[Implementation of Workplace Health Promotion/Workplace Health Management in Germany: State-of-the Art and Need for...

The data on health management programmes in German companies show quite heterogeneous results. The aim of the study was to gain more transparency into the cause of these discrepancies as well as information on factors influencing the willingness of companies to implement such programmes.

Based on a systematic database search, relevant studies were identified and comparative analysis of their contents was carried out.

The existing studies on the health management programmes in German companies reveal significant discrepancies in terms of their research question, representativeness, approach and design. Nevertheless, they do reveal certain trends identifying significant factors that influence the willingness of companies to implement such programmes.

In the design of future studies to analyse the distribution of corporate health management programmes, there is a need to agree on common definitions and data collection methods and how the results are to be categorised. When evaluating the effects of corporate programmes, the quantitative data would need to be supplemented with qualitative data that would be capable of identifying how such programmes are implemented and the associated organisation-specific cultural patterns.