Health Protection & Promotion for Oregon Correctional Officers
Condition: Physical Activity; Nutrition; Health Promotion; Stress, Psychological; Metabolic Syndrome
MeSH terms: Metabolic Syndrome; Stress, Psychological
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      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.
    

Detailed description: 
      Investigators will enroll up to 100 Correctional Officers from four Oregon Department of
      Corrections facilities for a randomized controlled 1-year assessment of the intervention.
      Participants will be evaluated at baseline, 6, and 12 months.

      Primary study aims are; 1) Implement a randomized controlled efficacy trial of the
      Team-centered health promotion intervention, and assess its behavioral and occupational
      outcomes among COs, 2) Perform a cost analysis to determine the potential economic impact of
      this CO worksite health promotion program on illness/injury rates and disability claims, and
      3) Determine relationships among specific intervention components with changes to behavior
      and occupational outcomes and assess by mediation analysis.

      The intervention involves a scripted peer-taught interactive curriculum, which is delivered
      as twelve, 30 minute weekly sessions incorporated into a team's usual work time activities.
      The curriculum is designed to build understanding, healthy decision making skills and
      engender the social support of teammates; its content and scope reflects the core lifestyles
      activities used with fire fighters and law enforcement, along with adaptations for the needs
      of Correctional Officers in domains of the team-building, family support and psychological
      health.

      Participant assessments include established survey instruments, physiological measures and
      selected laboratory parameters of outcomes and potential mediating variables at the
      individual, interpersonal and organizational levels. Intervention delivery and fidelity will
      be assessed. Multilevel and latent growth modeling and mediation analyses will be used to
      assess outcomes and the relationships among variables. At proposal completion there will be
      an evidenced-based, exportable occupational safety and health program for COs. Its critical
      components will be defined, and its benefits clearly determined.
    

Intervention name(s): Testing & Intervention
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Intervention involves a scripted peer-taught interactive curriculum, which is delivered as twelve, 30 minute weekly sessions incorporated into a team's usual work time or overtime activities.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Prevention