A phenomenological study of embodied health awareness among employees with cardiovascular risk in Indonesian workplace

Abstract

Despite comprehensive workplace health programs, employees with high cardiovascular risk often delay follow-up controls. This phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of 12 employees at an Indonesian cement company to understand why perceived risk does not translate into preventive action. Using Moustakas' descriptive phenomenology integrated with the Health Belief Model and Gioia's data structure, which identified four respondent typologies and six theoretical themes. Findings reveal that risk perception is not linear but undergoes a three-phase transformation: normalization of abnormal results, crisis-triggered recalibration through personalized bodily or vicarious cues, and holistic integration of medical, lifestyle, and spiritual strategies. Crucially, informational barriers (symptom ambiguity and false reassurance from negative test results) outweigh structural barriers in corporate settings with adequate health facilities. This study propose that effective Employee Wellness Programs should shift from compliance-based to meaning-based interventions by prioritizing personalized cues, bodily literacy education, and ecosystem support. The study extends the Health Belief Model by conceptualizing preventive health behavior as a dynamic process of embodied meaning-making, in which organizational legitimacy and lived bodily experiences continuously reshape employees' interpretations of cardiovascular risk beyond traditional cognitive health beliefs within collectivistic workplace settings.