The Sociological Practitioner in Organizational Health Promotion Programming

In this paper, the roles of the sociological practitioner will be investigated as they apply to the rapidly growing field of organizational health promotion. Health promotion programs include a combination of educational, organizational, and environmental activities designed to support health-conducive behavior within the work setting. Such programs usually include weight reduction programs, aerobic exercise classes, blood pressure monitoring and so on. Theoretically, the ideas of Mead and Becker are investigated as one approach to the understanding of health behaviors. Methodologically, the utilization of needs assessment and evaluation tools provide integral information for the development of a program specifically tailored to meet the needs of an organization. Finally, the clinical sociologist, as a practitioner, can work to design successful programmatic interventions for the worksite. The field of helath promotion provides a number of roles within which sociologists could find viable employment.