Promoting employee health by integrating health protection, health promotion, and continuous improvement

Objective: To test the effects of integrating health protection and health promotion with a continuous improvement system (Kaizen) on proximal employee outcomes (health promotion, integration, and Kaizen) and distal outcomes (workability, productivity, self-rated health and self-rated sickness absence). Methods: Twelve units in a county hospital in Sweden were randomized to control or intervention groups using a quasiexperimental study design. All staff (approximately 500) provided self-ratings in questionnaires at baseline, and a 12- and 24-month follow-up (response rate, 79% to 87.5%). Result: There was a significant increase in the proximal outcomes over time in the intervention group compared with the control group, and a trend toward improvement in the distal outcomes workability and productivity. Conclusions: Integration seems to promote staff engagement in health protection and promotion, as well as to improve their understanding of the link between work and health.