SHIELD: Safety & Health Improvement: Enhancing Law Enforcement Departments

Details

• Personal Author:
  Kuehl KS
• Description:
  The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health recognizes that effective worksite health promotion programs may be low-cost solutions to rising medical expenditures, while reducing absenteeism and improving productivity. Occupational wellness programs have the potential to benefit both workers and their employers; however, a recent review found that few in use had documented effectiveness, and only a small number of the evidence-based programs were available for widespread use. Even less programs have evidence for outcome durability. Assessment of dietary habits, physical activity behaviors, and weight loss maintenance is rare more than one year following an intervention, and in general, initial positive changes have not persisted. The SHIELD (Safety & Health Improvement: Enhancing Law Enforcement Departments) study, sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, is designed to investigate strategies to promote health and safety of law enforcement personnel (LEP). Our peer-led, team-based format is proven effective with fire fighters and athletic teams; SHIELD extends this format the public safety sector. LEP are tasked with the critical work of protecting the population's safety and they have unique health issues that impact their well-being, longevity, job performance and safety. Overall, the LEP's life expectancy is between 6 and 15 years less than the average American. SHIELD addresses the following modifiable factors that adversely impact LEP's health, safety and work performance, namely: stress, sleep deprivation, eating habits, body weight, smoking, alcohol use, injury prevention and physical activity. The SHIELD Study tested the efficacy and durability of a team-based worksite health promotion intervention for law enforcement personnel in a randomized prospective trial. The SHIELD program was feasible and effective in promoting the health and safety of law enforcement officers and support personnel. Both intervention and control group were studied for 24 months, longer than the majority of health and safety randomized trials. Significant program effects were observed for of fruit and vegetable consumption sleep, general health, stress, tobacco and alcohol. Qualitative interviews were conducted to further explain the observed differential durability of positive behavioral outcomes. Improvements in eating habits persisted through 24-months of testing while improvements in sleep quantity and quality were significant through six-months. Interview findings reveal that participants retained broad categories of health and safety information from SHIELD sessions. Participants referenced novel information tailored to their work delivered in memorable way. Interviews also revealed that peer modeling, encouragement and norms helped sustain some behaviors more than others. For eating behaviors that reinforcement appeared to sustain the change. To sustain invisible behaviors, such as sleep, specific means, such as environmental cues, self-monitoring and booster content may be needed for maintenance. While many studies among law enforcement workers highlight the adverse health outcomes faced by those in this profession, this study is promising in that it suggests that tailored lifestyle and behavior change interventions could counter the adverse health effects associated with work in law enforcement. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Behavior Diet Emergency Responders Fatigue Health Promotion Law Enforcement Men Mental Health Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Safety Management Sleep Stress, Psychological Substance-Related Disorders Tobacco Products Women

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• Keywords:
  Emergency-responders Health-programs Health Promotion Humans Law-enforcement Physical-fitness Physical Exercise Physiological-effects Physiological-stress Physiology Police-officers Psychological-effects Psychological-factors Psychological-stress Psychology Quality Of Life Risk Factors Safety-programs Stress Substance Abuse Tobacco

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• Series:
  Grant Final Reports
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Final Grant Report
• Place as Subject:
  Oregon ; OSHA Region 10
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  OEP - Office of Extramural Programs
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-23
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20048436
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2016-104198
• Citation:
  Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, R01-OH-009676, 2015 Oct; :1-23
• Contact Point Address:
  Kerry S. Kuehl, MD, DrPH, Oregon Health & Science University CR110, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road, Portland, OR 97239 3098
• Email:
  kuehlk@ohsu.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• Performing Organization:
  Oregon Health and Science University, Portland
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20100801
• Source Full Name:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• End Date:
  20150731
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:59fe822329e829bfdb0e730389395206f097f970a884ce5216f4422b6bc759a98d55528abe2b727a033cbb367bd3a0660157c2b966368b04923b41e5f40facba
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/218647/cdc_218647_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 365.82 KB ]