Digital workplace health promotion: a pilot study during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Germany

• Date: 20 July 2023
• Pages: 313-327
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJWHM-03-2023-0041
• Published date: 20 July 2023
• Subject Matter: Health & social care,Healthcare management,HR & organizational behaviour,Human resource policy,Employee welfare
• Author: Elisabeth Nöhammer,Wolfgang Fischmann

Digital workplace health

promotion: a pilot study during the

SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Germany

Elisabeth N€

ohammer

UMIT TIROL - Private University for Health Sciences and Health Technology,

Hall in Tirol, Austria, and

Wolfgang Fischmann

Friedrich-Alexander-Universit€

at Erlangen-N€

urnberg, Erlangen, Germany

Abstract

Purpose –Preventing diseases and promoting health is most effective in large settings like the workplace.

Digital workplace health promotion (DWHP) became more popular during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. While

e-health appliances have received research interest, little is known regarding the target populations’

perspective on and potentials of the DWPH.

Design/methodology/approach –An online pilot study was done in Germany in June 2021. The study is

representative regarding age, gender and education. The user perspective on DWHP was investigated using 12

quantitative and 2 qualitative items.

Findings –The majority of the 690 participants perceives DWHP as valid long-term addition to regular

workplace health promotion.Nearly 55.7% use DWHP when available, but most (65.4%) do not use these offers

more than regular ones. Spontaneous participation is relevant for about 55%. Problems occur due to technical

equipment (29.4%) and premises (36.3%). Open remarks highlight specifics to be observed in offer design, for

example, data security issues.

Research limitations/implications –To conclude, DWHP has a high potential to improve health at the

workplace initiatives regarding participation rates, outcomes and costs. Challenges can be overcome by

ensuring data protection and skills, which can be transferred to other life domains, improving population

health. The potentials of DWHP for population health via spillover effects, employee well-being and employer

branding have not yet been reached.

Originality/value –The aim of this study is giving a first overview of employee views on and use of DWHP.

Keywords Digital workplace health promotion, Employee perspective, Barriers, Facilitators

Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction

Preventing diseasesand promoting health is most effective in important settings, for example,

the workplace. Workplace health promotion (WHP) signifies “the combined efforts of

employers, employees and society to improve the health and well-being of people at

work”(ENWHP, 2007). It is offered by many organizations (Mazzolaet al., 2019;van der Put

Digital

workplace

health

promotion

313

The authors wish to thank Dr. Nadja Amler for her work in the project.

Funding: The use of Respondi services was paid for by ‘Deutsche Gesellschaft f€

ur Arbeitsmedizin

und Umweltmedizin e.V.’(DGAUM), Munich, Germany.

Consent to participate: Complete anonymity and informed consent were ensured, participation was

voluntary.

Ethics approval: This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.

The necessary data protection requirements were reviewed by the Data Protection Officer of Friedrich-

Alexander-Universit€

at Erlangen-N€

urnberg. Due to the anonymous survey and the composition of the

sample, the vote of an ethics committee is not required.

Conflict of interest: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the

research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

https://www.emerald.com/insight/1753-8351.htm

Received 28 March 2023

Revised 6 June 2023

Accepted 26 June 2023

InternationalJournal of Workplace

Health Management

Vol. 16 No. 4, 2023

pp. 313-327

© Emerald Publishing Limited

1753-8351

DOI 10.1108/IJWHM-03-2023-0041