Building Capacity for Integrated Occupational Safety, Health, and Well-Being Initiatives Using Guidelines for Total Worker Health® Approaches.

Objectives: To describe the process used to build capacity for wider dissemination of a Total Worker Health® (TWH) model using the infrastructure of a health and well-being vendor organization.

Methods: A multiple-case study mixed-methods design was used to learn from a year-long investigation of the experiences by participating organizations.

Results: Increased capacity for TWH solutions was observed as evidenced by the participation, plans of action, and experience ratings of the participating organizations.

Education and Training to Build Capacity in Total Worker Health®: Proposed Competencies for an Emerging Field.

Objective: Establishment of core competencies for education and training of professionals entering the emerging field of Total Worker Health®.

Methods: Compilation and distillation of information obtained over a 5-year period from Total Worker Health symposia, workshops, and academic offerings, plus contributions from key stakeholders regarding education and training needs.

Results: A proposed set of Total Worker Health competencies aligns under six broad domains: Subject Matter Expertize; Advocacy and Engagement; Program Planning, Implementation and Evaluation; Communications and Dissemination; Leadership and Management; and Partnership Building and Coordination.

Measuring Best Practices for Workplace Safety, Health, and Well-Being: The Workplace Integrated Safety and Health Assessment.

Objective: To present a measure of effective workplace organizational policies, programs, and practices that focuses on working conditions and organizational facilitators of worker safety, health and well-being: the workplace integrated safety and health (WISH) assessment.

Methods: Development of this assessment used an iterative process involving a modified Delphi method, extensive literature reviews, and systematic cognitive testing.

Results: The assessment measures six core constructs identified as central to best practices for protecting and promoting worker safety, health and well-being: leadership commitment; participation; policies, programs, and practices that foster supportive working conditions; comprehensive and collaborative strategies; adherence to federal and state regulations and ethical norms; and data-driven change.

Key Organizational Characteristics for Integrated Approaches to Protect and Promote Worker Health in Smaller Enterprises.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate relationships between worksite organizational characteristics (size, industrial sector, leadership commitment, and organizational supports) and integrated approaches to protecting and promoting worker health implemented in smaller enterprises.

Methods: We analyzed web-based survey data of Human Resource Managers at 114 smaller enterprises (<750 employees) to identify organizational factors associated with levels of integrated approaches among their worksites.

Results: The companies' mean integration score was 13.

Integrating worksite health protection and health promotion: A conceptual model for intervention and research.

There is increasing recognition of the value added by integrating traditionally separate efforts to protect and promote worker safety and health. This paper presents an innovative conceptual model to guide research on determinants of worker safety and health and to inform the design, implementation and evaluation of integrated approaches to promoting and protecting worker health. This model is rooted in multiple theories and the premise that the conditions of work are important determinants of individual safety and health outcomes and behaviors, and outcomes important to enterprises such as absence and turnover.

Measurement Tools for Integrated Worker Health Protection and Promotion: Lessons Learned From the SafeWell Project.

Objectives: To describe (a) a conceptual approach, (b) measurement tools and data collection processes, (c) characteristics of an integrated feedback report and action plan, and (d) experiences of three companies with an integrated measurement approach to worker safety and health.

Methods: Three companies implemented measurement tools designed to create an integrated view of health protection and promotion based on organizational- and individual-level assessments. Feedback and recommended actions were presented following assessments at baseline and 1-year follow-up.

Validation and Dimensionality of the Integration of Health Protection and Health Promotion Score: Evidence From the PULSE Small Business and VA Medical Center Surveys.

Objective: To conduct validation and dimensionality analyses for an existing measure of the integration of worksite health protection and health promotion approaches.

Methods: A survey of small to medium size employers located in the United States was conducted between October 2013 and March 2014 (N = 115). A survey of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) administrative parents was also conducted from June to July 2014 (N = 140).

Validation of a New Metric for Assessing the Integration of Health Protection and Health Promotion in a Sample of Small- and Medium-Sized Employer Groups.

Objective: To conduct validation analyses for a new measure of the integration of worksite health protection and health promotion approaches developed in earlier research.

Methods: A survey of small- to medium-sized employers located in the United States was conducted between October 2013 and March 2014 (n = 111). Cronbach α coefficient was used to assess reliability, and Pearson correlation coefficients were used to assess convergent validity.

Organizational Characteristics Influence Implementation of Worksite Health Protection and Promotion Programs: Evidence From Smaller Businesses.

Objective: We explored associations between organizational factors (size, sector, leadership support, and organizational capacity) and implementation of occupational safety and health (OSH) and worksite health promotion (WHP) programs in smaller businesses.

Methods: We conducted a web-based survey of human resource managers of 117 smaller businesses (<750 employees) and analyzed factors associated with implementation of OSH and WHP among these sites using multivariate analyses.

Results: Implementation of OSH, but not WHP activities, was related to industry sector (P = 0.

Health promotion in smaller workplaces in the United States.

Most American workplaces are smaller, with fewer than 1,000 employees. Many of these employees are low-wage earners and at increased risk for chronic diseases. Owing to the challenges smaller workplaces face to offering health-promotion programs, their employees often lack access to health-promotion opportunities available at larger workplaces.

Unintended consequences of cigarette price changes for alcohol drinking behaviors across age groups: evidence from pooled cross sections.

Background: Raising prices through taxation on tobacco and alcohol products is a common strategy to raise revenues and reduce consumption. However, taxation policies are product specific, focusing either on alcohol or tobacco products. Several studies document interactions between the price of cigarettes and general alcohol use and it is important to know whether increased cigarette prices are associated with varying alcohol drinking patterns among different population groups.

Systems-level smoking cessation activities by private health plans.

Introduction: The US Public Health Service urges providers to screen patients for smoking and advise smokers to quit. Yet, these practices are not widely implemented in clinical practice. This study provides national estimates of systems-level strategies used by private health insurance plans to influence provider delivery of smoking cessation activities.

Examining the effects of tobacco control policy on low socioeconomic status women and girls: an initiative of the Tobacco Research Network on Disparities (TReND).

This commentary focuses on the convening of a national meeting of experts to develop a research agenda for investigating the effects of tobacco control policies on low socioeconomic women and girls.