The Effectiveness of Health-Oriented Interventions and Health Promotion for Unemployed People—A Meta-Analysis

Karsten Ingmar Paul () and Alfons Hollederer
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Karsten Ingmar Paul: School of Business, Economics, and Society, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 90403 Nürnberg, Germany
Alfons Hollederer: Department of Social Work and Social Welfare, The Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Kassel, 34127 Kassel, Germany

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 11, 1-19

Abstract: Background: Unemployment is known to have negative effects on mental and physical health. Yet, the effectiveness of interventions aimed at improving the health of unemployed people is unclear. Methods: We conducted a random-effects meta-analysis of extant intervention studies with at least two measurement points and a control group. A literature search in PubMed, Scopus, and PsycINFO in December 2021 identified 34 eligible primary studies with 36 independent samples. Results: For mental health, the average meta-analytic effect sizes for the comparison of the intervention group and the control group were significant and of small size after the intervention, d = 0.22; 95% CI [0.08, 0.36], as well as at follow-up, d = 0.11; 95% CI [0.07, 0.16]. Effects on self-assessed physical health status were small and marginally significant ( p = 0.10) after the intervention: d = 0.09; 95% CI [?0.02, 0.20], and insignificant at follow-up. However, when job search training was not part of the intervention program (i.e., all available resources were used solely for health promotion), the average effect size for physical health was significant after the intervention, d = 0.17; 95% CI [0.07, 0.27]. Furthermore, the effects of physical activity promotion were significant and of small-to-medium size after the intervention, leading to increased levels of activity, d = 0.30; 95% CI [0.13, 0.47]. Conclusions: Population-based health promotion programs are recommended because even measures with small effect sizes can actually improve the health of a large group of unemployed people.

Keywords: unemployment; health; mental health; health promotion; exercise; cognitive behavioral therapy; job search; meta-analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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