Assessment of health needs is an essential step when defining issues that must be addressed in a workplace health promotion programme. A health needs assessment (HNA) is a systematic method of reviewing the health issues facing a population, while also assessing the structures and programmes already in place that support workplace health promotion. The results of a health needs assessment contribute to developing effective workplace health promotion strategies.
When the basic elements for workplace health promotion are in place, the social security institution can move forward by:
The social security institution maximizes the potential of partnerships in developing and implementing workplace health promotion initiatives.
This can be called the “synergistic effect”.
The social security institution identifies and actively engages all stakeholders in workplace health promotion.
Promoting workplace health and well-being is a multi-layered activity. Identifying stakeholders is a vital first step in developing a proactive approach to employee health and well-being. The external stakeholders of a social security institution may include national and local government, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil society, employers and trade unions, professional organizations and private sector organizations with a health remit.
The social security institution formally recognizes workplace health promotion at both corporate and strategic levels and develops a sustainable approach in which development is continuously reviewed and evaluated.
The social security institution sets an example to others through the actions it takes to protect and promote the health and well-being of its own staff.
Good practice in this internal role gives the institution the credibility it requires to champion, lead and facilitate workplace health promotion in its client enterprises and organizations.
The social security institution develops a clear vision of its unique role in workplace health promotion and clarifies and builds understanding of this role through consultation.
The social security institution commits formally to the role of workplace health promoter by emphasizing its capacity to motivate and engage the insured population for added value.
The insured population includes both those in workplaces and other actors in the social health insurance system.
Formal commitment requires the institution to make a strategic choice in favour of health promotion in a setting approach, recognizing the broader social, economic and environmental contexts which influence health status.
Investing in workers’ health is critical to the future sustainability of social security. Such investment is at the core of a social security institution’s mission. The institution must thus assume the role of health promoter and work proactively to motivate and engage the insured population (i.e. within workplaces). Prevention and promotion approaches must be integrated into the institution’s vision and strategy, supporting the concept of Dynamic Social Security.
