Effectiveness of a personalized Health Profile for blue-collar workers.

Abstract

This article describes a study on the effectiveness of a Health Profile that was offered to blue-collar workers. The major goal of the Health Profile was to improve workers' awareness of own health behaviors and their intentions to change unhealthy behaviors. The Health Profile consisted of a booklet in A4-format in which tailored information was given on health behaviors. A pretest and posttest design (no control group) was used. The results showed a significant improvement of awareness of own health behaviors. Significant attitudinal changes were also achieved. There were no changes in social support and self-efficacy nor was there a change in the intention to change behaviors. These results suggest that a personalized Health Profile is a promising means to make workers aware of their personal risk behaviors.