A 16-Year Chronicle of Developing a Healthy Workplace Participatory Program for Total Worker Health® in the Connecticut Department of Correction: The Health Improvement Through Employee Control (HITEC) Program

Details

• Personal Author:
  Brennan M ; Cherniack, Martin G. ; Dugan A ; El Ghaziri M ; Henning R ; Namazi S
• Description:
  Health Improvement Through Employee Control (HITEC) is a 16-year program directed toward the health of corrections personnel and developed through the application of the principles of Participatory Action Research (PAR) and participatory ergonomics. Its impetus has always been the adverse health status of the corrections workforce: early mortality, depression, obesity, and hypertension. The HITEC program trained small "Design Teams" (DTs) of front-line personnel in participatory methods for intervention design for health improvement and organizational change in line with the Total Worker Health® principles. Periodic surveys and physical testing were introduced for longitudinal assessments. Comparative interventions at comparable sites included DTs without a priori assignation, problem-focused kaizen effectiveness teams (KETs), and bargaining unit-centered DTs. DT resilience and the replacement of members who transferred facilities or retired was aided by novel cooperative administrative structures. DT-generated interventions included stress lounges, changes in critical event report writing, a joint program with trained inmates to improve air quality, and training in staff mental health and sleep behavior. A specialized peer-to-peer Health Mentoring Program (HMP) paired new officers with trained peers. Many interventions and program features were institutionalized, thus improving prospects for self-supporting program longevity. Participatory interventions designed and supported by the corrections workforce were found to be both feasible and exceptionally effective. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Cardiovascular Diseases Cardiovascular System Ergonomics Mental Health Nervous System Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Design Team Correctional Health DT Health Mentoring Program Healthy Workplace Participatory Program HMP Hypertension Intervention Mental Health Obesity PAR Participatory Action Research Participatory Ergonomics Total Worker Health TWH

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• ISSN:
  1660-4601
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Connecticut ; Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1 ; Rhode Island
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  21
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20069279
• Citation:
  Int J Environ Res Public Health 2024 Feb; 21(2):142
• Contact Point Address:
  Martin Cherniack, Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT 06030
• Email:
  cherniack@uchc.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2024
• Performing Organization:
  University of Massachusetts, Lowell
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20060701
• Source Full Name:
  International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• End Date:
  20210831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7db00ebe0fc2db2edd4c15f78a490107bfe34964868aec1a1cb0d3cf983154bbebe6f0f583b47ca3b4d1aa2e208f73d94c49531f22c08515510aa30bb19996f0
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/207783/cdc_207783_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1020.52 KB ]