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A6074 - Strategic Research Objectives for Occupational Respiratory Health from the National Occupational Research Agenda
Author Block: P. K. Henneberger1, A. Sood2, D. N. Weissman1; 1Respiratory Health Division, NIOSH, Morgantown, WV, United States, 2Univ of New Mexico Hlth Sci Ctr, Albuquerque, NM, United States.
RATIONALE: The National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) is a public-private partnership in the United States that engages diverse interests and perspectives to develop objectives for occupational safety and health research. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) coordinates NORA activities, but the resulting research agendas are intended to be used by other organizations. The start of the third decade of NORA in 2016 included the continuation of 10 industry sector councils and initiation of 7 health and safety cross-sector councils. One of these is the NORA Respiratory Health Cross-sector Council (RHCC). The first challenges for the RHCC were to identify members and develop strategic research objectives to improve occupational respiratory health during the third decade of NORA. METHODS: A blog was posted on the NIOSH website in June 2016 where people offered priorities for occupational respiratory research. Co-chairs of the RHCC, one from NIOSH and the other from academia, invited a variety of stakeholders to join the Council during September to December 2016, and additional individuals volunteered. From December 2016 to August 2017, the RHCC conducted five online meetings, many email and telephone conversations, and one optional in-person meeting. RHCC members considered research priorities from other sources, proposed their own, engaged in numerous discussions, and voted on ranking the priorities. This process ultimately yielded 10 primary strategic research objectives and several sub-objectives for occupational respiratory health reflecting the diverse viewpoints of Council members. RESULTS: The 22 RHCC members are from NIOSH (n=5), government other than NIOSH (n=5), academia (n=9), patient organizations (n=2), and management (n=1). The Council’s 10 primary strategic research objectives for occupational respiratory health are organized into three sections: Strategic objectives 1-4 address occupational respiratory diseases (lower and upper airways diseases, interstitial/dust-induced diseases, respiratory infections, respiratory malignancies); 5-7 address occupational exposures (mixed exposures, chronic low-level exposures, protection of first responders); 8-10 address critical infrastructure activities (surveillance, exposure assessment, and communication/dissemination). The objectives are still in draft form and will be finalized early in 2018. CONCLUSIONS: The RHCC considered priorities from multiple sources and drafted strategic research objectives for occupational respiratory health for the third decade of NORA. The Council will next refine and implement the objectives, in part by facilitating engagement of other interested individuals and organizations in activities such as organizing seminars and symposiums, developing statements to refine objectives or propose actions based on them, generating communication products, and conducting demonstration projects for interventions.