a higher absence frequency (1.5x) and a higher number of absenteeism days (1.4x) than non-smokers
- Estimated average costs for a smoking employee (based on a.o. absenteeism, disability): + 105 euro per year
- Risk of work disability 1.5-2.0 x higher among overweight employees
- Employees with obesitas have a higher absenteeism than employees with a healthy weight (frequency: 1.3x, number of days: + 14 days)
- Employees who exercise are less often absent, but especially their absence spells are shorter
Reasons to introduce WHP (8parts)
- keep employees healthy
- part of the business culture
- reduces indirect costs of health failure
- moral responsibility towards employees
- in response to employee requests
- desire to project a favorable corporate image
- belief that WHP is an important benefit that improves employee recruitment and retention
- as a means for improving employee morale and job satisfaction
Dvidided into 4 categories:
Prevention (primary, secondary, teritary)
- Response-type (proactive / reactive)
- Orientation (prevention, promotion, reduction)
- Focus (what employees?)
- Primary
- Proactive
- Prevention or promotion
- All employees - Secondary
- Pro-active, potentially reactive
- Primarily prevention
- Employees at risk - Tertiary
- Reactive
- Reduction consequences
- Employees with ill health
‘Live for Life’ program (Johnson & Johnson)
- first initiated in 1979
mission:
primary goal:
mission: ‘provide direction and resources to J&J employees and families that will result in healthier lifestyles’
goal: cost containment
Live for Life (6 parts)
- Health screening + Health Profile consultation
- 3 hour ‘lifestyle seminar’
- Courses + (self-help) material
- Reward system
- Regular feedback / follow-up results
- Supported by environmental measures (e.g. smoking policy, food in canteen)
‘Live for life’ program: interventions
(sessions: 4, 5, 8, 9x2, 10x2, 12x2)
Note: 60% of the employees participated in at least one intervention
- quit smoking (9 sessions)
- weight control (10 sessions)
- exercise (12 sessions)
- stress management (9 sessions)
- yoga (12 sessions)
- assertiveness training (10 sessions)
- nutrition (8 sessions)
- high blood pressure (4 sessions + follow up)
- alcohol use (5 sessions)
Note: 60% of the employees participated in at least one intervention
‘Live for Life’: results
design?
Favorable results after 1 year:?
Favorable results after 2 years:?
- Quasi-experimental design (control: health screening + consultation)
- Favorable results after 1 year on:
weight, physical fitness, blood-pressure, smoking
and self-reported absenteeism - Favorable results after 2 years on:
physical fitness and smoking
StayWell programme (Control Data Corporation)
–> use of socio-cultural processes
informal leaders & volunteers –> action teams
–> change work environment into a healthy lifestyle -
supportive environment
–> create support groups
Advantages worksite as setting for HP: The World Health Organization identifies the workplace as one of the most important settings for health promotion in the 21st century (WHO, 2010)
- large population adults (also the ‘’difficult to reach’’)
- convenience for target population
- stability of population
- social context
- availability organizational structure
- possibility to intervene at different levels (individual, organizational, environmental)
Review of the effects of Assessment of Health Risks with
Feedback (AHRF) plus*: Insufficient evidence
Insufficient evidence:
Fruit and vegetable consumption;
Body composition (weight, BMI);
Overall physical fitness
Effectiveness of WHP programs
Two crucial elements:
a) Reach / participation rate (also high risk employees!)
b) Effectiveness in creating behaviour change
Generations WHP Programs
Focus on:
- Safety and quality products
- Top management
- Medical risk factors
- Health Behaviour
- ‘Health-wellness’ programs (including individual and organisation-focused stress management interventions)
