oa Actief leefstijlbeleid in de arbeidsorganisatie: werkt het?

Effects of companies' active lifestyle policies

In this article we analyse the effects of an employers' active lifestyle policies and an employees' lifestyle, job satisfaction and self-indicated physical condition. By an employers' active lifestyle policies we mean the number of different lifestyle measures an employer takes according to the employee. We also study the effect of the expressed need for active lifestyle policies by employees on the employers' lifestyle policies. Finally, we explore the longitudinal relations between the variables mentioned. In the article we discuss the results of our analysis on the Study on Health at Work (SHAW). SHAW is a longitudinal three-wave study among a sample of 1.592 Dutch employees. The data were gathered in 2004, 2005 and 2006. This article shows that a more active lifestyle policy by employers does not improve employees' lifestyle, job satisfaction or self indicated physical condition. This article does show that a higher need for active lifestyle policies among employees stimulates employers to become more active in taking lifestyle measures. Finally, our exploration of longitudinal relations shows that a better physical condition leads to a healthier lifestyle, a higher job satisfaction and a lower need for active lifestyle policies. A healthier lifestyle appears to improve an employees' self-indicated physical condition and job satisfaction.