Health in the American Workplace

Summary

Brief Video Highlight

HEALTH IN THE AMERICAN WORKPLACE: Are We Doing Enough?
Presented in Collaboration with The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and NPR

For good or for bad, jobs impact employees’ health. From stress levels, to eating habits, to worries about workplace violence and toxic exposures, people confront a variety of challenges on the job. This Forum event drew on the findings of a just released poll about the workplace and health by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. A panel of experts in workplace culture and public opinion took on the concerns most expressed by employees – as well as described lessons learned from employers that cultivate healthy environments – to see if there are feasible measures to produce a more accessible, supportive, healthier workplace.

Tweet us @ForumHSPH #healthyworkers

Part of: Policy Controversies.

Presented in Collaboration with The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and NPR

Image Credit: istockphoto/kulicki

Sartaj Raja

This is great forum to share knowledge and learn about subject issues very relevant to our current day to day life.
The Forum Moderator

Welcome all! We are about to begin.
The Forum Moderator

We have begun
The Forum Moderator

We are glad that you could join us today.
- Elanda Williams
  
  Will the webcast be archived/recorded for later viewing?
The Forum Moderator

This event is held in collaboration with The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and NPR.
The Forum Moderator

As Joe Neel has noted, this event is drawing from a poll that was just released this morning. That poll can be found here: https://cdn1.sph.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/2016/07/NPR-RWJF-Harvard-Workplace-and-Health-Poll-Report.pdf
Elanda Williams

Will there be a link available for later viewing of the webcast?
- The Forum Moderator
  
  Yes, thanks for the question. We will post the full video on this site later this week and also on YouTube.
The Forum Moderator

We will have a Q&A at the end of this event with the panelists. If you have a question for the panelists, you can post it here or email it to theforum@hsph.harvard.edu
The Forum Moderator

This clip comes from the Promoting Healthy Workplaces Project, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. We thank them for letting us use it.

We also thank University of Iowa for letting us use the first clip that we saw towards the beginning of our event.
The Forum Moderator

Just a quick reminder that If you have a question for the panelists, you can post it here or email it to theforum@hsph.harvard.edu
The Forum Moderator

Professor Sorensen heads a Center for Work, Health and Wellbeing. Some of the research that she is describing can be found at http://centerforworkhealth.sph.harvard.edu/
Jodi S.

can you post the link to the survey?
- The Forum Moderator
  
  Yes, thank you. The poll link is here: https://cdn1.sph.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/2016/07/NPR-RWJF-Harvard-Workplace-and-Health-Poll-Report.pdf
  
  and the press release is: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/poll-more-than-four-in-ten-working-adults-think-their-work-impacts-their-health/
Bob Merberg

Question: The role of job design and work environment is well established as the foundation of healthy workers in European countries, esp. Scandinavian countries. NIOSH has promoted this approach for years, but employers resist, preferring to emphasize worker behavioral change. Why are US employers slow on the uptake, and what more can be done to get them on board?
- The Forum Moderator
  
  Thank you. Great question.
Wendy Hileman

I would like to address the question being asked about non-profits. We are a non-profit wellness company out of San Diego and work with many very small non-profits around the US to create wellness cultures. I think non-profit wellness companies are very rare but there is help out there at no and low-cost methods.
The Forum Moderator

Great. Thanks!
The Forum Moderator

Our discussion will be ending in about 5 minutes. We will post the full on demand video on this site and on YouTube later this week. We also will post the audio on this site, SoundCloud, and iTunes.
Bob Merberg

Question: The ACA promoted employee wellness with emphasis on incentives and surcharges for healthy behaviors and health outcomes. Has this component of the legislation helped workers?
The Forum Moderator

Some of the NPR coverage of the poll is here: http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/07/11/484917853/work-can-be-a-stressful-and-dangerous-place-for-many
The Forum Moderator

We thank everyone for joining us today.
The Forum Moderator

We also thank our wonderful panelists and our collaborators — The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and NPR.
The Forum Moderator

Thank you again! Our event has ended.
Edward Framer, Ph.D.

Comment on the lack of coordination in our health care system. If you go to the hospital, even if you have insurance, you cannot count on all the services being in-network. The hospital is if you checked carefully, but what about the surgeon and the anesthesiologist and the hospitalist. If you make $150,000 this may just be inconvenient; but if you make $35,000, you may lose your house, your car and any savings you have.
The Forum Moderator

We hope all of our viewers have a safe and happy summer. Forum programming will return this fall.
alasti

Note that outsourced workers at Harvard (of whom there are many) are not able to appeal to Harvard’s Environmental Health & Safety department about unaddressed concerns.

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