Citation

Griffin-Blake CS, Tucker PJ, Liburd L. J. Womens Health (Larchmont) 2006; 15(10): 1105-1110.

Affiliation

Northrop Grumman Corporation, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Mary Ann Liebert Publishers)

DOI

10.1089/jwh.2006.15.1105

PMID

17199450

Abstract

Although overall health has been defined holistically as the integration of a person's optimal mental, physical, social, intellectual, and spiritual well-being, a mental health focus remains on the fringe of many public health efforts. This report describes recent efforts by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to explore job stress among female blue-collar workers. Using a more holistic approach to understand its impact on blue-collar women's overall health, health-related quality of life (HRQOL) was used to assess optimal human performance. Attempting to encapsulate how overall health affects one's ability to participate and fulfill daily personal/professional tasks, HRQOL yields a broader understanding of the interaction between psychological well-being (mind) and physical functioning (matter). Embedding CDC HRQOL-4 measures into a questionnaire used as part of a larger mixed methods project, blue-collar women responded to questions about their health, including both mental and physical. For these female workers, mental health appeared to be of greater consequence, which could be interpreted as mind being more significant than matter. This paper highlights the findings related to HRQOL issues experienced by these female blue-collar workers and summarizes recommendations for effective individual and organizational approaches to address job stress.

Language: en