Home » Outreach » NIOSH Renews HWC Funding for Five Years

Total Worker Health Funding Renewed

NIOSH Renews HWC Funding for Five Years

The Healthier Workforce Center of the Midwest (HWC) has recently been awarded a renewed five-year grant from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) totaling more than $6 million.

Since its establishment as a Center of Excellence for Total Worker Health^® in 2006, the HWC has worked to address the region’s disproportionately higher rates of occupational injury and illness and unhealthy behaviors. The HWC’s interdisciplinary team addresses these burdens through basic and applied research, a participatory approach, and theory-driven educational and translational activities. Recognizing the greater impact of organizational changes, the HWC focuses not only on changes at the individual worker level, but also policies and programs to change work climate and culture. The Healthier Workforce Center addresses emerging issues and high-risk, high-need populations in employers of all sizes.

Research Projects

Research projects include the following:

Development and implementation of a training for supervisors to promote well-being among remote workers
Translation and dissemination of workplace opioid guidelines for the construction industry
Determine the organizational factors that impact adoption of Total Worker Health in rural nursing homes
Implement a mental health and suicide prevention program for construction workers
Promote capacity building of community and academic partners through a Pilot Grant program

The HWC serves Federal Region VII (Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri) and is a collaboration between the University of Iowa, Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Kansas Medical Center, Penn State University, WorkWell Kansas, the Nebraska Safety Council, and the St. Louis Area Business Health Coalition.

regional partners

Key Personnel

Diane Rohlman, MA, PhD

Center Director & Co-Investigator

Dr. Rohlman is Center Director and Co-Investigator (CO-I) in Research Project 1: Mental Health in Construction and Research Project 2: Supervising Remote Work.

Bradley Evanoff, MD, MPH

Center Associate Director & Principal Investigator

Dr. Evanoff is Center Associate Director, Principal Investigator (PI) of Research Project 1: Mental Health in Construction, and PI of the subcontract to Washington University.