The Seven Health Practices, Well-Being, and Performance at Work: Evidence for the Value of Reaching Small and Underserved Worksites

Background. Research conducted over several decades demonstrates rather convincingly that seven health practices predict future mortality rates, morbidity, and disability. The current study was designed to determine the extent to which these health practices predict more proximal wellness and illness factors. Method. Data were collected from 345 employees working in a variety of organizations in southern California. In addition, supervisors evaluated the attendance record and job performance of the participating employees whom they directly supervised. Results. Analyses revealed that, after adjusting for age, gender, ethnicity, occupational status, and employee social relations, the seven health practices significantly predicted several employee wellness factors (i.e., vitality, positive well-being, and supervisory ratings of attendance) and illness factors (i.e., anxiety, depression, lack of self-control, and physical illness behavior). Employee social relations also predicted unique variance in most of the wellness and illness factors. However, neither employee health practices nor social relations predicted supervisory ratings of job performance. Conclusion. The pattern of findings was remarkably similar to previous work demonstrating the more distal impact of the seven health practices and suggests the value of encouraging good employee health practices at small and underserved worksites.