Dive Brief:
- Nearly half (44%) of working adults say that their current job affects their overall health, but only 28% of that group believe the effect is a good one, according to a recent survey, as reported by Medical Express.
- The survey, from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in collaboration with National Public Radio and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, also found that people with disabilities, in dangerous or low-paying jobs, or in retail say their jobs have a negative impact on their stress levels (43%), eating habits (28%), sleeping patterns (27%) and weight (22%).
- On the upside, most people surveyed believe work positively affects personal health, but "in almost every case, the negative is significantly greater than the positive," said one of the study's authors.
Insight
Robert Blendon, a professor at the Harvard Chan School and the poll's director, said during a panel discussion that people see their jobs as "stress-creating" and employers simply aren't doing enough to help. He added that nearly half of people who work have no workplace health program.
Marjorie Paloma, director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, told attendees that stressful situations (she mentioned caring for a sick family member or working overtime or shift work that disrupts sleep habits), contribute substantially to poor worker health. So employers need to help improve conditions that affect worker health off the job, too.
One suggested solution is employers asking workers about the specific conditions that drive stress in a particular job, including a harmful or unsafe workplace, understaffing, variable hours, overwork or expanded responsibilities due to downsizing, and inadequate or failing equipment or materials.