Society for Total Worker Health™ members are at the forefront of applying the Total Worker Health® approach to advance worker well-being. This peer learning series will elevate evidence-based practices and highlight professionals who are actively applying the Total Worker Health (TWH) approach within their organizations and workforce. The goal is to provide a forum for peer-to-peer learning. Each event focuses on a specific industry or topic related to TWH. After this meeting, you will be able to:
- Describe evidence-based strategies to applying the TWH approach in the government /public sector
- Describe how one government/public sector employer has applied the TWH approach
This is not a passive learning experience. The format is built for all participants to engage in the discussion together after the brief presentations to learn from each other and guest speakers invited from industry and the TWH community.
Moderator: Natalie Schwatka, PhD
Dr. Natalie Schwatka’s primary research focus is on the how the working environment – business strategies, leadership practices, and organizational climate – can be used to protect and promote workers’ health, safety, and well-being, called a Total Worker Heath® (TWH) approach. She is interested in intervention, dissemination, and implementation research. Dr. Schwatka is an Assistant Professor within the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health where she teaches TWH courses. She is the Director of the NIOSH Mountain and Plains Education and Research Center (MAP ERC) Certificate in TWH program. She also serves as the Research Core Director of the Center for Health, Work & Environment's TWH Center of Excellence where she directs the TWH Pilot Project Program.
Subject Matter Expert: Casey Chosewood, MD, MPH
Dr. L. Casey Chosewood is currently the Associate Director of Strategic Initiatives, and Director of the Office for Total Worker Health® at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In this role, he promotes the protection and improvement of the safety, health, and well-being of workers through research, intervention development, and partnerships. He coordinates the worker well-being, mental health, and substance use disorder prevention portfolios on the Institute. He co-leads the NIOSH cross-sector dedicated to Healthy Work Design and Wellbeing. From 2004 to 2009, he was the Director of the CDC Office of Health and Safety, which served the 15,000 members of the CDC workforce. Previous work included serving as the Medical Director of CDC’s three occupational health clinics and as the Medical Director of the tech manufacturing company, Lucent Technologies.
Industry Representative: Christian Rathke, CAPT, USPHS
CAPT Christian Rathke DMSc, PA-C, DFAAPA was commissioned December of 2011 in the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) after seven years in the US Navy. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Bridgewater College in Bridgewater, VA (1998), a Master of Medical Science with a concentration in Physician Assistant Studies from Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, CT (2000), and a Doctor of Medical Science from the University of Lynchburg (2021).
He began his medical career as a National Health Service Corps scholar and medical provider as a Site Director of a new Community Health Center in Fredonia, AZ. He was later also elected President of the town’s Chamber of Commerce during that assignment. As the town’s only full-time “Doc,” he treated all aspects of health for his patients and served as the primary consultant to the Mayor for Public Health concerns in the town. He then practiced medicine for five years at Pensacola Naval Hospital in Florida, specializing in cardiology. CAPT Rathke is also an Aerospace Physiologist, Dive Medical Officer, and an accomplished educator training over 3,000 pilots and aircrew, the Blue Angels, and NASA Astronauts in all aspects of human performance in high-risk operational environments. As a subject matter expert in flight physiology and hypoxia, he also served as an instructor for the US Navy Flight Surgeon program and a collaborative researcher and instructor for the Army Air Warrior Program. Through the USPHS, he has been trained in public health crisis management and has been deployed with the USPHS to respond to public health emergencies. As a USPHS Officer, his four assignments thus far have all been with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). His prior NOAA position was with the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO) serving NOAA’s 12,000 employees as the Director, Office of Health Services with a portfolio consisting of five medical programs including Aviation Medicine, Behavioral Health, Dive Medicine, Marine Medicine, and NOAA Corps Medical Affairs. He is now the Director of Total Worker Health, a unique comprehensive organizational approach to Federal workforce support and healthy work, for the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS).
Award highlights include the Department of Commerce Gold Medal, NOAA Corps Meritorious Service Medal, NOAA Administrator’s Award (3), PHS Outstanding Service Medal, PHS Commendation Medal, Navy Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, and the Humanitarian Service Medal.
Distinguished Fellow American Academy of Physician Assistants (DFAAPA)
Fellow Academy of Physician Assistants in Psychiatry (APAP)
Member American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE)
