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Occupational Health

Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine

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Synonyms

Organizational health; Work-related health

Definition

“Occupational health” is defined as the field of research and intervention that deals with work- and employment-related influences on people’s health and health-related behaviors and their modification. The field of occupational health is broader than the academic discipline of occupational medicine as it includes organizational, psychosocial, and behavioral aspects in addition to the more traditional physical and chemical hazards, thus incorporating research and expertise from social and behavioral sciences.

Description

Generally, behavioral medicine is interested in two approaches toward occupational health. The first approach considers the organizations, companies, and businesses where large population groups can be met recurrently and simultaneously as an ideal setting of implementing programs of behavioral modification. In these programs, health-adverse behaviors such as smoking, unhealthy diet, or lack of physical...

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References and Further Reading

  • Black, C. (2008). Working for a healthier tomorrow. London: TSO.

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  • Eurofound. (2015). Convergence and divergence of job quality in Europe 1995–2010. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.

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  • Greenberg, J. (2010). Organizational injustice as an occupational health risk. The Academy of Management Annuals, 4, 205–243.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karasek, R. A., & Theorell, T. (1990). Healthy work stress, productivity, and the reconstruction of working life. New York: Basic Books.

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  • McEwen, B. M. (2007). Physiology and neurobiology of stress and adaptation: Central role of the brain. Physiological Reviews, 87, 873–904.

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  • Schnall, P. L., Dobson, M., & Rosskam, E. (Eds.). (2009). Unhealthy work: Causes, consequences cures. Amityville: Baywood Press.

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  • Semmer, N. (2008). Stress management and well-being interventions in the workplace. State of science review: SR-C6, Report by the Foresight Project. London: Government Office for Science.

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  • Siegrist, J. (1996). Adverse health effects of high effort-low reward conditions at work. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 1, 27–41.

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  • Siegrist, J., & Wahrendorf, M. (Eds.). (2016). Work stress and health in a globalized economy: The model of effort-reward imbalance. Dordrecht: Springer. (in press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Steptoe, A., & Kivimaki, M. (2012). Stress and cardiovascular disease. Nature Reviews in Cardiology, 9(6), 360–370.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Senior Professor of Workstress Research, University of Düsseldorf, Life Science Center, Merowingerplatz 1a, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany

    Johannes Siegrist

Authors
  1. Johannes Siegrist
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Johannes Siegrist .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, Florida, USA

    Marc Gellman

  2. Campbell University School of Pharmacy, Buies Creek, North Carolina, USA

    J. Rick Turner

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Marburg, Gutenbergstrasse 18, 35032, Marburg, Germany

    Urs M. Nater

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Siegrist, J. (2017). Occupational Health. In: Gellman, M., Turner, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_40-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_40-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-6439-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-6439-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference MedicineReference Module Medicine

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Occupational Health
    Published:
    10 October 2019

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_40-3

  2. Original

    Occupational Health
    Published:
    08 March 2017

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_40-2

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