HISPANICS AND WORKSITE HEALTH PROMOTION - REVIEW OF THE PAST, DEMANDSFOR THE FUTURE

During the last 15 years, reports, books, and published papers have de monstrated the positive health benefits of comprehensive health promot ion and disease prevention interventions at the worksite. Although the progress made in worksite health promotion should not be understated, experts agree that it is time to step forward and address the new dem ands of the changing labor force. One area of intervention that needs to be more aggressively addressed is that of minority populations. Bec ause work force projections show the high participation rate that Hisp anics will have in the future labor force, the Hispanic population sho uld be one of the targets of worksite health promotion. This paper rev iews how employee health promotion programs have addressed Hispanic wo rkers in the past and establishes directions for the future.