Stokols D; Pelletier KR; Fielding JE. The ecology of work and health: research and policy directions for the promotion of employee health. Health Educ Q 1996 May;23(2):137-58.
ABSTRACT:
This article identifies new research and policy directions for the field of worksite health in the context of the changing American workplace. These directions are viewed from an ecological perspective on worksite 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 health programs. Developments in these areas suggest that the field of worksite 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 broader formulations emphasizing the joint impact of the physical and social environment at work, job-person fit, and work policies on employee well-being.
Stokols D. Establishing and maintaining healthy environments. Toward a social ecology of health promotion. Am Psychol 1992 Jan;47(1):6-22.
ABSTRACT:
Earlier research on health promotion has emphasized behavior change strategies rather than environmentally focused interventions. The advantages of integrating lifestyle modification, injury control, and environmental enhancement strategies of health promotion are substantial. The author offers a social ecological analysis of health promotive environments, emphasizing the transactions between individual or collective behavior and the health resources and constraints that exist in specific environmental settings. Directions for future research on the creation and maintenance of health promotive environments also are examined.
Novaco RW; Stokols D; Milanesi L. Objective and subjective dimensions of travel impedance as determinants of commuting stress. Am J Community Psychol 1990 Apr;18(2):231-57.
ABSTRACT:
The stressful characteristics of commuting constraints are conceptualized in terms of both physical and perceptual conditions of travel impedance. This study develops and operationalizes the concept of subjective impedance, as a complement to our previously developed concept of impedance as a physically defined condition of commuting stress. The stress impacts of high-impedance commuting were examined in a study of 79 employees of two companies in the follow-up testing of a longitudinal study. Subjective impedance was overlapping but not isomorphic with physical impedance, and these two dimensions have differential relationships with health and well-being outcomes. The physical impedance construct received further confirmation in validational analyses and in predicted effects on various illness measures and job satisfaction. The newly constructed subjective impedance index was significantly related to evening home mood, residential satisfaction, and chest pain. Job change was also influenced primarily by commuting satisfaction. The results are discussed within an ecological framework emphasizing interdomain transfer effects and situational moderators of commuting stress.
Stokols D. A congruence analysis of human stress. Issues Ment Health Nurs 1985;7(1-4):35-64.