ABSTRACT
The concept of workplace health improvement for employees, with the exception of Scandinavia is in its embryonic stages. Initiatives taken forward by senior management have focused on beneficial change in personal health behaviour and subsequent reduction in associated medical care costs. However, the concept of workplace health improvement for employees is relatively new in Europe, with much concentration on cardiovascular disease programmes. The drive towards improving employee health in the USA came from three different standpoints: cost containment; lifestyle risk factors; and cultural wellness. Medicine sees individual lifestyles and behaviours in terms of risk factors which are central to the development of chronic disease. Risk factors are perceived by the medical profession as behavioural and so can be modified, reducing risks to health. Health interests in the US have been promoted by cultural and social values rather than scientific advances.
