Abstract
Work is fundamental to well-being and economic security. However, existing evidence indicates that work is a social contributor to chronic illness; partly explained by the quality of the job and employment arrangements. The “sources of stress” in the way work is organized include excessive work hours, precarious work, “psychosocial work stressors,” (e.g. demands and control) which objectively exist in the organization of work and contribute to burnout, depression, high blood pressure and heart disease. This symposium will present and offer discussion about what is healthy work, describe an innovative educational campaign addressing these issues (The Healthy Work Campaign), highlight the development of online tools to identify work stressors including an intervention toolkit that provides stakeholders with resources to implement healthy work solutions. Lastly, we discuss international policies and resources for work stress prevention that can provide guidance on strategies to advance work stress prevention policies and programs in the US.
Co-Presenter Bios:
Peter Schnall, MD, MPH
School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles
Peter is a well-known expert on work stress and cardiovascular disease. His research, combined with that of others, has led to two major book publications, The Workplace and Cardiovascular Disease (Hanley and Belfus, 2000), which is the standard text in the field, and Unhealthy Work: Causes, Consequences, Cures (Baywood Publishing, 2009)
Marnie Dobson, Ph.D.
Associate Director, Center for Social Epidemiology, Los Angeles, CA
Marnie is a sociologist and one of the leading experts in the areas of gender and work, emotional labor, and work organization/psychosocial stressors and mental health outcomes. She was a co-editor of Unhealthy Work: Causes, Consequences, Cures (Baywood Publishing, 2009).
BongKyoo Choi, Sc.D., MPH.
Center for Occupational and Environmental Health University of California, Irvine,CA. Dr. Choi is an expert in psychosocial occupational epidemiology (mental health, WRMSDs, and CVD risk factors), work stress theories and methodologies, work stress physiology, cross-cultural studies, and quality of working life policies.
Dean Baker, M.D., MPH
Professor, Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, CA.
One of the leading experts in occupational health, Dr. Baker received the 2014 Kehoe Award for Excellence in Education and Research in Occupational and Environmental Medicine from the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.