The University of Iowa Healthier Workforce Center of Excellence proposes to extend its current research, education translation, pilot project grant program and outreach program through implementation of three Center goals: Goal 1: To design, implement, and evaluate two integrated health protection/promotion research projects, a) a participatory ergonomics program integrated with a health coach health promotion program designed to reduce ergonomic stressors, musculoskeletal disease outcomes and their related costs in window manufacturing facilities; and b) a health promotion program designed to increase healthy behaviors and improve key health indicators integrated with musculoskeletal injury risk factor reduction through health promotion/coaching and engineering training in the retail grocery trade; Goal 2: To implement and evaluate research to practice health protection/disease promotion education and training programs through a state and regional learning network; and Goal 3: To serve as a state and national information, education and policy resource on employee health programs, employee health services and employee health policy. The Center has a well qualified leadership team and Internal Advisory Committee, has added new and highly qualified investigators, and is wisely advised by its very strong and diverse External Advisory Committee. The HWCE has documented a record of productive WorkLife research and electronic translation of its research to practice through implementation and expansion of its Healthier Workforce Learning Network (HWLN), which has forged important collaborations with the Patient Education Institute and the National Library of Medicine, and will exploit these important relationships to develop and evaluate 10 WorkLife tutorials annually, and will extend its successful HWLN-based Iowa WorkLife Forum as a means to evaluate WorkLife Tutorials and other Center employee health educational programs. The HWCE Outreach Program proposes to extend its stakeholder relationships through the development of an Iowa Stakeholder Advisory Committee, bi-annual conferences, bi-annual surveys, expansion of its dedicated web-site, and its state and national policy papers and advocacy.
The HWCE is composed of a well qualified and productive team of investigators dedicated to further developing the science-base for integrated health protection/health promotion programs through peer reviewed publication of its research, real-time translation of evidence-based employee health and safety educational and training tutorials nationally/globally, and outreach to inform state and national stakeholders through Center educational programs and policy papers and advocacy.
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