Division of Occupational and Environmental Health
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Back Row (left to right): Todd Lucas, Monti Fakouri, David Bassett, Hikmet Jamil, Bengt Arnetz, James Blessman, Roger Wabeke, Front Row (left to right): Candis Harris, Clairy Wiholm, Judith Arnetz, Dana Nevedal, Sham Juratli. |
Mission
Improving the health and well-being of individuals, organizations and societies by integrating effective and innovative occupational and environmental health practices.
Goals
Worker health and well-being are critical to sustaining high quality organizational performance in a rapidly changing global environment. Healthy environments promote quality performance, essential to the productivity, growth and success of organizations and societies.
The Division of Occupational and Environmental Health (DOEH) is involved in research, education, consulting and services in the general areas of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
Research
Our research focuses on three major areas:
• Stress and sustained health and performance;
• Leadership, stress, job engagement, and its impact on quality and productivity;
• Wireless technologies and health.
We collaborate not only with Wayne State University and US-based researchers, but increasingly with colleagues in other countries.
Latest News: Cellular Phones and Sleep
We completed a large, international collaborative study concerning health effects from exposure to 884 MHz radiofrequency from cellular phones. Results show that exposure to mobile phones, as compared to no exposure, decrease the time a person spends in deep sleep during the night.
New Faculty & Staff
• Judy Arnetz, Ph.D.
• Todd Lucas, Ph.D.
• Sham Juratli, MD MPH
• Monti Fakhouri, MSCHS
Service
We offer services to organizations and individuals interested in enhancing occupational and environmental health, providing:
• Safety, health, and environment audits (SHE).
• Mentoring occupational and environmental health providers.
• Advanced consultation to patients with occupational and environmental health problems.
• Conducting independent medical evaluations (IME).
Knowledge Transfer
• MPH Degree in OEH
• Continuing Medical Education
Contact Information
3800 Woodward Ave., Suite 808
Detroit MI, 48201
Voice: 313-577-6858
Fax: 313-577- 2744
First Responders
We are increasingly involved in research concerning stress, health, and sustained performance among first responders. We published a study demonstrating the need to enhance first responders' own at-home preparedness, to make sure they can function optimally in times of natural or man-made disasters. We initiated a study to better understand the effects of sustained low-level stress exposure on the health and performance of first responders. Recent research suggests that such sustained activation, may be an important and preventable risk factor for mental and somatic health disorders.
Stress, Health, and Productivity
In the areas of stress, health, and productivity, we have completed a series of projects identifying specific organizational and leadership factors that contribute to counter-productive work stress and resulting in employee fatigue and distraction. This is a growing threat to organizational competitiveness
 Cellular phones and Sleep
We completed a large, international collaborative study concerning health effects from exposure to 884 MHz radiofrequency from cellular phones. Results show that exposure to mobile phones, as compared to no exposure, decrease the time a person spends in deep sleep during the night.
Health Call - Using Smart Phones in Public Health Research
We have started a study using Smart phones and wireless bio-environmental sensors to better understand the impact of our external environments on health. The study involves researchers at Wayne’s Departments of Psychology and Computer Sciences.
Health and Well-being of Iraqi Soldiers and Civilians
We have completed a study looking at long-term mental health effects from the Gulf War on Iraqi soldiers and civilians. We are especially interested in whether people closer to Kuwait during the war exhibit increased risk to their health, considering their higher level of war-exposure. We are currently looking at the long-term health and well-being of Iraqi refugees in the US as compared to immigrants from non-war exposed Middle East countries.
Mind-body Intervention to Improve Low Back Pain
There is a great need to develop more cost-effective means to treat occupational low back pain. In collaboration with Yoga experts, we will prospectively evaluate the impact of a special form of yoga as compared to traditional physical therapy, in patients suffering from low back pain. The evaluation will look at health, performance, quality of life, and especially, impact on job performance and sick leave
Social Justice and Fairness and Implications for Public Health
Increasingly, we are focusing on better understanding the biological mechanisms linking the psychosocial and social environments to important public health disorders. We are especially interested in social justice and fairness as it relates to biological processes involved in health disparities.
 Sustained Health
We have initiated a collaborative study with colleagues at Eugene Applebaum's College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences focusing on better understanding mechanisms leading to sustained health and performance among athletes.
Fatigue in Primary Health Care
Fatigue has been increasingly attracting national and international attention due to the negative impact on quality of life and the high economic loss associated with it. There is a growing interest in identifying efficacious cost-effective interventions for managing fatigue. We are designing a randomized trial to evaluate the efficacy and cost effectiveness of the various fatigue management interventions in the primary care setting.
Health Care Practice Environment and Implications for Patient Involvement
We have presented new models linking patient involvement in decision-making processes to improved outcomes following heart attacks. Patient involvement is also a new source of stress among health care personnel. This project demonstrates the need to integrate the environments of both health care staff and patients in initiatives to enhance health care quality and efficacy.
Improving Physician Job Satisfaction and Health
In collaboration with researchers and clinicians in Portland, Oregon, we measured, analyzed, and introduced fact-based organizational improvements over a 4-year period. Results show that it is possible to substantially improve efficacy, decrease stress, and improve mental health and energy by such targeted interventions. The program has received great interest and offers one potential template of how to deal with the current challenges to health care organizations.
Environmental Determinants of Asthma
Asthma represents a major chronic lung condition that impairs adult and child productivity and well-being. We are working with WSU investigators in the Departments of Pediatric Medicine and Material Sciences Engineering in their development of new methods for asthma drug delivery by inhalation. We also collaborate with the Asthma Research Group at the University of Southampton in the UK. One area of collaborative research is the study of mechanisms by which maternal allergen and tobacco smoke exposures might affect embryonic and offspring lung development.
Selected references
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Faculty