Search NIOSH | NIOSH Home | NIOSH Topics | Site Index | Databases and Information Resources | NIOSH Products | Contact Us |
NIOSH Programs > Occupational Health Disparities > Strategic Goals
Occupational Health DisparitiesInputs: NIOSH Strategic GoalsHealth disparities exist across many priority working populations, defined as groups of workers who have (1) biological, social, or economic characteristics that place them at increased risk of developing work-related conditions and (2) inadequate information collected about them in the past. These priority populations include racial and ethnic minority workers, immigrant workers, younger and older workers, workers with medical or genetic susceptibility, and workers with disabilities. These disparities arise both from overrepresentation of these priority working populations in the most hazardous industries as well as from the inadequate penetration of occupational health and safety interventions to certain worker populations due to barriers created by social, cultural, and economic issues including language, literacy, and marginal economic status. And these priority working populations may have less access to or lower quality of care after acquiring a work-related illness or injury. The goal of the occupational health disparities program is to better identify and prevent these health disparities by identifying research methods and disseminating tools and information to the occupational safety and health community. NIOSH Program Portfolio ApproachNIOSH has been organizing research, guidance, information, and service efforts into specific programs that can be readily communicated and strategically governed and evaluated. Eight NORA Sector Programs represent industrial sectors, and twenty-four Cross-sector Programs organized around adverse health outcomes, statutory programs and global efforts. The NORA Sector Programs intersect with Cross-Sector Programs in a matrix-like fashion. For example, an Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing Program goal of reducing farm-related deaths and injuries due to tractor rollovers and trucks would likely be a shared goal with the Transportation Program and if appropriate would be adopted by both programs. This approach provides an added advantage and will allow multiple Programs to work towards accomplishment of intersecting goals. Each of the 32 programs in the NIOSH Program Portfolio has a Manager and Coordinator. Each of the 8 NIOSH Sector Programs facilitates the work of a NORA Sector Council to engage external stakeholders in the process of developing sector goals for the nation and methods to measure the short-term, intermediate and long-term outcomes arising from those goals. The NORA goals for the nation will be considered when choosing NIOSH sector program goals. Cross Sector programs have internal Steering Committees that develop program goals and monitor outcome measures. These planning efforts will position NIOSH to align with the most current governmental approaches for evaluating program effectiveness, i.e., the Program Assessment Rating Tool (or PART). PART is a mechanism to hold governmental agencies accountable for accomplishing results. As part of our comprehensive approach to performance measurement, NIOSH has engaged the National Academies to independently evaluate our sector and cross-programs for relevance and impact. Occupational Health Disparities GoalsSurveillanceStrategic Goal 1: Improve surveillance to describe the nature, extent, and economic burden of occupational illnesses, injuries, and fatalities among priority working populations; identify priorities for research and intervention; and evaluate trends.Intermediate Goal 1A: Improve illness, injury, and exposure surveillance by using existing morbidity data or creating new databases to identify injuries, illnesses, and hazards that appear in excess within priority working populations.
Intermediate Goal 1B: Support funding for expanded surveillance capacity of states to track priority working populations, utilizing community-based data collection approaches, such as through community and migrant clinics and other community-based organizations and institutions serving priority working populations. Intermediate Goal 1D: Ensure that surveillance data on priority populations’ occupational illnesses, injuries, and fatalities are readily available to intramural and extramural research scientists and the public.
ResearchStrategic Goal 2: Improve the effectiveness of occupational safety and health research to eliminate occupational health disparities by expanding and improving the research infrastructure.Intermediate Goal 2A: Improve the capacity of occupational health researchers to address social and cultural dimensions of occupational health
Intermediate Goal 2B: Promote the development of improved research through dissemination of research tools and approaches that better consider language, literacy, and cultural differences among working populations.
Intermediate Goal 2C: Partner with interested NORA sectors to identify and understand sector-specific interventions and approaches for addressing occupational safety and health disparities.
Improve Partnerships, Outreach, and Information DisseminationStrategic Goal 3: Improve outreach to stakeholders to promote the elimination of occupational health disparities.Intermediate Goal 3A: Expand outreach to community-based organizations, national stakeholder organizations, labor unions, and state and federal agencies interested in the health of racial and ethnic minorities and adolescent and older populations.
Intermediate Goal 3B. Expand r2p efforts to enhance or complement efforts by existing epidemiological studies that target minority and other priority populations to explore work-related factors and to develop practical intervention programs and policies based upon the research findings. |
NIOSH Program:Occupational Health Disparities |
||||||