Communicating Health at Work: Organizational Wellness Programs as Identity Bridges

I am what I am?-An integrative review of understandings of 'health identity' and 'illness identity' in scientific literature

Health and illness identities have been presented as important for the experience of health and illness, and they are a widespread research interest. However, these identities are conceptualised in many different ways. This conceptual diversity calls for us to take stock of existing understandings of health and illness identities to provide conceptual clarity and reliability. The study performs an integrative review of these understandings in scientific articles identified through the databases PsychInfo, Pubmed and Scopus. The final sample consists of 64 articles, on which a thematic analysis has been performed. Health and illness identities are regarded as constructed and can be understood in terms of being, acting and judging, answering the questions 'Who are you, with regard to health/illness?', 'How do you deal with health/illness?' and 'How are people judged by their health/illness?', respectively. The terms health identity and illness identity are understood in varied, not necessarily compatible ways, and need to be applied carefully. Health identity concepts appear to be less well established and based upon a more varied theoretical background, while illness identity concepts appear to be more well established and usually relate to a (bio-)medical context. A potential understanding of health identity for medical sociology is suggested.

Barrier profiles in workplace health promotion in Germany

Workplace health promotion (WHP) is often faced with low-participation rates despite high relevance. This limits the potential for creating positive effects for the organization and its staff. Therefore, we investigated the barriers perceived by employees themselves using a representative sample (regarding age, gender and education) in Germany. Data were collected using a quantitative online questionnaire and then analyzed regarding underlying patterns. We found that there are different barrier types, and their importance differs depending on demographic criteria of the participants and the organizations they work for. These results can help organizations to reduce participation barriers to WHP for their staff.

The Development, Implementation, and Preliminary Outcomes of a 5-Minute Mindfulness Program to Improve Well-Being and Increase Connection Across a University Campus

Background

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, people worldwide have experienced increased anxiety, depression, and loneliness and decreased well-being. Mindfulness has been shown to enhance well-being across a variety of settings and for a variety of populations.

Purpose

We developed and implemented a digital mindfulness program called Mindful Moment across a US university system as an innovative wellness resource to facilitate well-being and sense of connection among faculty, staff, and students. Attendees engaged in 5-minute live guided mindfulness sessions twice per week. This paper outlines our program evaluation over the course of four months.

Methods

A total of 236 individuals attended between one to 30 mindful moment sessions. Data were collected on attendance, perception of the program’s impact on attendee well-being and connectedness to the community, and feedback for future program development. Data collection included standardized stress and belongingness measures in addition to qualitative data related to perceived impact and reasons for attending.

Results

Students, faculty, and staff who attended Mindful Moment and completed surveys reported that the program was easy to access, noted immediate benefits including decreased stress and improved well-being, and some attendees reported increased feelings of connection with the community.

Conclusions

The present paper is exploratory in nature, a first step to assessing feasibility and overall impact. Future research assessing the impact of digital mindfulness programs can be improved by including a comparison group, additional standardized assessment, and a pre-post design, allowing for stronger conclusions to be drawn regarding efficacy and generalizability.

Resisting Corporeal Boundaries in Body Work and Knowledge Work

This essay summarizes two worker injury narratives: (a) one in a bodywork context and (b) the other in a knowledge work context. Framed by these narratives, the essay integrates unobtrusive control theory with recent research on organizational health and wellness Discourses¹. The author highlights how the material quality of corporeal resistance may be a conduit for change in unobtrusive organizational contexts. The essay concludes with practical recommendations for workers to question hidden, problematic, work norms as well as maintain authentic health and wellness as an organizational member.

Online Support Group Participation and Social Support: Incorporating Identification and Interpersonal Bonds

An increasing number of people with chronic diseases exchange social support using online support groups (OSGs). However, there is little understanding of group communication mechanisms that underpin the relationship between OSG participation and social support. Drawing on Prentice, Miller, and Lightdale’s common-identity and common-bond framework, we propose and test a theoretical model that explains group communication mechanisms through which members’ participation influences their perceived social support. In the process, we identified and empirically validated a three-factor solution for an OSG participation scale. Based on 356 users across 12 popular OSGs, we find that two group communication mechanisms—identification with the community and interpersonal bonds with other members—mediate the relationship between OSG participation and perceived social support. Specifically, identification has a stronger mediating effect than interpersonal bonds in the relationship between OSG participation and perceived social support. We also discuss theoretical and practical implications.

Dailey S, Zhu Y. Let’s work out: communication in workplace wellness programs

Purpose

People spend a lot of time communicating with their co-workers each day; however, research has yet to explore how colleagues influence each other’s health behaviors. The purpose of this paper is to examine the association between health-related communication and health behaviors among co-workers in a workplace wellness program.

Design/methodology/approach

Participants (n=169) were recruited from a large south-western university and its local school district through e-mail announcements sent from a wellness administrator. Participants were part of a workplace wellness program that offers several daily group fitness classes, as well as cooking classes, and other educational programs for faculty and staff.

Findings

Structural equation modeling was used to examine the association between people’s perceived social influence and social support from co-workers, organizational socialization and their health behaviors. Results indicated that perceived social influence from co-workers had an indirect effect on people’s health behaviors through their perceived social support from their co-workers, as well as through their organizational socialization.

Research limitations/implications

These variables were examined cross-sectionally, meaning that causal relationships and directionality cannot be determined in this study.

Practical implications

Co-worker communication and socialization appear to be important factors in understanding individuals’ health behaviors; thus, organizations that offer workplace wellness programs should provide opportunities for socialization and co-worker communication to facilitate employees’ healthy behaviors.

Originality/value

Although the authors only looked at one wellness program and did not examine these variables in programs of varying sizes and types, this study uniquely incorporates interpersonal and organizational communication perspectives in order to give new insight into co-workers’ health-related communication.