Recommendations for worksite-based interventions to improve workers' health.

ver the past 25 years, the number of organizations and ompanies offering a health promotion program for their mployees at the worksite has increased dramatically; by 990, 81% of worksites and by 2000, nearly 90% of all orkplaces with at least 50 employees offered their emloyees some type of health promotion program. There re several reasons why health promotion in U.S. work ettings has become increasingly common. The top fıve ealth conditions (heart disease, cancers, cerebrovascular isease, chronic lower respiratory disease, and unintenional injuries) are responsive to intervention; American dults spend increasing hours at work; and poor emloyee health results in substantial fınancial and producivity costs to employers. In comparison to nonworksite environments, the orksite provides a number of advantages for health prootion: (1) the potential for intervention exposure beause of a large and rather stable population; (2) the otential for adequate or enhanced promotion of, reruitment for, and participation in programs; and (3) the otential for social support networks and peer influences mong coworkers as reinforcement of efforts. Because of the potential advantages worksites offer as a etting for health promotion efforts, and the potential alue of guidance regarding effective workplace health romotion interventions for employers, insurance comanies, HMOs, and others, the Task Force on Comunity Preventive Services placed a high priority on valuating the effectiveness of such interventions. A omprehensive review of interventions addressing all poential health conditions would be costly and diffıcult; herefore, the review team chose to take a multipronged pproach. The team addressed one intervention aproach that is expected to affectmultiple health outcomes