Social:Well-being washing
From HandWiki
Well-being washing or WW (a compound word modeled on "whitewashing") is a form of advertising or marketing spin that deceptively uses public relations and platitudes to persuade the public that an entity cares about employee health and well-being.[1][2] In place of genuine support, superficial gestures like one-off yoga classes, talks, or perks are offered that don't address underlying issues like excess hours, lack of autonomy, and work-life balance.[3][4] Well-being washing may attempt to remediate the symtpoms of an organization without addressing the underlying root cause[5].
Well-being washing coincides with the rise of green-washing and the emergence of the wellbeing economy.[3][6][7]
References
- ↑ Morel, David. "How To Avoid Wellbeing Washing: Ensuring Genuine Employee Support" (in en). Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidmorel/2024/08/06/how-to-avoid-wellbeing-washing/.
- ↑ Pritchard, Kate (6 December 2023). "What is 'wellbeing washing,' and is your org guilty of it?". HR Executive. https://hrexecutive.com/what-is-wellbeing-washing-and-is-your-org-guilty-of-it/.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Ryan, Éadaoin; Imbusch, Niamh; Kinahan, Mary; Guilfoyle, Róisín (December 2025). "Current understanding and theories of wellbeing washing in the context of workplace health and wellbeing: A scoping review protocol". MethodsX 15. doi:10.1016/j.mex.2025.103452. PMID 40657207.
- ↑ Rössler, Wulf (20 February 2024). "Wellbeing washing" (in en). Insights in Public Mental Health: 2022. Frontiers Media SA. pp. 28. ISBN 978-2-8325-4490-7. https://books.google.com/books?id=9Vn2EAAAQBAJ&dq=Wellbeing+washing&pg=PA28.
- ↑ Hodges, Julie (3 August 2025). "Ensuring positive mental health and wellbeing" (in en). Managing and Leading People through Organizational Change: The Theory and Practice of Sustaining Change through People. Kogan Page Publishers. pp. 255-256. ISBN 978-1-3986-2150-3. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Managing_and_Leading_People_through_Orga/iI13EQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22wellbeing+washing%22&pg=PA255&printsec=frontcover.
- ↑ Hayden, Anders (January 2025). "Buzzword or breakthrough beyond growth? The mainstreaming of the Wellbeing Economy". Ecological Economics 227. doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108375.
- ↑ Jackson, Steven J.; Sam, Michael P.; Dawson, Marcelle C. (11 July 2024). "The Contested Terrain of Sport and Well-Being: Health and Wellness or Wellbeing Washing?". Social Sciences 13 (7): 366. doi:10.3390/socsci13070366.
 |  |
