Flexible Work and Well-being Center

描述(申请人提供)：我们建议在明尼苏达大学建立一个多学科中心，弹性工作和福利中心。该中心将作为一个新的国家研究网络的关键节点，该网络将研究工作、家庭、健康和幸福之间的相互关系。该中心的主要目标是与该网络一起开发一个理论框架、方法工具和研究方案，以严格研究工作场所政策和做法对健康的影响。我们将与一家大型高科技公司合作进行这项发展研究。 我们将研究加强员工工作时间广度的工作场所政策和做法，即对员工工作地点、时间和工作时数的灵活性和控制力。研究表明，更大的工作时间自由度可能是改善工人及其家人在每个生命阶段的有效功能、健康和福祉的关键干预措施。我们的个人项目将1)总结和评估工作时间纬度对员工健康、健康相关行为和幸福感的直接、调节和调节作用的现有研究和理论；2)调查处于不同生命阶段和不同健康和家庭状况的员工在工作时间纬度和健康方面的需求、策略和经验；3)评估现有工作时间纬度政策在我们合作伙伴组织中的实施情况；4)确定和评估本组织和其他组织中工作时间纬度政策和实践可能发生变化的可行性。 我们为网络带来了组织变革的生命历程理论和制度理论方面的广泛专业知识。我们建议在合作项目中以这些传统为基础，1)分析处于风险中的工人群体的需求，特别是老年工人、残疾工人、照顾年老或残疾亲属的雇员以及正在经历生命历程转变的雇员，以及2)系统地评估组织能力和文化，以便确定适当的干预措施并计划实施。 过去50年来，有偿工作和家庭生活条件发生了巨大变化，造成了当今工人和家庭的生活经历与工作场所的制度化结构之间的不匹配。这种不匹配的后果包括工作和家庭冲突以及其他形式的压力、紧张和各种健康问题。该中心和整个网络将调查如何改变工作场所的政策和做法，以改善工人及其家庭成员的健康和福祉，包括将成为下一代工人的子女。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We propose to create a multidisciplinary center, the Flexible Work and Well-being Center, at the University of Minnesota. This center will serve as a key node in a new national research network that will study the interrelationships among work, family, health, and well-being. The primary goals of the center are to develop, in conjunction with the network, a theoretical framework, methodological tools, and research protocols for rigorous studies of the health effects of workplace policies and practices. We will partner with a large, high-tech company to conduct this developmental research. We will investigate workplace policies and practices that enhance employees' work-hour latitude, that is, flexibility and control over where and when employees' work and the number of hours spent on the job. Research suggests that greater work-hour latitude may be a critical intervention for improving the effective functioning, health, and well-being of workers and their families at every life stage. Our individual project will 1) summarize and evaluate existing research and theory on the direct, mediating, and moderating effects of work-hour latitude on employees' health, health-related behaviors, and well-being, 2) investigate the needs, strategies, and experiences of employees at different life stages and with different health and family statuses, with regards to work-hour latitude and health, 3) assess the implementation of existing work-hour latitude policies in our partner organization, and 4) identify and evaluate the feasibility of possible changes in work-hour latitude policies and practices in this organization and in others. We bring to the network extensive expertise in life course theory and institutional theories of organizational change. We propose to build on those traditions in collaborative projects that 1) analyze the needs of at-risk sub-groups of workers, particularly older workers, disabled workers, employees caring for aging or disabled relatives, and employees currently experiencing life course transitions, and 2) systematically assess organizational capacities and cultures in order to identify appropriate interventions and plan for their implementation. The dramatic shifts in the conditions of paid work and in family life that have occurred over the last fifty years have created a mismatch between the lived experiences of today's workers and families and the institutionalized structures of the workplace. The consequences of this mismatch include work-family conflicts and other forms of stress, strain, and a variety of health problems. This center, and the network as a whole, will investigate how workplace policies and practices can be changed to improve the health and wellbeing of workers and their family members, including the children who will become the workers of the next generation.