Exploring how individuals in small corporate environments in Nova Scotia experience health and wellness in their workplace

This qualitative study explored how individuals in small corporate environments in Nova Scotia experience health and wellness in their workplace. In an effort to determine effective practices for the development of successful and sustainable health promotion programs for the workplace, fourteen one-on-one semi-structured interviews were conducted with employers and employees from two professional workplaces in Halifax. Findings revealed that the culture of the organizations largely determined the daily conduct of individuals, including health-related behaviours and attitudes. Furthermore, there seemed to be evidence that all individuals were struggling on some level to find a balance between the positive and negative aspects of work, both at the individual and organizational levels. These findings suggest a need for the development of comprehensive, targeted and organization-specific workplace health promotion programs that address the individual, the work environment and take into close consideration the culture of the workplace.