In 1995, The California Wellness Foundation’s board of directors identified Work and Health as one of its five initial funding priority areas. A total of $20 million was authorized for a five-year strategic grantmaking program known as the Work and Health Initiative. The Foundation also allocated $1 million per year for responsive grantmaking to support work and health projects originating in communities around the state. As part of its recent strategic planning process, our board chose to continue work and health as a funding priority of the Foundation for at least an additional five years, beginning in July 2001.

As we approach the final year of the Work and Health Initiative, this is an appropriate time to reflect on the original impetus for our work in this emerging field. When the Foundation first announced its interest in the intersection of work and health, not many institutions or programs had identified themselves in quite that way. Although there was a significant body of work in occupational health, we also wanted to look at employment-related factors that might influence health beyond the immediate workplace.

Cross-disciplinary work is difficult in the best of circumstances, let alone when one is attempting to meld together such traditionally separate universes as economics and health. To help us better understand the topography of this largely uncharted territory, we undertook an examination of the relevant social science literature. A synthesis of that scan (with accompanying references) constitutes the heart of this paper, along with some initial observations on the challenges we have identified as part of our first few years of grantmaking in work and health.

Our efforts in this fascinating arena are still very much a work in progress, and this piece is submitted in that spirit. We hope to facilitate dialogue, to stimulate interest by other funders, and to encourage the ongoing efforts of the growing number of creative individuals and institutions who are building a legitimate field of inquiry and practice at the critical juncture of work and health.

As always, we welcome your comments.

Tom David, Executive Vice President
The California Wellness Foundation