Integrating health promoting lifestyle into occupational health protection: influence of a worksite programme

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to explore workers' health-promoting lifestyle and the cognitive/perceptual factors that influence it, prepare and implement a worksite health promotion program and assess the influence of the program on these factors and the extent to which workers change their health-promoting lifestyle after program implementation. The study included 138 workers in Proctor and Gambel Company in 6th of October City. A structured self administered questionnaire was prepared to collect data pertaining to the study. A questionnaire was administered to the participants to collect the pre-program data. Three months after finishing implementation of the program, the health value survey, health conception survey, health-promoting lifestyle profile and the dietary and smoking habits survey were re-administered to collect the post-program data. The study confirmed that integrating multiple risk factor intervention targeting health- promoting lifestyle into occupational health protection led to a significant health behavior change among the workers. Occupational health professionals, particularly nurses, must plan and implement health-promotion interventions within workplaces to influence lifestyle change conductive to workers' wellness and not merely disease prevention. Finally, it was recommended that occupational health nurses should approach the high management levels to gain their support for improving work environment to reduce job stressors and barriers to health-promoting lifestyle