Total Worker Health™ Highlighted in Supplemental Report

Contact: Nura Sadeghpour (202) 245-0673

The University of Iowa Healthier Workforce Center for Excellence, funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), published this month the latest Total Worker Health™ (TWH) research, reviews, and practice recommendations available. The research, published as a special peer-reviewed supplement of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (JOEM), highlights multiple dimensions of Total Worker Health, and is a collection of presentations from the 2012 Total Worker Health Symposium, coordinated by the Center with support from the NIOSH TWH Program.

The Healthier Workforce Center for Excellence at the University of Iowa is one of four NIOSH Centers for Excellence to Promote a Healthier Workforce committed to improving the health of workers in Iowa and nationally through integrated health promotion and health protection research, collaborations, and successful interventions. The Center, along with NIOSH’s TWH Program, aim to help make employees healthier, safer, and more productive and resilient by integrating standard health and safety practices, such as protecting workers from hazards like chemicals and noise, with health promotion measures, such as prevention screening programs, information portals, incentive programs, and access to exercise facilities and primary care.

“At NIOSH, we recognize the benefits of integrating traditional workplace safety and health programs with newer worker health promotion programs to achieve total worker health” said NIOSH Director John Howard, M.D. “This report consolidates the research and recommendations that support a Total Worker Health strategy.”

The recently published supplemental report draws upon the expertise of national research leaders, corporate business executives, and state and national officials including Dr. John Howard. Highlights include an overview of the NIOSH Total Worker Health Program, opening comments from Dr. John Howard as well as his perspectives on total worker health, and a commentary with 17 national leaders.

“The benefits of workplace programs, policies, and practices that enhance employee well-being have been gaining recognition over the past two decades, but the concept of Total Worker Health is still not widely understood,” notes James Merchant, M.D., director of the UI Healthier Workforce Center for Excellence. “Our symposium and this new report are intended to assist employers and employees to realize the tremendous opportunity for a healthier, safer and more productive workforce.”

The supplement can be found at: http://journals.lww.com/joem/toc/2013/12001. To learn more about NIOSH’s TWH Program, visit: https://www.cdc.gov/NIOSH/twh/. To learn more about the University of Iowa’s Center for Excellence, visit: www.hwce.org or contact jennifer-l-hall@uiowa.edu.