CPH-NEW IV - Total Worker Health

PROJECT SUMMARY (Overall section) The mission of the CPH-NEW Total Worker Health® (TWH) Center of Excellence is to be a national leader in research, policy, practice, and workforce development to achieve our vision of health, safety, and well-being for all working people. We will achieve this by: (1) conducting research on challenges, opportunities, strategies, benefits, and costs of integrated programs for workforce health, safety, and well-being; (2) disseminating cutting-edge TWH concepts, research findings, and program materials in multiple formats to advance workplace practice; (3) developing policy recommendations; (4) building the capacity of professionals and organizations to recognize the value of a TWH program and to strengthen the skills and organizational resources needed to achieve it; and (5) educating graduate students from multiple disciplines in TWH through their involvement in research and dissemination activities. Our proposed Center activities include two large intervention research projects, one smaller exploratory research project, an Outreach core for research translation and dissemination, and an Evaluation & Planning core to provide centralized administration and support. Our research aims to integrate program models of TWH to advance workforce health, safety, and well-being and will include: (1) a large intervention study to develop and evaluate TWH interventions designed to improve the mental well-being of teachers, with a focus on work-life balance, burnout, and work engagement (“Total Teacher Health”); (2) a large intervention study to develop and evaluate TWH interventions designed to promote the health and safety of healthcare workers, with a focus on sustainability and union involvement in implementation processes (the “SHIFT-II” study); and (3) a smaller exploratory study to develop and evaluate professional education programs designed to integrate TWH concepts into employer crisis preparation and planning efforts (the “TWH-ECP” study). Innovative aspects of our Center evaluation and planning methods include the use of cross-project methodological teams, a transdisciplinary framework for sharing knowledge, and a unique three-campus collaboration involving experts from engineering, medicine, epidemiology, public health, nursing, psychology, education, and management. Our experience shows that a worker-centered approach to TWH that involves workers in the design, implementation, and evaluation of interventions is an impactful, innovative, and efficient method for improving the safety, health, and well-being of the U.S. workforce. With this application, we propose to extend this model in new occupational settings and for new health challenges to better engage workers in organizational decision-making that advances worker well-being.