Are you familiar with the SWOLE model when it comes to workplace health?

Based on nearly 150 scientific articles, Professor Lars Andersen from the NFA has identified five key factors (SWOLE) that are essential for “workplace health promotion”—here they are.

The five factors in the SWOLE model

SWOLE stands for Society, Workers, Organization, Leaders, and Environment.
The model shows that involvement, commitment, and changes at multiple levels are necessary to effectively implement workplace health promotion.

Here are some examples of interventions based on the SWOLE model:

Society

National campaigns promoting workplace health
Lars Andersen cites the “Job & Krop” campaign as an example of a national initiative that has helped popularize resistance band training in many workplaces across Denmark.

National policy decisions
The best example is probably the “No smoking in public places” policy. Naturally, this has also spread to private workplaces.

Workers

Education
Better “education” for employees regarding healthy eating and exercise.

Support and encouragement from colleagues
If you want to increase your chances of success with a healthy lifestyle, it’s important to have allies around you—not people who make comments like “are you on a diet?” or “you’ve become so boring” when, for example, you decline a piece of cake. It could also be colleagues who lead the way in terms of health, for example by encouraging and initiating “walk & talk” sessions.

Organization

Health Policy
A clear and ambitious health policy backed by the right resources is perhaps the most important element. The company should not merely support health-promoting initiatives from employees. It must take the lead. Everyone (HR, senior management, AM, etc.) must be involved and work together if the company is to succeed on a large scale.

Leader

The immediate supervisor
The immediate supervisor serves as the link between employees and the company when it comes to implementing company policies. They have their finger on the pulse of what is happening and what is working in the departments. In addition, the supervisor also acts as a role model; in other words, if they lead by example when it comes to health, the impact is greater.

Environment (environment, surroundings, interior design)

Controlling Your Environment
There’s a well-known saying: “If you don’t control your environment, it will control you.” Our environment influences us more than we realize, and as a business, you need to take advantage of this if you want to increase your chances of success.

This applies to everything from exercise facilities to cake in the ward. For example, you don’t have to ban cake, but you could avoid placing it right in the middle of the ward and instead put it somewhere where it isn’t immediately visible—and ideally, where you have to take a few steps to reach it.

By Henrik Duer, exercise physiologist – visit my website here.

Thanks to Lars L. Andersen, Professor of Healthy Work Life at the National Research Center for the Working Environment (NFA).