Health literacy and psychological wellbeing of employees working from home in Germany-online survey results

Employees' psychological wellbeing is of special interest to employers, as mental illnesses are still the second most common reason for work absences. The psychological wellbeing of employees is determined by factors at an individual, interpersonal and organizational level. Health literacy encompasses both the individual and the organizational level and thus offers a good concept against the background of employees' psychological wellbeing. Furthermore, demographic change increases skills shortages, while recently, other working models, such as increasing home office arrangements, benefit and challenge both employees and employers. Therefore, this study examines the associations between individual and organizational health literacy, work-from-home culture, and the psychological wellbeing of employees who mainly work from home. An anonymous open online survey via Facebook and Instagram advertisements was conducted in June 2023 in Germany. The questionnaire included nine thematic groups with validated and nonvalidated scales (e.g. WHO-5 Wellbeing-Index). Data from 103 participants were suitable for data analyses in IBM SPSS Statistics 23. Of the participating employees, 17% were assigned to males and 83% to females. The mean age was 49.5 years. Individual and organizational health literacy and work-from-home culture were positively associated with employees' psychological wellbeing. Organizational health literacy mediated the effect of individual health literacy on employees' psychological wellbeing. Individual and organizational health literacy totally mediated the impact of work-from-home culture. The study results highlight that individual and organizational health literacy provide useful concepts for practitioners and researchers regarding the psychological wellbeing of employees working from home and that both might play a crucial role in mediating the effect of organizational culture aspects on employees' psychological wellbeing.