Assessment of worksite health promotion environments]

Organizational intervention rather than the individual approach is gaining greater attention in worksite health promotion, but little research has been done on the health promotion environment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the actual conditions in health promotion environments at worksites, and determine which environmental items in each health promotion area at worksites need. A survey was conducted by mailing a questionnaire to occupational physicians at 450 worksites in Japan. The questionnaire contained 182 items including 6 areas in a health promotion environment; tobacco control, healthy diet, physical activity and exercise, stress management, health screening, and health administration. 142 physicians (32.7%) responded to our survey, the number of employees was more than three hundred and 71.1% of respondents were working at manufacturing worksites. The mean rate of positive answers in 6 areas was highest in the 'health screening' (72.5%), followed by 'stress management'. The lowest rate was seen in 'tobacco control'. Popular facilities for health promotion were a stress counseling room, cafeteria, rest room and outdoor exercise field, but the rate of positive answers to promote utilization of these facilities was relatively low. Among the health education programs, the practice rate for exercise promotion was the highest (63.6%), but those for healthy food and body weight control were relatively low. The number of employees positively correlated with the rate of positive answers to all items and in the stress managing area. Manufacturing worksites had more items for enhancing physical activity than other types of industrial worksites. The results of this survey had determined the environmental intervention items in each health promotion area at worksites.