Practising what we preach: The implementation of a health and wellness intervention for healthcare employees

Although healthcare professionals are dedicated to the health of others, they often experience high stress, burnout and low levels of personal wellness. Demanding workloads, long hours and a fast-paced environment can prevent hospital staff from prioritising their own health. This study evaluates the outcomes of a 45-day health and wellness intervention specifically designed for healthcare employees. Using a mixed-methods pre/post design, data was collected over two months from a snowball sample of over 236 participants, including physicians, nurses, pharmacists and other hospital staff. Participants completed self-assessments before and after the intervention to evaluate overall health perceptions, and their daily health habits were tracked through an online platform. A one-way repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed a statistically significant improvement in self-reported health post-intervention (p < .01). Participants also reported increased water intake, higher energy levels and improved dietary habits, including eating more fruits and vegetables. These findings highlight the potential for workplace wellness programmes to meaningfully improve the well-being of healthcare employees. The study offers practical recommendations for health systems to design and implement effective interventions and to identify common pitfalls to avoid. This study contributes to the growing body of evidence on organisational health promotion and provides directions for future research on sustaining employee wellness in high-stress healthcare environments. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.