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ICAP 2014 Abstract

Health Psychology / Psychologie de la santé

BO-080108

Health promotion at the work place. The case of palliative care teams

Volker Schulte 1,* on behalf of ICAP2014-SP1189Evelyn Kortum 2 on behalf of ICAP2014-SP1189Christoph Steinebach 3 on behalf of ICAP2014-SP1189

1University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland FHNW, School of Business, Institute of Management, Brugg, 2World Health Organization. Interventions für Healthy Environments, Dept. of Public Health, Geneva, 3School of Applied Psychology, Zürich University of Applied Sciences, Zürich, Switzerland

 

Abstract: Workplace health promotion is a strategy to improve the health and well-being of people at work. The measures aim at the personal, organisational and work environment. The study will highlight the state of the art of workplace health promotion programs promoted by WHO and will combine these aspects with the challenges for health workers in Palliative Care teams.

In 2010, the World Health Organization (WHO) published "Healthy Workplaces: A Model for Action", and its supporting document, "WHO Healthy Workplace Framework and Model: Background and Supporting Literature and Practices." The purpose of these documents was to promote an integrated approach to worker health promotion and protection, to assist enterprises and organisations in any country to create “healthy workplaces” in which the workers are engaged, healthy and safe, and to allow the enterprise or the organisation to be efficient, productive and sustainably successful, as well as to provide policy guidance. The model for a healthy workplace described in these publications includes two aspects: content and process. The model suggests that in terms of content, workplaces should consider the physical work environment, the psychosocial work environment, the personal health resources provided for workers, and the involvement of the enterprise in the community. In terms of the process used to develop the programme, the model includes eight steps:

        1. Mobilize (mobilize and gain commitment from significant stakeholders)

        2. Assemble (assemble a team and resources)

        3. Assess (assess the present situation and the desired situation)

        4. Prioritize (decide which of the needs are the greatest and most urgent to address)

        5. Plan (develop annual plans and a 3-5 year plan)

        6. Do (implement the plan)

        7. Evaluate (to see what is working, what is not, and what are the impediments to success)

        8. Improve (make changes based on the evaluation results)

Palliative Care is stressful and psychologically challenging, because Palliative Care comprises the care and treatment of patients with incurable, life-threatening and/or chronically progressive diseases. Palliative care works only with an inter-professional team approach. So, the presentation will highlight the approach, the process and the methods to implement workplace health promotion in Palliative Care settings by considering WHO guidelines.

 

Keywords: None