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  4. WHEN HEALTH GOES TO WORK: TRANSFORMING WORKPLACES INTO HEALTHY SPACES

WHEN HEALTH GOES TO WORK: TRANSFORMING WORKPLACES INTO HEALTHY SPACES

File(s)
Polk_cornellgrad_0058F_11722.pdf (1.17 MB)
Permanent Link(s)
https://doi.org/10.7298/7qpq-8106
https://hdl.handle.net/1813/67706
Collections
Cornell Theses and Dissertations
Author
Polk, Jessica B
Abstract

This dissertation examines how “health” takes on a whole new meaning when it goes to work. I look at one organization, which I am calling HealthCare Co., and its workplace health and wellness programs. This organization is a multi-national global organization, with over 200 operating companies that specialize in consumer health products, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals. I unpack the ways by which members of HealthCare Co.’s Corporate Health & Wellness Division (CHWD) work to design and implement the organization’s workplace health and wellness programs to monitor, improve, and evaluate the state of an employee’s health and wellbeing. Specifically, I look at how the Corporate Health & Wellness Division: 1) conceptualizes employee health, 2) categorizes and monitors what health is and what it is not, and, 3) how these visions, “metrics” and “strategic things” look like in practice. What is health at HealthCare Co.? When is it accomplished at HealthCare Co.? How is health done at HealthCare Co.? In what ways does the case of HealthCare Co. and this expanding vision of corporate wellness affect discourses of health in the U.S. more broadly? Using themes of culture, climate, and built environment to understand my observations, I conclude that HealthCare Co. works hard to integrate overall health and wellness into the work environment. I conclude that if work also becomes about maintaining your health, then work never ends.

Date Issued
2019-08-30
Keywords
Science and Technology Studies
•
Information science
•
anthropology of medicine
•
health and wellness
•
tracking
•
workplace studies
•
Sociology
•
Communication
Committee Chair
Lewenstein, Bruce Voss
Committee Member
Prentice, Rachel E.
Ziewitz, Malte Carsten
Degree Discipline
Science and Technology Studies
Degree Name
Ph.D., Science and Technology Studies
Degree Level
Doctor of Philosophy
Type
dissertation or thesis

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