The status of worksite health promotion in a Canadian environment: An examination of the motivations of different management groups

• Main Author: Downey, Angela M
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01-01-2001
• Subjects: Accounting; Automotive parts; Business administration; Employees; Executives; Health care expenditures; Health care policy; Health education; Mortality; Motivation; Occupational health; Operations management; Studies; Total quality; Union membership; Wellness programs; Canada
• ISBN: 9780612582071; 0612582078

This study examines worksite health promotion (HP) in 103 firms operating in the auto parts industry utilizing both a survey instrument and field visits. Three different management groups, senior operations management, senior human resource management, and senior accounting management, responded to questions that allow an assessment of the current status of HP at their particular firm. Firms are classified on a continuum of HP development from phase 0 indicating no HP activity through phase 4 indicating a firm with a well-established wellness philosophy. Descriptive results include the status of each firm highlighting size and union membership. The results indicate over forty percent of these firms have no HP activities in place (phase 0) with an additional thirty percent of firms with very limited activities having taken a preventive focus in their traditional health and safety programs (phase 1). A further twenty percent of these firms show early signs of developing a wellness philosophy (phase 2) and have limited HP activities in place. Another five percent have a broad range of activities including an employee assessment process, a HP education process, as well as activities aimed at preventing health failures and encouraging employees to take greater responsibility for their own well-being (phase 3). Finally, less than three percent of firms are classified as having developed a wellness philosophy (phase 4). These few firms have all the components of phase 3 and in addition have organizational processes and structures that foster an environment of wellness. The study also highlights that the most prevalent HP activities present in the Canadian environment are quite different from those activities most often found in the American environment. Contrary to past experiences, HP at the firms in this study is more prevalent in unionized firms than non-unionized firms. In addition, the study found that HP programs are often designed and promoted by the occupational health department and are curtailed by the lack of top management commitment and championship. Information systems that capture and report data on a firm's health promotion activities (extent, cost/benefit, or participation rates etc.) are sorely lacking. A well-established social-psychological model, Fishbein and Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior, is used to assess the antecedents of the three management groups' motivation to increase discretionary spending on health promotion programs. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)