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Empowerment evaluation of worker safety and health education programs
Author(s) -
McQuiston Thomas H.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0274(200011)38:5<584::aid-ajim11>3.0.co;2-h
Subject(s) - empowerment , medicine , occupational safety and health , citizen journalism , participatory action research , intervention (counseling) , program evaluation , participatory evaluation , occupational therapy , medical education , nursing , knowledge management , sociology , physical therapy , computer science , social science , public administration , pathology , world wide web , political science , anthropology , law
Background The need to expand the use of evaluation to learn how education programs contribute to workers' occupational safety and health is well documented. Similarly recognized is the need to expand workers' involvement as primary stakeholders in program evaluation. Methods Articles for this review were identified through computer database and manual searches related to: intervention research and evaluation; occupational safety, health training, and education; and worker participation and empowerment. Results After identifying empowerment as a multilevel and multidimensional concept, this review used a theoretical framework of evaluation to show how various participatory and empowering approaches can affect evaluation studies and their use. Conclusions The field of occupational safety and health has a unique historical opportunity to further expand workers' involvement in their own education through the use of participatory and empowering approaches to evaluation. Use of these approaches has the potential to strengthen capacities for organizational learning and improve both program theory and practice. Am. J. Ind. Med. 38:584–597, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.