Corrections Work's Adverse Effects and a Total Worker Health Program to Enhance Well-being

Conduct a quasi-experimental pre-post study of a mindfulness-enhanced, web/app-enabled, scalable Total Worker Health (TWH) program among higher stress Corrections Professionals. The primary outcomes relate to behaviors promoted by the program: being mindful/reduced stress/improved mood; healthier eating; more physical activity; greater restorative sleep; improved work-life balance and greater positive feelings about the organization.

This proposed project will assess an innovative, scalable total worker health and wellness intervention among high stress Corrections Professionals. As stated in the proposal request, organizational and interpersonal factors have been associated with significant stress among Corrections Professionals, but there is limited assessment of effective and feasible interventions to mitigate these stress factors. Our current research has established robust constructs for characteristics of the organization and work environment, noting significant relationships with perceived stress. This critical understanding along with corresponding adverse mental and physical effects informs our proposed intervention to reduce potential stressors, enhance wellbeing, improve work performance, and reduce health care costs. This project will include a prospective interrupted time-series effectiveness trial of a mindfulness-enhanced, website/application-based, scalable Total Worker Health (TWH) program among higher risk corrections personnel working in restrictive housing units. Quantitative outcomes will include process measures; validated self-report indices of primary and secondary outcomes, and proximal potentially mediating factors; anthropometrics; laboratory studies of inflammation, vascular reactivity, and cellular aging; measures of job performance and health care costs. Qualitative measures will provide a deeper understanding of the quantitative findings. At program conclusion, there will be a cost effective easy to use work based health and wellness program tailored to corrections departments ready for dissemination. The robust dissemination plan includes coordinating the website and digital materials with the American Correctional Association marketing and media campaign site along with presentations at national corrections conferences making this freely available to all law enforcement and corrections personnel and agencies.