Web-Based Health Promotion for Older Workers

说明（由申请人提供）：50岁及以上的工人特别容易患上各种疾病和致残状况，这些疾病和致残状况会损害他们的健康和生产力，并增加医疗保健费用。研究表明，基于工作场所的健康风险评估和量身定制的、基于理论的健康促进计划可以提供成本效益高的方法来改善劳动力的健康和生产力。然而，这些有希望的干预措施并没有专门为老年工人开发或应用，尽管这一年龄组对疾病预防的需求可能更大，而且这一年龄组的投资回报可能高于年轻工人。近年来，基于互联网的健康促进计划已经在工作场所得到开发和测试，并且来自几项研究的证据，包括我们组织（ISA）在多个工作场所进行的研究，表明基于网络的健康促进计划可以有效地干预改善员工的健康。拟议的项目将以安全管理局在工作场所健康干预措施方面的丰富经验（包括以前开发和测试的基于网络的干预措施）为基础，开发和测试一项创新的基于网络的方案——以科学为基础、媒体丰富、量身定制和高度互动——旨在减少老年工人的健康风险。该项目还将包括为管理人员开发一个工具包，该工具包旨在促进采用支持基于网络的干预和相关工作场所改进的政策和实践。第一阶段将包括原型的开发和可行性测试，以及在进入第二阶段之前必须达到的特定里程碑。第二阶段将包括全面开发针对老年员工的基于网络的项目，随后是该项目的现场测试，包括对员工样本进行随机对照试验。拥有26,000名员工的财富500强公司EMC公司热情地同意作为该项目的两个阶段的场地。最后的方案将通过ISA的劳动力健康中心的集中努力向工作场所推销。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Workers aged 50 and older are at particular risk for a variety of diseases and disabling conditions that can erode their health and productivity and increase the costs of health care. Research has shown that worksite-based health risk appraisals and tailored, theory-based health promotion programs can provide cost- effective means to improve the health and productivity of the workforce. However, these promising interventions have not been specifically developed for, or applied to, older workers, despite the potentially greater need for disease prevention in this age group, and the likelihood that the return on investment could be higher for this age group than for younger workers. In recent years, Internet-based health improvement programs have been developed and tested in the workplace, and the evidence from several studies, including studies conducted by our organization (ISA) in multiple workplaces, has indicated that web-based health promotion programs can be efficacious interventions for improving the health of the workforce. Building on ISA's extensive experience in worksite health interventions (including previously developed and tested web-based interventions), the proposed project will develop and test an innovative web-based program - science-based, media-rich, tailored, and highly interactive - designed to reduce the health risks of older workers. The project will also include the development of a toolkit for managers that is designed to foster the adoption of policies and practices that support the web-based intervention and related worksite improvements. Phase I will involve the development and feasibility testing of the prototype, along with specific milestones that must met before moving to Phase II. Phase II will involve the full development of the web- based program for older workers, followed by a field test of the program, including a randomized controlled trial with a sample of employees. The EMC Corporation, a Fortune 500 company with 26,000 employees, has enthusiastically agreed to serve as the site for both phases of the project. The final program will be marketed to workplaces through concentrated efforts by ISA's Center for Workforce Health. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Workers aged 50 and older are at particular risk for a variety of diseases and disabling conditions that can erode their health and productivity and increase the costs of health care. A variety of health promotion interventions have been shown to be effective for the mainstream workforce, and offer promise for improving the health of older workers as well. The outcome of this Fast Track project will be the development and test of an innovative, web-based health promotion program for older workers consisting of a comprehensive, tailored program for employees and a toolkit for managers. The effective development and test of this program could provide a mechanism for broad dissemination of efficacious and cost-effective health promotion interventions to workplaces and an ultimate decrease in the prevalence of disease and disability in older Americans.