Do Workplace Health Promotion (Wellness) Programs Work? Goetzel, Ron Z.; Henke, Rachel Mosher; Tabrizi, Maryam ...
Journal of occupational and environmental medicine,
2014-September, Letnik:
56, Številka:
9
Journal Article
Recenzirano
OBJECTIVE:To respond to the question, “Do workplace health promotion programs work?”
METHODS:A compilation of the evidence on workplace programsʼ effectiveness coupled with recommendations for ...critical review of outcome studies. Also, reviewed are recent studies questioning the value of workplace programs.
RESULTS:Evidence accumulated over the past three decades shows that well-designed and well-executed programs that are founded on evidence-based principles can achieve positive health and financial outcomes.
CONCLUSIONS:Employers seeking a program that “works” are urged to consider their goals and whether they have an organizational culture that can facilitate success. Employers who choose to adopt a health promotion program should use best and promising practices to maximize the likelihood of achieving positive results.
A historical cohort study of refinery and chemical plant workers, originally observed from 1970 to 1977, was updated to the end of 1982. This cohort included 25,321 active, retired, and terminated ...workers at the Exxon refineries and chemical plants in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Baytown, Texas; and Bayway/Bayonne, New Jersey. An emphasis was placed on the cancers previously reported to be increased in at least one petrochemical worker population. The population included a high proportion of retirees, providing adequate work experience and latency to evaluate risks associated with employment. Vital status was determined for 98.3% of the population and death certificates were obtained for 99.9% of the decedents. Mortality for "all causes of death" (standardised mortality ratio (SMR) = 89, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 87-91) and for "all cancers" (SMR = 94, 95% CI 89-100) were lower than expected based on state rates. History of cigarette smoking collected from individual medical records and summarised work histories were used for subgroup analyses. There was no indication that cancers of primary interest were increased; however, blue collar workers at one plant had raised rates of kidney cancer (SMR = 246, 95% CI 146-390), which may require further evaluation.
A dynamic retrospective cohort study was performed to examine the mortality experience of 21,698 workers at Exxon's refineries and chemical plants in Baton Rouge, La.; Baytown, Tex.; and ...Bayway/Bayonne, N.J. Included were 15,437 regular employees who worked at least one month during the period Jan. 1, 1970, through Dec. 31, 1977, and 6,261 retirees who were alive as of Jan. 1, 1970. There were 137,702 person-years of observation. Mortality in this tota study population was generally lower than that of the U.S. population. Study follow-up was complete for 98.7% of the study population. The standardized mortality ratio for the 3,198 deaths was 91, while that for deaths from all cancers (N=666) was 94. Certain slightly elevated disease specific mortality ratios, although not statistically significant, could be of biological importance and merit further review.
A dynamic retrospective cohort study was performed to examine the mortality experience of workers at Exxon's Baton Rouge, La., refinery and chemical plant. Included were 8,666 regular employees who ...worked at least one month during the period Jan 1, 1970 through Dec 31, 1977, and retirees who were alive as of Jan 1, 7970. Mortality from all causes of death was lower than expected when compared with that of the U.S. population of similar age, sex, and race. Analyses of mortality by specific site of cancer revealed elevated standardized mortality ratios SMRs) for cancer of the kidney, testis, brain/central nervous system, pancreas, and lymphopoietic sites; none of these elevations was statistically significant. Because of the higher than average mortality from cancer of the pancreas in some Louisiana parishes and the observation that one additional death from cancer of the pancreas in this study would have resulted in a statistically significant SMR at the 95% confidence level, some emphasis was placed on this finding. No evidence was found to link cancer of the pancreas to a specific occupational group. An examination of mortality by occupational class revealed some elevated SMRs for further study.
A cohort of 21,698 U.S. refinery and chemical plant workers was observed for eight years to determine if there were interplant or other variations in causes of mortality. Plant populations in three ...geographic locations were combined to develop an internal standard for comparing subgroups within the total cohort. At no one geographic site were consistently different rates for all major causes of death observed. The adjusted mortality rates for potentially exposed workers were slightly greater than those for nonexposed workers for most causes examined. Smokers incurred a higher risk of mortality from many causes of death when compared with nonsmokers, regardless of occupational category. After controlling for smoking, there remained a slight excess in mortality for potentially exposed as compared with nonexposed workers.
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