Trusted Sources: How Some US Employers Used Government Information During the COVID-19 Pandemic [prepub]

Details

• Journal Article:
  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• Personal Author:
  Parvanta, Claudia ; Ball, Cynthia ; Dale, Ann M. ; Moore, Kevin ; Huynh, Tran B. ; Sembajwe, Grace ; Thiese, Matthew S. ; Dinehart, Taylor ; Zalizniak, Jacqueline ; Caban-Martinez, Alberto J.
• Description:
  Objective: Assess employers' use of information from government sources during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Virtual interviews with employers from 28 US companies in 9 National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) sectors. Transcribed interviews were thematically coded and analyzed using MaxQDA24. Results: All but 3 companies relied on CDC as their primary source for policy decisions and workforce communications, supplementing this with information from state and local health agencies, OSHA, trade and professional associations. Half of respondents asked additional experts to interpret guidance for their industry, and all but a few modified available materials to share with their workforce. NORA sectors were not effective for audience segmentation. Perception of worksite transmission was loosely aligned with preference for and confidence in information sources. Conclusion: Employers want industry-tailored information during a public health emergency; providing that remains a challenge.
• Subjects:
  COVID-19 Occupational Health Public Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: COVID-19; Employers; Workforce; Mitigation Strategies; Trust; Health Communication; Health Belief Model COVID-19; Health Communications; Public Health; Qualitative Analysis; Policy; Disease Transmission; Information Dissemination;
• Source:
  J Occup Environ Med 2026 Mar; :[Epub ahead of print]
• ISSN:
  1076-2752
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Interagency Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Florida ; Texas ; Missouri ; Oklahoma ; Minnesota ; Indiana ; Utah ; Atlanta Region [OSHA] ; Birmingham Region [OSHA] ; Chicago Region [OSHA] ; Dallas Region [OSHA] ; Denver Region [OSHA]
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  42 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20071283
• Contact Point Address:
  Claudia Parvanta, PhD Department of Health Policy and Systems Management College of Public Health, University of South Florida 13201 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., MDC 56 Tampa, FL 33612
• Email:
  cparvanta@usf.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2026
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:5a5b01882f0be8b804432fc5b516ccefa33b303d590e177cf4cffb2479816b4ce80a2ad6d9363b76e7a3fc265a58221742dfb318270028842d6631f50d118c5f
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/258760/cdc_258760_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.13 MB ]