Policy examination or policy review – Work, Stress, and Health

An Expanded Conceptual Model for Research on Work, Safety, Health, and Well-being

November 13, 2021November 12, 2021

The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Center for Work, Health, & Well-being is a NIOSH Total Worker Health? Center of Excellence. Its mission is to protect and promote the safety, health, and well-being of workers through integrated workplace policies, programs, and practices that foster safe and healthy conditions of work. Building on its systems-level conceptual model centered on the conditions of work, the Center has expanded this model to include employment & labor patterns and the social/political/economic environment. The Center?s three unifying themes, informed by our conceptual model, provide a framework for setting priorities to ensure that our research and dissemination efforts make a difference in improving the conditions of work.

A theoretical framework to bridge the gap between policy and practice in promoting mental health in the workplace.

November 13, 2021November 12, 2021

Evidence indicates a gap between macro-level initiatives to manage psychosocial risks and their implementation at the organisational level. A literature review across different social sciences disciplines was conducted, evidencing the need to integrate social pressures with organisational variables to transform psychosocial risk management and mental health promotion into a sustainable organisational practice.

Identifying and examining the impact of worker demographics on worker safety, health, and well-being: Advancing the NORA for Healthy Work Design and Well-Being

November 13, 2021November 12, 2021

Gaps in the literature on the effects of demographic characteristics on worker safety, health, and well-being continue to persist. The National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) for Healthy Work Design and Well-Being (HWD) identifies those gaps, and the HWD Council has developed a plan for how to address the gaps and advance the Agenda. This poster not only aims to make its audience aware of the NORA for HWD research gaps related to understanding the different effects of demographic characteristics on worker safety, health, and well-being, but also to initiate the process of connecting potential research partners and stakeholders.

Clinical Psychology Consultations in Support of Corrections Employees Engaged in Intervention Design Efforts

November 13, 2021November 12, 2021

In March 2020, correctional facilities were not exempt from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and may have been impacted more severely compared to other work settings, especially due to workplace stressors (CDC, 2021; Montoya-Barthelemy, 2020; Okano & Blower, 2020; Rubin, 2020). Utilizing a novel approach (Introduction, Integration, Implementation, and Interpretation), this case study evaluates the strengths and challenges of integrating a clinical perspective in participatory action research.

The Relation of the Occupational Depression Inventory to Commonly Used Measures of Workplace Burnout

November 13, 2021November 12, 2021

In a study of the relation of the Occupational Depression Inventory (ODI), the first-of-its-kind measure of work-related depression, to the Maslach Burnout Inventory?s (MBI) subscales and the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI), we found that the emotional exhaustion (EE) component of the MBI (in a French schoolteacher sample) and the CBI (in a New Zealand teacher sample) are highly correlated with the ODI (rho and r > .80), higher than the correlations of EE with the other MBI subscales. We also found that individuals who met criteria for the ODI?s algorithmically-generated provisional diagnoses of depression have highly elevated EE and CBI scores. Exploratory structural equation modeling bifactor analyses indicated that the EE, CBI, and ODI items measure the same construct. We underline applications for occupational health specialists of the ODI as a practical replacement of burnout measures.

COVID-19 in corrections and workforce engagement in current and future outbreaks

November 13, 2021November 12, 2021

In spite of mitigation efforts taking place to contain COVID-19 in 2020, confirmed cases still soared within one correctional facility in a northeast state. To examine facility pandemic-related responses, qualitative data was gathered via focus groups of facility staff. Focus group themes were: staff and inmate compliance with safety protocols, communication of policies or procedures, the role of facility administrators in responding to the pandemic, and a work culture of presenteeism. We identified several areas for improvement of facility policy and protocols to protect workers and inmates from the transmission of COVID-19 and similar communicable illnesses.