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Capacity Building as a Key Mechanism of Organizational Health Development

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Abstract

As a targeted change process within organizations, organizational health development (OHD) builds on and develops individual and organizational health capacities. This chapter shows how the generic capacity building (CB) approach gainfully can be adapted as a key mechanism of OHD. CB for OHD covers both the development process and its outcomes, comprising health-oriented interventions on multiple levels. CB refers to systemic thinking, as it views organizations as complex social systems and enables the organization and its members to deal with health-relevant issues and gain autonomy on this issue. Further guidance for CB is provided by the underlying OHD model, which describes six capacities as relevant targets and outcomes of CB for OHD: individual competencies, motivation, and identity, as well as organizational structure, strategy, and culture. Overall, CB contributes to OHD, as it offers an appropriate, generic guidance for company-driven health intervention planning, program design, and communication as well as for theory-driven evaluation of the targeted OHD process.

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Correspondence to Susanne Hoffmann .

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Hoffmann, S., Jenny, G.J., Bauer, G.F. (2014). Capacity Building as a Key Mechanism of Organizational Health Development. In: Bridging Occupational, Organizational and Public Health. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5640-3_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5640-3_7

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