Increasing the Health Promotion Practices of Workplaces in Australia with a Proactive Telephone-Based Intervention

Abstract

Purpose.

The aim of this study was to explore the potential effectiveness of a proactive telephone-based intervention in increasing workplace adoption of health promotion initiatives.

Methods.

A telephone-based direct marketing strategy was used to contact a sample of Australian workplaces to encourage the adoption of health promotion initiatives. Workplaces were offered free services and resources designed to facilitate adoption of health promotion initiatives.

Results.

A total of 227 (71%) workplaces provided informed consent to participate in both baseline and 4-year follow-up surveys. Significant increases were evident for seven of the eight health promotion initiatives.

Discussion.

The findings of this study suggest that a proactive telephone-based intervention has the potential to be effective in increasing the prevalence of health promotion initiatives across a range of health topics in a large population of workplaces. Given the capacity to reach an entire population of workplaces, this approach represents a promising means of achieving the established potential of workplace health promotion.