Research trends of workplace health promotion in Japan: a scoping review

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) present a significant global health and economic burden. In Japan, the implementation of Health Management Programs (HMPs) has become a national strategy, motivated not only by the aims of extending healthy life expectancy and curtailing medical expenditures but also by the critical need to enhance corporate productivity amidst an aging and shrinking workforce. This scoping review aims to elucidate the accumulation and early trends of academic discourse on Health Management in Japan, particularly focusing on identifying research gaps and comparing academic characteristics with national policy guidelines. Following the PRISMA-ScR framework, we searched the National Diet Library Search database for literature published between 2006 and September 2024. The inclusion criteria were: 1) inclusion of "health management" in the title, 2) original peer-reviewed academic journal articles, and 3) open full-text availability. University bulletins and non-peer-reviewed materials were excluded. Data extraction and analysis were conducted using quantitative text-mining (KH Coder) to visualize co-occurrence networks and centrality, comparing the extracted academic papers with the national corporate guidebook. Of the 1195 initial hits, only 17 academic research papers were extracted, confirming the nascent state of academic research in this domain. Analysis showed a significant concentration of studies in business administration (76%), with productivity as the central outcome variable. Crucially, a key difference emerged: academic papers largely focused on the internal implementation of population approaches within Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), often led by public health nurses, whereas the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) guidelines emphasized a high-risk approach focusing on health insurance society collaboration, health checkup results, and investor awareness (corporate value). A substantial gap exists between policy objectives and academic study, as current research remains constrained by discipline and measurement focus. To support workforce sustainability, future research must expand beyond productivity to include holistic indicators like work–life balance, explore implementation in large enterprises, and utilize qualitative methodologies.