Factors associated with the implementation of health-promoting telework from the perspective of company decision makers after the first COVID-19 lockdown

Gert Lang; Kathrin Hofer-Fischanger

doi:10.1007/s10389-022-01717-z

Factors associated with the implementation of health-promoting telework from the perspective of company decision makers after the first COVID-19 lockdown

Z Gesundh Wiss. 2022;30(10):2373-2387. doi: 10.1007/s10389-022-01717-z. Epub 2022 May 4.

Authors

Gert Lang¹, Kathrin Hofer-Fischanger²

Affiliations

¹ Austrian Health Promotion Fund, Austrian National Public Health Institute, Aspernbrückengasse 2, 1020 Vienna, Austria.
² FH JOANNEUM - University of Applied Sciences, Kaiser-Franz-Josef-Straße 24, 8344 Bad Gleichenberg, Austria.

Abstract

Aim: Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies shifted to telework, with few insights into its implementation, organisational conditions or the role of workplace health promotion and management. This study focused on a multifactorial investigation of conditions in companies which implemented and evaluated telework during the first lockdown in 2020 as well as on their future intentions to facilitate teleworking under health-promoting working conditions.

Subject and methods: The research hypotheses relate to an extended technology acceptance model. In a mixed-methods design, expert interviews were fed into the development of an online questionnaire. Out of 1858 contacted companies representing a broad range of Austrian businesses, 192 responses (general management, workplace health managers, etc.) were analysed using descriptive and multivariate statistics.

Results: The degree of implementation and claim to teleworking increased significantly during the first lockdown and did not return to pre-pandemic levels afterwards. Changes depended on preparation and experience: evaluation of teleworking and willingness to continue offering teleworking were conditional on preparation and the degree of implementation. Prerequisites for future intentions to implement health-promoting teleworking included readiness, general willingness and existing workplace health promotion/management structures.

Conclusion: This paper demonstrates the potential of health-promoting organisational cultures for development processes - particularly in times of crisis. Anchoring health-focused structures in companies helps to create health-promoting frameworks. Health-promoting teleworking can be developed from workplace health promotion/management using established approaches. It is essential to build on in-house capacities and competencies to develop awareness for a holistic culture for health-promoting (tele)work and to encourage deliberations about potential measures.

Keywords: COVID-19; Structural equation model; Technology acceptance model; Teleworking/working from home; Workplace health promotion.