Safety & Health in Healthcare

Principal Investigator: Laura Punnett

The Safety & Health through Integrated, Facilitated Teams (SHIFT) study is an intervention research study that addresses employee health, safety, and well-being in six public sector healthcare institutions in the New England region. We will evaluate the effectiveness of an adapted form of the CPH-NEW Healthy Workplace Participatory Program (HWPP) for strengthening cohesiveness, engagement, and impact of pre-existing joint labor-management health and safety committees (HSC) in the participating sites.

The sites are enrolled in three pairs, matched by agency and type of services. For each pair of sites, one will be randomly selected for immediate HWPP coaching, and the paired organization will serve as a control until about the study mid-point, at which time all sites will be coached. Process evaluations will examine barriers to and facilitators of program uptake, reach, and effectiveness. Survey data and injury records will be examined in intervention and control groups to describe the frequencies of selected health outcomes and of workplace and non-occupational health risks.