Multicausal effects of workplace health promotion interventions and special opportunities for small- and medium-sized enterprises

摘要

Background Despite demographic change and increased life and health demands of the younger generations, numerous companies, especially small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), continue to shy away from the quantitative and qualitative expansion of workplace health promotion (WHP) as a means of maintaining workability and employee loyalty. Objectives The article gives an overview of the state of evidence in the WHP, with the aim of making research on WHP more practice-oriented. The article also explains the importance of a holistic assessment of WHP measures and provides recommendations for the expansion of WHP in SMEs. Method The present work is based on a narrative review and examines studies and reports in English and German which have been published mainly in the last 10 years. In particular, reviews have been analyzed. Results Even though reviews tend to report a positive effect, there is not yet sufficient evidence of the effect of WHP interventions. The lack of comparability and often low methodological quality of the individual studies do not yet permit any generally valid statements about the effectiveness of specific WHP interventions. Reviews of the participation behavior and effect of digital health services in WHP are barely available to date. Conclusions When assessing the effect of WHP, it is necessary to consider the multicausal relationships between health and WHP interventions in order to also record the indirect effect of WHP and include it in the cost-benefit analyses. SMEs should recognize and exploit their structural strengths and increasing digitalization as an opportunity for their own expansion of WHP.