THE ECOLOGY OF WORK AND HEALTH - RESEARCH AND POLICY DIRECTIONS FOR THE PROMOTION OF EMPLOYEE HEALTH

This article identifies new research and policy directions for the fie ld of worksite health in the context of the changing American workplac e. These directions are viewed from an ecological perspective on works ite health and are organized around three major themes: (1) the joint influence of physical and social environmental factors on occupational health, (2) the effects of nonoccupational settings (e,g., households , the health care system) on employee well-being and the implications of recent changes in these settings for worksite health programs, and (3) methodological issues in the design and evaluation of worksite hea lth programs, Developments in these areas suggest that the field of wo rksite health may be undergoing a fundamental paradigm shift away from individually oriented wellness programs (provided at the worksite and aimed primarily at changing employees' health behavior) and toward br oader formulations emphasizing the joint impact of the physical and so cial environment at work job-person fit, and work policies on employee well-being.