The Worker Health Program

Mission Statement

The Worker Health Program strives to serve the people of Michigan and, indeed, people throughout the world by creating, applying, and disseminating research-based knowledge about the organization of health services to prevent disease and improve the health of workers and the economically and socially disadvantaged.

Background Statement

The Worker Health Program (WHP) was established at the University of Michigan's Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations in 1973 with Michigan and Regional Medical Programs (MARMP) funding to design, evaluate, and disseminate innovative techniques for improving the health of workers.

Co-founders and directors John C Erfurt and Andrea Foote carried out demonstration research in automobile plants, post office branches,departments of public works, and small businesses. This research looked at the cardiovascular risks and substance abuse issues of employed populations. With the support of such major concerns as General Motors, Ford Motor Company, Detroit Edison, MichCon, and other major corporations and health insurance companies, the projects resulted in almost 50 publications.

In the early 1990s, the Worker Health Program broadened the focus of its programs by blending their interests in cardiovascular risks andsubstance abuse into a comprehensive wellness approach. The program also looked at the organization of healthcare delivery and the stated goal of the prevention of disease.

Major accomplishments included the design of worksite identification and intervention protocols to deal with health problems (both CVD and substance abuse). In 1995, the Worker Health Program's two decades of research culminated in the publication of a step-by-step manual for worksite wellness. Published by the National Institutes of Health's National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NIH-NHLBI), the manual disseminated the WHP model nationally.

From 1990 to 1999, the WHP was instrumental in developing national standards for worksite wellness programs. These standards were adopted in 1999 by the Association of Worksite Health Promotion (AWHP) with the cooperation of many national organizations.

Currently, the main focal areas of the WHP include:

1. Developing and evaluating an integrated wellness model that addresses the full range of preventable health problems in the working population;



2. Determining the most effective ways of addressing preventable health problems in working, non-health insured populations;



3. Collaborative programs with coalitions in low-income, urban neighborhoods to adapt prevention programs to the realities of low-income neighborhoods and to develop total health services for people now left out of health insurance (working and non-working populations). These become part of broader efforts to build sustainable communities in the geographic areas that are particularly hard hit by the shrinking manufacturing activity; and



4. Continue to disseminate results, broaden constituencies, and institutionalize findings (i.e., through HMOs, employer organizations, etc.).

All About Us

Max A. Heirich

Dr. Heirich's current research focuses on evaluating the effectiveness of health intervention strategies at the worksite. This is being carried out through a number of projects under the auspices of the Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations. Special emphasis has been placed on cardiovascular and blood pressure related diseases, and substance abuse prevention. Also of interest to Dr. Heirich is the changing character of the American health care system. His most recent book is Rethinking Health Care: Innovation and Change in America, Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1998.

Cynthia J. Sieck, MPH

Cynthia Sieck joined the Worker Health Program in 1994 as Research Associate II. In this capacity she has served on several large research studies as the coordinator of data and research design and as field coordinator. She is also a doctoral student in the University of Michigan School of Public Health Department of Health Education and Health Behavior. Her current research interests include health counseling interventions, especially worksite health promotion programs, and program evaluation.

Mary Uzdale

Project Associate Mary Uzdale has been with the Worker Health Program since 1980 in the capacity of wellness screener and field site coordinator on several large research projects studying cardiovascular disease risks and alcohol use.

Melissa Schultz, RD

Project Associate Melissa Schultz has been with the Worker Health Program since 1988 in the capacity of dietitian, wellness screener and field site coordinator on several large research projects studying cardiovascular disease risks and alcohol use.

Chris Major, RN

Chris Major joined the Worker Health Program in 1997 and has served in the capacity of nurse/screener and field site coordinator on a federally-funded multi-year project studying cardiovascular risk and alcohol use.

Additional former Worker Health Program staff members also are available to consult or do short-term assistance with special projects.