October 3, 2019
2:00am – 3:00am
CHS 43-105, UCLA Center for Health Sciences
Jian Li, MD, PhD
Professor of Work and Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences,
Fielding School of Public Health and School of Nursing, UCLA
About the lecture:
Nobody is able to avoid stress at work. The public have shown increasing concerns about psychosocial factors and work-related stress. In this seminar, we will discuss the measurement of psychosocial work environment and work stress, its associations with health outcomes, and how to prevent stress.
Generally, a wide range of psychosocial factors at work (for example, psychological demands, long working hours, job control, social support, reward from work, job insecurity, organizational justice, bullying, etc.) have been identified, and the measurement of psychosocial work environment is based on theoretical models of stress and relevant questionnaires. In recent years, much evidence of epidemiological studies has suggested that unpleasant psychosocial working conditions are associated with cardiovascular disease (hypertension, coronary heart disease, and stroke), mental illness (depression and burnout), musculoskeletal disorders (neck, shoulder, and back pain), as well as reproductive dysfunction. It has also shown that psychosocial stress at work could cause job dissatisfaction, turnover, and further productivity loss.
There are several different strategies to prevent psychosocial stress in the workplace, at national level (legislation), organizational level (job redesign), and individual level (stress management).
About the speaker:
Dr. Li joined UCLA in 2019. He shares a position between the Fielding School of Public Health, Environmental Health Sciences Department and the School of Nursing. Before his appointment at UCLA, Dr. Li had been working in China and Germany with extensive experience on occupational health. He is an active member of the International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH) Scientific Committees on Cardiology in Occupational Health, and on Work Organisation and Psychosocial Factors. From 2006-2010, he received 3 Early Career Awards from the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and other international research societies. Dr. Li’s research interests are psychosocial factors, work stress and health, particularly on epidemiology and intervention evaluation. He has published more than 100 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals.