Research On The Model Of Health Promotion In Workplace

ObjectiveEmpowerment is defined as the process of empowering people to control factors that impact on life and health. It has been the core strategy of health promotion. In terms of promoting the right for health of occupational population, it is necessary to introduce empowerment theory and practice model to China. However, to apply empowerment theory in China we need to think about the applicability and localization issue. The research is aimed to explore and interpret the contents, elements and action mechanism of empowerment in workplace health promotion against the backdrop of society, economy and culture in China; establish a workplace health promotion empowerment model that is fit for China and to provide theoretical guidance for further developing workplace health promotion in China.MethodBibliographical research is first conducted. We have gathered information from databases and websites at home and abroad, read, identified and sorted out the available information and studied the contents, elements and merits and demerits of existing models. We have used qualitative study as the second method. We have set population with rich information related to workplace health promotion as target groups for sampling and selected20people for intensive interview through purposive sampling and snowball sampling. These interviews are converted into texts with key points confirmed with the interviewees. Then by analyzing interview materials, we have come up with a framework for empowerment model. The third and last method is to carry out empirical study at two enterprises of different scales and in different sectors. We have used the basic information questionnaire, Mclean’s work stress questionnaire, Goldberg’s general health questionnaire, psychological empowerment scale and leading by example instrument and measured the empowerment intervention effects at all levels by connecting the means of interview and observation. Based on theoretical building and practice development, workplace health promotion empowerment-participation-ability improvement model that is fit for China is finally created.ResultsThe first part interprets why empowerment is rendered into“赋权增能”in Chinese, criticizes the merits and demerits of existing empowerment models and discusses the significance and feasibility of empowerment theory in the economic and social transitional period of China. The first part also proposes the outline of workplace health promotion empowerment model which combines top-down external empowerment and bottom-up active empowerment.The second part explores and interprets the economic, political, social and cultural factors that exert impact on workplace health promotion, discusses how related groups interpret the elements, priority areas and basic health literacy of occupational population from the perspective of workplace health promotion empowerment. Based on theoretical research results, the second parts sorts out four areas of top-down empowerment:namely system, culture, psychology and technology. The contents of empowerment involve health awareness, knowledge, skills, self-efficacy, self-determination, expanded social supporting network as well as the ability to exert impacts on others, decision-making or environment through individual or collective behaviors. The second part proposes a workplace health promotion model of empowerment-participation-ability improvement strengthen that is premised on empowerment for employees and organizations, aimed to strengthen the capacity of employees and organizations and focused on employee participation as the main method of empowerment.In the third part, the two enterprises have carried out system empowerment in terms of organizational leadership, health related departments and staff settings, fund and venue, coordination mechanism, democratic management, monitoring and control as well as supply of information/education/medical resources. The two enterprises have integrated the philosophy of health and safety into enterprise culture, advocated plenty of activities to promote cultural empowerment. Under the guidance, coordination, participation and help of internal and external experts, the two enterprises have conducted technological empowerment. In the process of system, cultural and technological empowerment, emphasis is given to the psychological experiences of employees so that they will reach a certain level of psychological empowerment. Through empowerment and effective participation, employees have improved their abilities of controlling factors that impact their life and health to varying degrees. The questionnaire survey shows that98.9%and93.2%respectively of the two enterprises can adopt what they have learned about health knowledge into work and life;77.8%and59.8%of employees believe their ability of acquiring health knowledge have been enhanced and56.2%and32.5%of employees are capable of some critical thinking in dealing with health related issues. The psychological empowerment ratios of the two enterprises’ employees are68.71%and65.60%respectively,and that of the professionals are77.50%and72.14%respectively. Post-intervention physical examination also shows that abnormal index have improved to some extent. The internal EHS department and clinic, by participating in the whole project, have shifted service awareness and improved ability. They have started to discover health demand of employees, provided them with health service in a more personalized and humane approach and developed workplace health promotion projects. By empirical study, the impacts of social, political, economic, cultural and environmental development on health promotion and enterprise development is first analyzed and then complemented to the model framework of qualitative study. By doing so, a final workplace health promotion empowerment-participation-ability improvement model is created.The fourth part elaborates on the proposed model.ConclusionWorkplace health promotion empowerment-participation-ability improvement model adds Chinese characteristic contents into empowerment theory, enriches workplace health promotion theory and provides effective theoretical model and best practices for advancing workplace health promotion in an all-round manner in China.