180.615.81
Total Worker Health
Location
Internet
Term
4th Term
Department
Environmental Health and Engineering
Credit(s)
3
Academic Year
2024 - 2025
Instruction Method
Asynchronous Online
Auditors Allowed
Yes, with instructor consent
Available to Undergraduate
Yes
Grading Restriction
Letter Grade or Pass/Fail
Course Instructor(s)
Contact Name
Frequency Schedule
Every Year
Resources
Traditional occupational safety and health programs focus on protection of workers from harm, whereas Total Worker Health® offers a holistic approach to promote worker well-being and address employer goals. Join experts in the field and your peers to consider how psychosocial, organizational and environmental factors influence worker and enterprise outcomes and what strategies hold promise to improve these.
Introduces students to the concept of Total Worker Health® (TWH), a holistic approach to worker safety and wellbeing that builds on traditional occupational safety and health strategies to include a focus on psychosocial, organizational, and environmental factors that influence both worker health, wellbeing, and mental health outcomes as well as enterprise outcomes like productivity and turnover. Introduces students to common TWH methods, including workplace assessments and program evaluation. Incorporates participatory approaches and consideration of vulnerable worker populations. Prepares students to design and lead trans- or inter-disciplinary teams for TWH research studies and intervention programs.
Learning Objectives
Upon successfully completing this course, students will be able to:
- Identify the concepts of Total Worker Health® as they apply to occupational safety and health, health promotion, organization of work, business, and health services
- Demonstrate knowledge of worker health and organizational outcomes associated with poor well-being and mental health in the workplace
- Apply holistic, systems-thinking approaches to describe connections among psychosocial factors, organizational conditions, and environmental exposures and how these influence worker and enterprise outcomes
- Describe methods to conduct assessments, evaluate programs, and communicate with stakeholders using participatory approaches
- Design transdisciplinary or interdisciplinary research studies or intervention programs in Total Worker Health®
Methods of Assessment
This course is evaluated as follows:
- 20% Participation
- 40% Written Assignment(s)
- 40% Group Project(s)
Students in NIOSH-funded doctoral and master’s programs at BSPH and other interested BSPH students; students in Nursing, Medicine, and Engineering with interest in occupational health and/or mental health/wellbeing. Students not matriculated into a program who are part of the occupational health psychology workforce, are mental health researchers or professionals, or other occupational health professionals.