Health Care Zwetsloot, G., Pot, Term Paper

The article states, "The enormous human and economic costs associated with occupational stress suggest that initiatives designed to prevent and/or reduce employee stress should be high on the agenda of workplace health promotion (WHP) programs" (Noblet, LaMontagne, 2006, p. 346).

Along with the article's assertion that reducing employee stress should be beneficial to both the individual and the company, the article also documents the many problems that can occur due to stress in the workplace. The article espouses, "For employees, chronic exposure to stressful situations such as work overload, poor supervisory support and low input into decision-making have been cross-sectionally and prospectively linked to a range of debilitating health outcomes, including depression, anxiety, emotional exhaustion, immune deficiency disorders and cardiovascular disease" (Noblet, p. 347). Many of these illnesses are debilitating and can be long-term which adds to the company's cost due to employee absence(s) directly affecting the company's bottom line.

Other recent studies concur that; "a worksite health promotion is a highly effective approach to reduce the system-wide demand for healthcare services, since at its core is the notion of prevention and detection -- preventing mortality, morbidity and trauma (injury), and detecting and addressing work- and lifestyle-related health risk factors (Musich et al., 2000; Ozminkowski et al., 2002; Aldana et al., 2005).

Though the programs described in the above articles are different in their approach both articles show how promoting health in the workplace is a benefit for more than just the company or the employees, it also benefits society in general, allowing for less healthcare expenses and a happier, healthier society.

Works Cited

Aldana, S.G., Merrill, R.M., Price, K., Hardy, a. And Hager, R. (2005) Financial impact of a comprehensive multisite workplace health promotion program, Preventive Medicine, 40, 131-137.

Downey, a.M., Sharp, D.J., (2007) Why do managers allocate resources to workplace health promotion programmes in countries with national health coverage?, Health Promotion International, Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 102-111

Musich, S.A., Adams, L. And Edington, D.W. (2000) Effectiveness of health promotion programs in moderating medical costs in the U.S.A., Health Promotion International, 15, 5-15

Ozminkowski, R., Ling, D., Goetzel, R., Bruno, J., Rutter, K., Isaac, F. et al. (2002) Long-term impact of Johnson & Johnson's health & wellness program on health care utilization and expenditures. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 44, 21-29.

Zwetsloot, G., Pot,…