Accomplishments, Challenges and Lessons Learned

In March 1995, The California Wellness Foundation’s (TCWF) board of directors approved $20 million over five years for the Work and Health Initiative (WHI). Each of its four programs, Winning New Jobs (WNJ), Computers In Our Future (CIOF), the Health Insurance Policy Program (HIIP) and the Future of Work and Health (FWH), is based on several of the most central connections between work and health. A fundamental relationship between work and health is that unemployment is associated with many negative health and mental health outcomes. The Winning New Jobs program was designed to help unemployed Californians find new jobs and to buffer against the negative health and mental health consequences of unemployment. Research has also demonstrated a strong relationship between increasing income and positive health. Computers In Our Future was designed to provide technological training to low-income Californians to help them take advantage of good jobs in the new economy and to experience the health rewards of upward mobility. 

A third program, the Health Insurance Policy Program, was designed from the knowledge that people with health insurance enjoy better health than those without, and access to health insurance for most Californians comes from employment. This program provided annual assessments of the quality and quantity of health insurance held by Californians and explored a variety of mechanisms for expanding its availability to more Californians. Finally, work is not static but changes dramatically in content and structure over time. California has been at the forefront of the transition to a new economy, and the Future of Work and Health program was designed to explore the changing nature of work in California and its impact on the health and wellness of Californians. 

This report outlines the accomplishments, challenges and lessons learned during the WHI’s five-year period, which ended in June 2001. Goals and objectives are presented for each portion of the Initiative followed by staff analysis of what was actually accomplished. This section is organized according to the goals and objectives of the Work and Health Initiative’s four programs. At the conclusion of the discussion of the four individual programs, we reflect upon accomplishments, challenges and lessons learned about the Initiative as a whole and its evaluation.

Ruth Brousseau and Lucia Corral Peña, Program Directors
The California Wellness Foundation