Workplace wellbeing - or health promotion?

摘要

It is little wonder that it has been said that workplace wellness programmes are evolving and should be considered a work in progress13. We know little about the true effectiveness and efficacy of different interventions, while the focus on cost-effectiveness is misguided and the evidence is contaminated by unreliable data from low-quality studies.There is relatively little empirical evidence relating to the relationship between employees' subjective wellbeing and workplace performance and productivity6. Whether or not this is important is questionable because it puts focus on squeezing every penny out of workers rather than offering WHP as part of being a 'caring employer'. Further studies are needed to provide evidence on the efficiency of WHP31, but it would be more socially responsible if research were undertaken to identify the programmes most effective in making people healthier rather than proving that WHP makes workers more productive. In any case, populistic WHP outcome measures such as 'engagement', subjective wellbeing, presenteeism and productivity are notoriously difficult to estimate40. Overall, based on the current evidence, it appears that some WHP programmes yield small positive behavioural and health effects but we need further research to identify whether these outcomes are sustained in the long term.