Updates from the Center

U-POWER Leadership Change

When designing U-POWER’s structure, Center Director Dr. Rachael Jones knew that she didn’t want to recreate the usual hierarchies that she saw across organizations: one person solely in charge, with multiple levels of authority representing positions within the organization. Instead, she worked with a team of faculty and staff to create an organizational model that emphasized participatory decision-making. Under her tenure, the position of Center Director has shared leadership, planning, and operations responsibility with internal and external advisory committees as well as other U-POWER personnel. While Dr. Jones has accepted a position at the University of California - Los Angeles (UCLA) as Department Chair within the Fielding School of Public Health, she will continue her involvement and support of U-POWER, including providing guidance through the Internal Advisory Committee, direction of the Research Pilot Project Program, and leadership of independent research projects at U-POWER. Further, the collaborative model of leadership that she established will continue under our new Director, Dr. Emily Ahonen.

Dr. Ahonen (see righthand image) has been a pivotal influence on U-POWER since the center’s conception, when she and Dr. Jones worked collaboratively to develop the core themes of U-POWER. Dr. Ahonen’s scholarship focuses on determinants of health inequities, particularly through the lens of working and employment conditions. Her research examines how societal power imbalances like sexism, racism, and economic status lead to work of varying quality. One of her recent publications explored the role of paid and unpaid work in women’s cardiovascular health, a topic that has been under-researched throughout occupational health science. Dr. Ahonen’s expertise in this area, as well as her experience with various aspects of U-POWER operations, ideally position her to support U-POWER’s mission.

Dr. Emily Ahonen, Research Associate Professor and Center Director of U-POWER

Elements of Total Worker Health®

How much time does the average person spend at work? The answer—one-third, or 30% of a life—might not surprise you. Commuting to work, time at the office, and after-hours emails can consume most of the day. However, what might be surprising is the limited role that occupational health has traditionally played in understanding health both inside and outside of work. Much of occupational health has focused on diseases and injuries linked to specific work tasks, partially because of the influence of worker’s compensation programs. These programs are meant to care for workers injured on the job, but don’t always recognize the complex interactions between work, health, and the environment. In 1973, occupational health researcher Lorin Kerr identified this gap between what workers know and what healthcare explores: that “the eight hours on the job may be the most dangerous daily threat to . . . life and death.”

However, researchers, including those at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) have begun addressing this separation over the past fifty years. In particular, the Total Worker Health (TWH) initiative was designed to be a holistic approach on worker well-being, moving beyond what happens at work to how work functions as a social determinant of health. NIOSH’s list of issues relevant to advancing worker well-being includes some familiar topics—prevention and control of hazards and exposures, technology, work policies—as well as some that are less familiar to occupational health, including community support, workforce demographics, and psychosocial factors like stress and burnout.

This summer, follow U-POWER on social media as we explore these issues in preparation for release of a certificate in TWH designed for individuals in the community, including community health workers, community-based organizations, and representatives from health departments. We cover various aspects of TWH, including how the work environment affects health, stressors at work, ways to address health at work, and how we can work to achieve TWH as a goal state. Follow along at our Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn to learn more about TWH.

Upcoming Events from U-POWER

June Seminar Series: Vagueness, power, and public health: use of 'vulnerable' in public health literature

Join us June 30^th at 4:00 pm (MST) as we discuss a keyword in public health: vulnerable. As a society, we tend to use the word ‘vulnerable’ to mean that someone can be easily harmed and should be protected. Children, for example, are vulnerable to emotional, physical, and mental harm. In public health, vulnerable refers to populations who are “at a greater risk for poor health status and healthcare access, experience significant disparities in life expectancy, access to and use of healthcare services, morbidity, and mortality.”

But what makes a population vulnerable? Is vulnerability an inherent characteristic of any particular population, or is it the result of complex socio-economic dynamics? During COVID-19, many populations have been named vulnerable to the disease. But what impact does that have on how such populations have been treated, cared for, and supported by public health? And do public and occupational health initiatives targeted towards vulnerable populations help or hurt the movement towards equity?

We will center our discussion around Katz et al.’s paper “Vagueness, power, and public health: use of ‘vulnerable’ in public health literature.” We will also discuss how different populations have been characterized as vulnerable, the impact that naming has on research and care, and what next steps we should take.

During U-POWER’s Spring Community Conference, we were thrilled to welcome stakeholders from public health organizations, including representatives from Utah’s county health departments, community health workers, and community-based organizations dedicated to improving health and equity. One of U-POWER’s primary aims is to form a community of practice, which prioritizes relationship-building, shared knowledge, and resource development.

On Wednesday, July 13^th, U-POWER will host two town hall meetings dedicated to further developing relationships and establishing U-POWER priorities. During our conference needs assessment, attendees noted they would like to attend regularly scheduled Zoom-based town hall meetings to discuss partnerships and key priorities, receive information, present on initiatives, and other items. If you are interested in finding out more about U-POWER and upcoming collaboration opportunities, you are invited to attend either town hall meeting.

U-POWER Townhall: County Health Departments: https://utah.zoom.us/j/95782342180

U-POWER Townhall: Community Health Workers and Community-Based Organizations: https://utah.zoom.us/j/96555646620

In the future, we plan to hold monthly townhalls to discuss partnerships and key priorities, receive information, present on initiatives, and other items.

Join us at the 3rd International Symposium to Advance Total Worker Health®!

The International Symposium to Advance Total Worker Health® will bring together an audience of safety and health professionals, employers, researchers, policymakers, labor representatives, and members of the academic community. The Symposium, held October 11-14, 2022 at the NIH headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland, will examine opportunities to make workplaces safer and improve the health and well-being of the global workforce.

Early bird registration is now open! To register, visit the official conference webpage.

U-POWER Community of Practice

Setting Key Priorities

At the 2022 Spring Community Conference, we asked attendees to help U-POWER determine key priorities for our research and outreach. Below are some key themes that conference attendees identified.

Education and research for employers who want to promote physical and mental health, particularly among essential workers
The link between healthy work and affordable housing
Outreach to specific communities
Outreach to undocumented workers to discuss benefits and worker rights
Research to support advocacy towards increasing the minimum wage as well as paid parental leave, sick leave, self-care leaves, and pathways for career growth
Leadership training on inclusive decision-making among employers
Historical, institutional, and interpersonal barriers
Education to implement equity in workplaces

Want to suggest another priority? Consider attending a townhall meeting on 7/13 or email camie.schaefer@utah.edu.

Join U-POWER as an Affiliate Member

"Community-based research is necessary to remove the various social, cultural, and logistical barriers that confound the well-intentioned efforts of many public health programs. . . such research has the simultaneous ability to empower communities worldwide through collaboration and partnership."

U-POWER's Community of Practice

Are you concerned about changing the conditions of work? Would you like to see Total Worker Health advanced? Consider joining U-POWER as an Affiliate Member.

Affiliate Members can be researchers conducting work on occupational safety and health, stakeholders from the community, employers, workers, scholars, students, or anyone interested in exploring issues of power at work.

At U-POWER, we believe in the importance of local, specialized knowledge and community engagement. We want to hear your stories, know your input, and share our resources. As we continue to build our center, we want to hear from members of our community. Please consider joining as an Affiliate Member today.

Affiliate members are asked to participate in at least one Center activity annually.

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Total Worker Health® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Participation by the Utah Center for Promotion of Work Equity Research (U-POWER) does not imply endorsement by HHS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.