Associations between Health Education and Mental Health, Burnout, and Work Engagement by Application of Audiovisual Stimulation

Abstract

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, health education programs and workplace health promotion (WHP) could only be offered under difficult conditions, if at all. In Germany for example, mandatory lockdowns, working from home, and physical distancing have led to a sharp decline in expenditure on prevention and health promotion from 2019 to 2020. At the same time, the pandemic has negatively affected many people's mental health. Therefore, our goal was to examine audiovisual stimulation as a possible measure in the context of WHP, because its usage is contact-free, time flexible, and offers, additionally, voice-guided health education programs. In an online survey following a cross-sectional single case study design with 393 study participants, we examined the associations between audiovisual stimulation and mental health, work engagement, and burnout. Using multiple regression analyses, we could identify positive associations between audiovisual stimulation and mental health, burnout, and work engagement. However, longitudinal data are needed to further investigate causal mechanisms between mental health and the use of audiovisual stimulation. Nevertheless, especially with regard to the pandemic, audiovisual stimulation may represent a promising measure for improving mental health at the workplace.

Keywords: audiovisual stimulation; burnout; health education; mental health; relaxation; well-being; work engagement; workplace health promotion.

Figure 1

CFA Model of the Burnout Measurement. DIS: disengagement from work, EXH: exhaustion, n = 396. Residual correlations between the following pairs of items were added to the model: item DIS.1 with item DIS.3 (=0.353, SE = 0.050, p < 0.001); item DIS.2 with item DIS.6 (=0.224, SE = 0.056, p < 0.001); item DIS.1 with item DIS.8 (=0.165, SE = 0.04, p < 0.001); item DIS.7 with item DIS.8 (=0.279, SE = 0.049, p < 0.001); item EXH.2 with item EXH.8 (=0.236, SE = 0.057, p < 0.001); item DIS.6 with item DIS.8 (=0.324, SE = 0.057, p < 0.001).

Figure 2

CFA of the Work Engagement Measurement. VIG: vigor, DED: dedication, ABS: absorption, n = 395. Residual correlations between the following pair of items were added to the model: item VIG.1 with item VIG.2 (=0.359, SE = 0.051, p < 0.001).