Prevalence of Workplace Health Practices and Policies in Hospitals: Results From the Workplace Health in America Study

Abstract

Purpose: To provide a nationally representative description on the prevalences of policies, practices, programs, and supports relating to worksite wellness in US hospitals. Design: Cross-sectional, self-report of hospitals participating in Workplace Health in America (WHA) survey from November 2016 through September 2017. Setting: Hospitals across the United States. Participants: Random sample of 338 eligible hospitals participating in the WHA survey. Measures: We used previous items from the 2004 National Worksite Health Promotion survey. Key measures included presence of Worksite Health Promotion programs, evidence-based strategies, health screenings, disease management programs, incentives, work-life policies, barriers to health promotion program implementation, and occupational safety and health. Analysis: Independent variables included hospital characteristics (eg, size). Dependent characteristics included worksite health promotion components. Descriptive statistics and χ2 analyses were used. Results: Eighty-two percent of hospitals offered a wellness programs during the previous year with larger hospitals more likely than smaller hospitals to offer programs ( P < .01). Among hospitals with wellness programs, 69% offered nutrition programs, 74% offered physical activity (PA) programs, and 84% had a policy to restrict all tobacco use. Among those with cafeterias or vending machines, 40% had a policy for healthier foods. Only 47% and 25% of hospitals offered lactation support or healthy sleep programs, respectively. Conclusion: Most hospitals offer wellness programs. However, there remain hospitals that do not offer wellness programs. Among those that have wellness programs, most offer supports for nutrition, PA, and tobacco control. Few hospitals offered programs on healthy sleep or lactation support.

Adoption and Implementation Barriers for Worksite Health Programs in the United States

“…The positive association between the number of employees at the worksite and WHP initiatives likely reflects the economies of scales intrinsic to these programs and the better benefits packages typically offered by larger enterprises [9]. Similarly, hospitals are more likely to have worksite health programs, due to both the support culture of these worksites, as well as internal expertise that effectively reduce the marginal expense of these programs [8]. The higher likelihood of having WHP in the public sector may also have an economic explanation.…”

“…Previous analyses have offered a snapshot of the prevalence of WHP initiatives nationally [7] or for specific industries, such as healthcare [8]. Other analyses have explored specific areas of behavioral change, such as sleep [6].…”

Free Food at Work: A Concept Analysis

“…Department of Health and Human Services et al, n. d.) and initial surveillance suggests that these policies are still not widely adopted with 18.6% of surveyed employees from various sectors reporting a workplace policy for offering healthy foods at meetings (Onufrak et al, 2018). In a survey of U.S. hospitals, of those that had workplace wellness programs, 57.2% included a policy for healthy foods at meetings (Mulder et al, 2020). Although helpful for addressing the healthfulness of free food at work provided by the employer/leadership, the guidelines do not address free food at work from other sources (e.g., peers, clients).…”

Betriebliche Gesundheitsförderung in der stationären Altenpflege im Projekt POLKA

“…Aktuelle Analysen zeigen, dass gerade dort die Möglichkeiten der Betrieblichen Gesundheitsförderung noch zu wenig genutzt werden: "Hospitals are often large employers in their communities, and as worksites with health-driven missions, they have the opportunity to model effective health promotion strategies." [4] und "(…) sickness absence rates among NHS staff are higher than the average for both the UK public sector and private sector" [5]. Dies gilt auch für die Pflege kräfte in der stationären Altenpflege.…”