Current Initiatives

Grinnell Pilot Projects

 The Heart of Grinnell initiative is a partnership between the HWCE, the Grinnell Regional Medical Center (GRMC) which is a community hospital located in Grinnell, Iowa, Grinnell College which is a small nationally recognized liberal arts college, and HeartMath (HM) which is a California-based stress reduction company.  The GRMC currently uses HM methods to provide group and individual stress reduction services.  The Heart of Grinnell initiative was developed to improve the health and well-being of the residents of Grinnell and Poweshiek County through the design and implemention of a multi-year, multi-component community-wide prevention and wellness program.  The HWCE provides its faculty and staff expertise to advance this collective goal by undertaking two pilot projects.

 
Project 1
A study designed to provide new information concerning the effect of participatory ergonomics training on the ability of non-ergonomists to understand and apply newly-acquired ergonomics knowledge and skills is being proposed to a large manufacturing facility in the area.

 
Project 2
HWCE is extending the BeHipp research project to approximately 100 employees in a business that has predominently clerical staff and adding research components – preventative cardiology and a cost/benefit analysis.  The purpose of the cardiology preventative component is to determine if a series of lectures on cardiovascular risk factors and interactive forums for individual risk assessments for employees and their health care provider will improve employee lipid profile and overall risk factor profile.  The purpose of the cost/benefit analysis component is to determine the impact of intervention implementation on mid-sized employers.