Preventing and Managing Chronic Disease in the Work Environment: Using the Total Worker Health Approach

Occupational health hazards can exacerbate pre-existing chronic diseases and can also lead to the onset of new job-related chronic diseases. A comprehensive strategy to eliminate the root causes of chronic diseases in America should include not only those causes arising from lifestyle influences beginning in childhood but also those diseases that are caused by workplace hazards or are made worse by workplace conditions. Interactions between pre-existing chronic diseases that adolescents and young adults carry with them into the work environment, and those that are caused by work itself, are complex and require a framework that enables an integrated approach to workplace health promotion and health protection. An important feature of the Total Worker Health (TWH) approach to worker safety, health, and well-being is its programmatic adaptability. As new national health strategies emerge, such as the Make America Healthy Again initiative aimed at chronic disease elimination, the TWH approach can support such initiatives by contributing to preventing and managing chronic disease in the work environment. This Commentary describes those aspects of the TWH approach that can be adapted to support the new national health initiative to eliminate chronic diseases.