NC Works4Health: Reducing Chronic Disease Risks in Socioeconomically Disadvantaged, Unemployed Populations

Description

The proposed study, NC Works4Health (NCW4H), builds on the strengths of long-standing academic-community research partnerships between this UNC at Chapel Hill (UNC) team of investigators and key stakeholders across health, social service, employment, and economic development sectors. The overall goal of this study is to test the effectiveness of a multilevel intervention that can be readily adopted by communities to reduce chronic disease risks in socioeconomically disadvantaged populations by (a) embedding prevention efforts in DSS-E programs at the individual level, and (b) enhancing supervisor supports for DSS-E hires at the employer level. Interventions at each level, and their joint effects, are designed to mitigate the psychological, behavioral, and clinically relevant risks for chronic disease onset, morbidity, and comorbidity that accrue with unemployment and the employment-entry transition.

Conditions

Diabetes, Chronic Disease, Psychological Distress

Study Overview

Study Details

Study overview

The proposed study, NC Works4Health (NCW4H), builds on the strengths of long-standing academic-community research partnerships between this UNC at Chapel Hill (UNC) team of investigators and key stakeholders across health, social service, employment, and economic development sectors. The overall goal of this study is to test the effectiveness of a multilevel intervention that can be readily adopted by communities to reduce chronic disease risks in socioeconomically disadvantaged populations by (a) embedding prevention efforts in DSS-E programs at the individual level, and (b) enhancing supervisor supports for DSS-E hires at the employer level. Interventions at each level, and their joint effects, are designed to mitigate the psychological, behavioral, and clinically relevant risks for chronic disease onset, morbidity, and comorbidity that accrue with unemployment and the employment-entry transition.

NC Works4Health: Reducing Chronic Disease Risks in Socioeconomically Disadvantaged, Unemployed Populations

NC Works4Health: Reducing Chronic Disease Risks in Socioeconomically Disadvantaged, Unemployed Populations

Condition
Diabetes
Intervention / Treatment

-

Contacts and Locations

Chapel Hill

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States, 27599

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

For general information about clinical research, read Learn About Studies.

Eligibility Criteria

  • * receiving DSS-E services
  • * between the age of 18 and 64 years old
  • * unemployed
  • * fluent and able to read English
  • * receiving or applied for disability benefits
  • * pregnant
  • * Any of the following chronic conditions: severe high blood pressure (with a reading of 180/110 or higher in the past 6 months), a health condition or injury that has left you unsteady, or unbalanced when you walk, a history of falling in the past 6 months, cancer that is actively being treated with chemotherapy of radiation to your chest or abdomen (stomach area), inflammatory bowel disease (such as Crohn's disease, or ulcerative colitis), an implanted cardiac defibrillator (a small device placed under the skin on your chest to help your heart function)

Ages Eligible for Study

18 Years to 64 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Collaborators and Investigators

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill,

Shawn Kneipp, Ph. D, PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR, UNC School of Nursing

Study Record Dates

2026-01-31