This chapter presents an updated framework for Integral Organizational Wellness (IOW), expanding on previous versions to address complex workplace pressures and new stressors.
Key components of the framework include: Eleven themes of organizational well-being, categorized into Assessment, Awareness, Action, Applications, and Attractive State Competencies for Occupational Health Psychologists (OHPs) related to each theme Roles and competencies of internal well-being practitioners and allies Potential business partners and their impact on organizational wellness The influence of...
Workspaces are designed every day across the nation, whether through remodeling or new construction. Typically, the design and construction of workspaces are led by architects and construction firms, often with minimal input from the actual occupants (e.g., workers). However, when architects and designers collaborate with Total Worker Health (TWH) professionals, they can integrate health and well-being considerations from the beginning of the design process. This presentation showcases a new building project where health, safety, and well-...
Work spaces are created everyday across the nation, either by remodel or new build. Typically, the design and construction of work spaces are conceptualized and executed almost exclusively by architect and construction firms, with little input from the future occupants (e.g., workers). This doesn’t have to be the scenario occupants are faced with when architects and designers collaborate with TWH professionals on work space design. This presentation describes a new building project where health and well-being considerations were introduced at the very...
The present study explores psychosocial needs among university employees and the extent to which these needs influence employee perceptions of how work positively or negatively affects their health. Structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses among Norwegian faculty members (N = 11,533) suggest that needs differ in importance to the two work-related health outcomes. Multi-group analyses suggest gender differences in the level of these needs and in their degree of relationship with positive/negative work-related health. Among women, the strongest predictors of positive and negative work-...
This white paper proposes a new paradigm for business success: becoming a 'healthcare business'. It argues that prioritizing employee health, safety, and well-being is not just beneficial but essential for overall business success.
Key points:
The current business landscape is marked by low employee engagement, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment, leading to numerous people-related problems and unnecessary costs. A 'healthcare business' is characterized by organizational policies, practices, and working conditions that promote employee health and...
This paper explores the complex issues surrounding gig work and its implications for workers' health, safety, well-being, and economic security. It argues for an interdisciplinary approach to addressing these challenges, emphasizing that single-pronged solutions are insufficient to tackle the multifaceted nature of the problem.
Key points:
Definition and characteristics of gig work, including its digital platform-based nature and flexibility. Analysis of the pros and cons of gig work, including potential income, autonomy, and job control, as well as the lack of...
A library on campus recently advertised their new standing-height workstations with a catchy sign proclaiming that “sitting is the new sugar.” The word is out: sitting is bad for us; worse, even, than the sugars and fats we have long vilified, and more harmful than cigarettes. Recent studies have linked prolonged sedentary time with obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, back pain, and psychological distress. Simply put, sitting is killing us. Sedentary behavior researcher Travis Saunders cautions that, “all things being equal (body weight, physical activity levels, smoking,...
The Interdisciplinary Center for Healthy Workplaces (ICHW) has developed an Employer Guide that will enable organizations (with an emphasis on small and medium-sized) to find a workplace wellness program that fits their specific constraints. Small and medium organizations face a number of limitations given their size and financial reserves, but employees’ health and well-being needs are a constant regardless of organization size. Employees need a safe, socially supportive, and health-promoting work environment that not only supports their wellness but also enables them to do their best...
Technology is becoming an increasingly prominent part in the lives of modern workers. A simple search of “well-being” in any app store can yield thousands of results, with each application claiming to improve different facets of users’ daily behaviors to lead a healthier lifestyle. To understand more about the value of health technology in organizations, HealthyWorkplaces conducted a literature review of existing health technologies in the marketplace and their corresponding scientific support. By combining academic and commercial sources, we explored the efficacy of different technologies...
As an interdisciplinary team, HealthyWorkplaces reaches out to collaborators to better understand how the variety of disciplines can come together to improve the workplace. This month, biomedical engineer Elizabeth Nelson of University of Twente provided her input about lack of sleep causing burnout in an ever increasing number of employees. Further, architect Antony Kim of University of California, Berkeley’s Center for Built Environment shared his knowledge about circadian rhythms and their regulation with proper lighting. We explore how the lighting architecture and biology of...
