Health Protection & Promotion for Oregon Correctional Officers

More than 530,000 individuals work as US Correctional Officers (COs) responsible for overseeing the approximately 1.6 million offenders who are incarcerated at any given time in the United States. Prison work is regarded as one of the most difficult occupations with CO's having one of the highest nonfatal injury rates of all U.S. occupations. The few studies done on CO's show high levels of stress, cardiovascular disease, high job burnout, increased sick leave rates and absenteeism, and decreased quality of life leading to premature illness/injury and high employer healthcare costs. Many of these conditions could be prevented by specific training activities and healthier lifestyles. The investigators wish to test a worksite-based, health promotion curriculum in COs with the overall hypothesis that the program will improve health and decrease injuries. The program proposed would be the first occupational intervention to improve the safety, and emotional and physical health of those who are charged with the complex task of prison work protecting the investigators communities. If successful, this proposal would result in an exportable, practical occupational safety and health program applicable for use by local, state, and federal correctional facilities.