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.