Health literacy at work – individual and organizational health literacy, health supporting leadership and employee wellbeing

BMC Health Services Research

Research

Kyung-Eun (Anna) Choi¹  Holger Pfaff²  Lara Lindert³  Sabrina Zeike⁴ 

[1] Center for Health Services Research, Brandenburg Medical School Theodor Fontane, Fehrbelliner Str. 38, 16816, Neuruppin, Germany;Health Services Research, MIAAI, Danube Private University (DPU) GmbH, Steiner Landstraße 124, 3500 12, Krems‑Stein, Austria;Faculty of Human Sciences, Institute of Medical Sociology, University of Cologne, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Health Services Research, and Rehabilitation Science, Eupener Str. 129, 50933, Cologne, Germany;Faculty of Human Sciences, Institute of Medical Sociology, University of Cologne, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Health Services Research, and Rehabilitation Science, Eupener Str. 129, 50933, Cologne, Germany;Center for Health Services Research, Brandenburg Medical School Theodor Fontane, Fehrbelliner Str. 38, 16816, Neuruppin, Germany;Vivalue Health Consulting GmbH, Cologne, Germany;

关键词: Occupational health;    Mental health;    Employee health;    Leadership behavior;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12913-023-09766-0

 received in 2023-01-06, accepted in 2023-06-29,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundAgainst the backdrop of demographic change and the shortage of skilled workers, employees’ psychological wellbeing is of special interest for employers. In previous studies, individual health literacy has already been positively associated with psychological wellbeing. However, in order to improve health literacy, it is essential to take into account both the individual prerequisites and the demands and complexity of the system in which individuals operate. As current studies primarily focus on employees’ individual health literacy and as the concept of organizational health literacy, so far, is mainly used in the context of health care institutions, this study investigates on the impact of organizational health literacy and health supporting leadership on the relationship between individual health literacy and employees’ psychological wellbeing in a big German company based in the financial sector.MethodsData of an employee survey that was conducted in a big German company of the financial sector in October 2021 were analyzed by two mediation analyses using the PROCESS macro by Hayes for SPSS. A total of 2555 employees was included in analyses (51.4% male and 48.6% female).ResultsThe relationship between individual health literacy and employees’ psychological wellbeing is partially mediated by organizational health literacy, indirect effect ab 0.268 – CI [0.170, 0.378] and by health supporting leadership, indirect effect ab 0.228 – CI [0.137, 0.329].ConclusionStudy results provide new indications for planning and evaluating the health strategy of companies. Regarding the psychological wellbeing of employees, practitioners and researchers should focus not only on individual health literacy but also on organizational health literacy and health supporting leadership.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023

【 图 表 】

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Fig. 1