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H
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P R O M O T I O N
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A
global approach for helping the person and society
IACP-USA In association with IACP--The Person-Centered Approach
Institute, a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre
for Research, Training and Consulting in Health Promotion
at the Workplace.
Alberto Zucconi, President
REVIEW
by GOHNET
Global Occupational Health Network
Health
Promotion: A Person-Centered Approach to Health and Well-being
by Alberto Zucconi & Patty Howell
Alberto Zucconi and Patty Howell co-authored a book on Health
Promotion... has recently been printed and distributed in
Italy and is part of the teaching material, along with a
trainer's guide and participant workbook used by the recently
qualified 150 Health Promotion trainers in the 4-day programs
taught throughout the Italian peninsula under the aegis
of Istituto dell'Approccio Centrato sulla Persona (IACP).
The English version will be published in due course.
The
book contains 400 pages and an introduction by Dr Francis
La Ferla (Former WHO-Europe). It offers a general overview
of the theory and practice of heatlh promotion. It illustrates
successful intrventions spanning accross the individual
to the workplaces to the community and to society at large.
It draws on the profile of an effective health promoter
and shows how promoting health at any level of society means
being able to facilitate change by actions of empowerment
and the relevance of being able to be people-centered, empathic
and non-judgmental. The common denominators of successful
interventions are illustrated, as well as a large number
of studies on various health promotion topics and health
promotion programs.
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For information, contact: IACPusa@aol.com
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Why
Health Promotion at the Workplace?
Health
Promotion can improve health, strengthen relationships,
increase performance, and bring returns of 2-5 times the
investment.
Introduction
There
are many factors indicating that corporations should take
note of the important changes that have taken place over
the last twenty years, and which, if ignored, risk making
them less competitive. Leading corporations in the U.S.,
Canada, and Europe have modified their outlook with regard
to the health of their employees, and this has resulted
in a positive outcome not only for their employees but also
for the corporations themselves. It is not by chance that
this new awareness has impacted the interactions between
employers, employees and workers in general.
In
fact, research on the impact of Health Promotion programs
at the workplace has unequivocally demonstrated the strong
relationship between the health of employees and the "good
health" of the organization as expressed in terms of productivity.
Organizations
considered "healthy" are those that implement Health Promotion
programs, while those "in poor health" ignore the proven
connection between health and productivity. As a result
of this lack of awareness, some workplaces unwittingly contribute
to high stress levels and illness among their employees,
with the inevitable consequence being poor functioning at
the organizational level, and hence, reduced productivity.
On
the other hand, a "healthy" organization takes initiatives
aimed at simultaneously improving
the health of its employees, productivity, profit, and thereby,
its competitive edge in the market.
Health
Promotion as an investment
It
is clear from a cost-benefit analysis that organizations
benefit from investing in Health Promotion programs. Health
employees are more motivated and do not constitute a burden.
They become rightly viewed as the organization's most valuable
resource. Health Promotion at the workplace is an investment,
not a cost: Just as no one doubts the necessity to invest
resources for the maintenance of productive capacity, it
is just as necessary for the corporation to provide for
an efficient upkeep and enhancement of its human capital.
The
concept of a "healthy organization" requires a long-term
investment that efficiently forestalls problems and effectively
manages human resources. This becomes clear as we examine
some of the problems which plaque "unhealthy" organizations
and which constitute a list of negative factors that no
manager can ignore:
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Job dissatisfaction, low morale, poor motivation
• Lowering of work quality
• Increase in work-related errors
• Slowing of productivity
• High levels of conflict at work
• Strikes
• High turn-over
• Work-related accidents
• Poor decision-making, wrong decisions
• Sabotage, obstructionism
• Low productivity, wasting time during working hours
• Failure to observe working hours
• Failure to meet deadlines
• Frequent complaints
• Frequent absences for brief illnesses, absenteeism
• Poor interpersonal communication
• Poor corporate relations
These
factors should be viewed as an opportunity for reflection
by all organizations, and in particular, for those, which
until now have not given adequate attention to health issues.
Typologies
of intervention
Health
Promotion interventions at the workplace are organized into
three levels:
1)
Cognitive Level--
This level involves health education and aims at promoting
a new state of awareness in the participants. Knowledge
constitutes an indispensable component of the promotion
of chance; however, programs that limit themselves to this
aspect have a low impact in terms of promoting change in
behavior. It is essential that the programs include not
only the cognitive aspect but also the behavioral aspect,
focusing on promoting a more healthy way of life.
2)
Lifestyle
Level--
This
level includes activities which aim to alter routine behavior-called
lifestyle-which have a great influence on health: for example,
eating habits, physical exercise, toxic substance abuse
and poor coping responses to everyday life and emergencies.
This level includes cognitive experiences that actively
involve the participants in the learning process and in
putting into practice their new behaviors. This may include,
for example, relaxation exercises, professional stress prevention
and management programs, programs to quit smoking, training
in effective communication, etc.
3)
Workplace Level--
At
this level the focus is on the various environmental factors
present in a specific workplace which are detrimental to
workers' health and well-being. Such factors may be present
in the physical environment and also inherent in the organization
of work, job descriptions, the organizational and corporate
culture, etc.
Advantages
associated with Health Promotion at the workplace
Health
Promotion at the workplace offers special opportunities
for focused interventions that have a high probability of
success as a result of certain characteristics intrinsic
to the organizational environment. These opportunities are
summarized as:
a)
Work does not limit itself to being a way of obtaining the
necessary economic means, but also represents an important
source of personal and social identity and self-esteem.
Therefore, it plays an important role in a person's physical
and mental health;
b)
The vast majority of the active adult population spends
the greater part of its time at work;
c)
The active working population constitutes for the inactive
segment of the population as an "opinion leader' or sorts;
thus, the healthy lifestyle adopted by workers also extends
its influence to the family and society;
d)
Many jobs have a stable population; therefore, actions that
promote health can become more effective over time. Furthermore,
Health Promotion at the workplace, when applied to the organizational
structure, improves the organization of the workplace and
contributes to the improvement of organizational development
and human resources management.
Furthermore,
Health Promotion at work:
a) Encourages employee participation and accountability
and favors group work and interdepartmental cooperation,
undoubtedly positive factors for the organization;
b)
Has great synergistic power and favors situations in which
all benefit
c)
Results in a positive image with the employees, the local
community and society at large.
Based
on these considerations, one can legitimately claim that
costs are higher for everybody when health is not promoted
at the workplace. When an organization promotes health at
work, everybody benefits from it: the workers, the organization,
and society at the local, regional and national level-which
benefit from the decrease in the illness and mortality rate,
from the improvement in general well-being, quality of life
and from the resulting increase in productivity and improved
competitive edge in the international markets.
A
new paradigm of Health Promotion
Today,
nearly 50% of the illnesses in the western world are of
a chronic type; although the causes are multiple, they are
predominantly attributable to unhealthy lifestyles. Furthermore,
the contemporary person finds him/herself exposed to stressful
situations far more so than did our predecessors. Stress,
if it becomes chronic, can cause serious damages to the
organism and to its functioning. The diagnosis, treatment,
and prevention of these problems are not possible with the
tools offered by the traditional biomedical approach. Today,
although still predominant, this mechanistic outlook is
considered limited. We must, however, give it credit for
the great contribution it has made-especially in the treatment
of infectious diseases. A growing awareness of the limits
of this old model is taking place, and a new and broader
perspective, based on a new model defined as the bio-psycho-social
model, is making headway.
According
to this outlook, the field of health is perceived as the
interaction of numerous components among which are:
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Human Biology
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Environment
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Lifestyles
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Public Health Structure
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How Society is Organized
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Culture and Beliefs about Health
The
concept of a single cause is no longer valid: health and
illness are considered as processes within which the biological,
psychological and social components interact. The field
of health thus becomes interdisciplinary: biology, psychology
and sociology contribute to the devising of treatments,
which the emphasis is place of prevention of disease and
the promotion of health.
This
new model emphasizes the active role played by the individual
in the promotion of his/her health and well-being.
Services
offered for Health Promotion at the workplace
The
World Health Organization-Regional Office for Europe has
appointed IACP (the Person-Centered Approach Institute)
as Collaborating Center for Health Promotion at the workplace
in Italy. This role encourages the Institute to design and
implement programs for private and public organizations
interested in activating Health Promotion programs within
their own structures.
The
Institute makes use of the expertise of scholars and trainers
internationally renown in the field of Health Promotion
and
offered programs in the United States through IACP-USA.
About
IACP and the Person-Centered Approach
IACP
(The Person-Centered Approach Institute) was founded by
Carl Rogers, Charles Devonshire and Alberto Zucconi in Rome,
Italy, more than twenty-five years ago, to promote the Person-Centered
Approach in Europe; IACP-USA began operations in 1999 with
a specific focus on Health Promotion.
The
Person-Centered Approach, supported by more than fifty years
of research demonstrating its effectiveness, is a systemic,
holistic approach that promotes development of potentialities
of individuals and organizations.
The
central hypothesis of the Person-Centered Approach is that
individuals have within themselves vast resources for self-understanding
and for altering their self-concepts, attitudes, and self-directed
behavior, and that these resources can be tapped if a definable
climate of facilitative psychological conditions is provided.
The
Person-Centered Approach leaves the locus of responsibility
for change with the client-whether an individual or organization.
This reduces the likelihood of passive, rebellious or victim-like
behavior, and sets up a process wherein the client develops
an increasing sense of ownership of the problem, responsibility
for it, ability to respond proactively, willingness to explore
possible solutions, and initiate actions to solve the problem
for himself.
The
Institute offers the following programs & services:
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5-day Health Promotion Workshop-
An overview of the dynamic arena of Health Promotion-its
opportunities and benefits, and a structure for implementing
Health Promotion in the Workplace
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Training of professionals in the
field of Health Promotion at the Workplace. Training
of Health Promoters within the organization structure who
are responsible for the realization of corporate programs
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Specific interventions involving
training, education, and consultation geared at changing
lifestyles that have a significant influence
on health, including eating habits, physical exercise, stress
prevention, management, communication
skills
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Relationship Growth: World
Class Marriage™--The Art and Science of Relationship
Success www.worldclassmarriage.com
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Communication Skills: Person-Centered
Communication Skills for individuals, couples, organizations
www.communicationskills.org
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Consultation with
individuals, couples, and organizations.
IACP
Professional Staff
Alberto
Zucconi, President IACP
Psychologist,
head of IACP, a World Health Organization Collaborating
Centre for Research, Training and Consulting in Health Promotion
at the Workplace. Alberto teaches Client-Centered Psychotherapy
at the post-doctoral level at the faculty of medicine of
the University of Siena, and collaborates with the World
Health Organization, the International Labour Office and
other UN agencies on Health Promotion.
Patty
Howell, Co-Director IACP-USA
Counselor,
trainer, author, and president of Howell-Jones Trainings
in Encinitas, CA. Patty has taught Counselor Education at
Washington University, and has 25 years experience teaching
Person-Centered skills to couples, parents, teachers and
business leaders throughout the world, in private practice
and workshop settings.
Ralph
Jones, Co-Director IACP-USA
Trainer,
author, and Director of Howell-Jones Trainings, Ralph is
a prominent trainer in the Person-Centered Approach, having
taught workshops throughout the world for over thirty years.
His training materials are used on five continents. He trains
and consults with individuals, couples and organizations.
To
contact IACP-USA
IACP-USA
•
1045 Passiflora Avenue
• Leucadia, CA 92024
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TEL 760-436-3960 • FAX 760-436-3997 • IACPusa@aol.com
