Workplace health promotion and safety in state and territorial health departments in the United States: a national mixed-methods study of activity, capacity, and growth opportunities

Autor: Maija S. Leff, Melanie Studer, Marisa Martini, Laura A. Linnan, Jean M. Abraham, AnnMarie Lee Walton, Peggy A. Hannon, Sherry Baron
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2019
Předmět:
medicine.medical_specialty
Psychological intervention
Staffing
United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration
030209 endocrinology & metabolism
State government
Occupational safety and health
Public health systems research
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
Workplace health promotion
State health departments
Environmental health
Surveys and Questionnaires
medicine
Humans
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
030212 general & internal medicine
Qualitative Research
One health
Descriptive statistics
Occupational health
business.industry
Public health
lcsh:Public aspects of medicine
Public Health
Environmental and Occupational Health
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
lcsh:RA1-1270
United States
3. Good health
Health promotion
Biostatistics
business
Public Health Administration
Research Article
Zdroj: BMC Public Health, Vol 19, Iss 1, Pp 1-15 (2019)
BMC Public Health
ISSN: 1471-2458
DOI: 10.1186/s12889-019-6575-x
Popis: Background State and Territorial Health Departments (SHDs) have a unique role in protecting and promoting workers’ health. This mixed-methods study presents the first systematic investigation of SHDs’ activities and capacity in both Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) and Workplace Health Promotion (WHP) in the United States (US). Methods National survey of OSH and WHP practitioners from each of 56 SHDs, followed by in-depth interviews with a subset of survey respondents. We calculated descriptive statistics for survey variables and conducted conventional content analysis of interviews. Results Seventy percent (n = 39) of OSH and 71% (n = 40) of WHP contacts responded to the survey. Twenty-seven (n = 14 OSH, n = 13 WHP) participated in follow-up interviews. Despite limited funding, staffing, or organizational support, SHDs reported a wide array of activities. We assessed OSH and WHP surveillance activities, support that SHDs provided to employers to implement OSH and WHP interventions (implementation support), OSH and WHP services provided directly to workers, OSH follow-back investigations, and OSH standard and policy development. Each of the categories we asked about (excluding OSH standard and policy development) were performed by more than half of responding SHDs. Surveillance was the area of greatest OSH activity, while implementation support was the area of greatest WHP activity. Respondents characterized their overall capacity as low. Thirty percent (n = 9) of WHP and 19% (n = 6) of OSH respondents reported no funds at all for OSH/WHP work, and both groups reported a median 1.0 FTEs working on OSH/WHP at the SHD. Organizational support for OSH and WHP was characterized as “low” to “moderate”. To increase SHDs’ capacity for OSH and WHP, interview respondents recommended that OSH and WHP approaches be better integrated into other public health initiatives (e.g., infectious disease prevention), and that federal funding for OSH and WHP increase. They also discussed specific recommendations for improving the accessibility and utility of existing funding mechanisms, and the educational resources they desired from the CDC. Conclusions Results revealed current activities and specific strategies for increasing capacity of SHDs to promote the safety and health of workers and workplaces – an important public health setting for reducing acute injury and chronic disease. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-019-6575-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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