Healthy Work: Stress Productivity And The Reconstruction Of Working Life [Paperback]

Robert Karasek (Author), Tores Theorell (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0465028977 | ISBN-13: 978-0465028979 | Publication Date: April 12, 1992

Evidence is accumulating that in many contemporary work environments people are literally working themselves to death. But what do we really know about job-related stress and illness? Based on a ten-year study of nearly five thousand workers, this path-breaking book by a distinguished industrial engineer and sociologist and a specialist in industrial medicine identifies a clear connection between work-related illness and workers’ lack of participation in the design and outcome of their labors.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Karasek and Theorell, American and Swedish academicians respectively, analyze in their important work how heart disease, diabetes, and other stress-related ailments are generated by the way in which people are forced to work in their jobs. In this unfortunately difficult-to-read book, marked by turgid prose and awkward phrasing, the authors analyze various stress/work studies done over the years in America and Europe. In the second half of the book, they discuss various ways being developed to deal with the lack of worker participation in decision-making on the job. The authors mince no words in their conclusions that the well-being of employees can and must be enhanced through meaningful involvement in formulating the manner and mode of their tasks. For labor collections.
- Norman Lederer, UAW, Woodbridge, N.J.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Robert Karasek is professor of work environment at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.Töres Theorell, a physician, is also a professor at Sweden’s National Institute for Psychosocial Factors and Health at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. Robert Karasek is professor of work environment at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.Töres Theorell, a physician, is also a professor at Sweden’s National Institute for Psychosocial Factors and Health at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.

Product Details

• Paperback: 398 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (April 12, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0465028977
• ISBN-13: 978-0465028979
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #731,478 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A classic, October 21, 2000

By 

Brad Gilbreath (Fort Wayne, IN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Healthy Work: Stress Productivity And The Reconstruction Of Working Life (Paperback)

Healthy Work is a classic--though currently under-appreciated--work on organizations. It is a book of great breadth and richness that deserves more than one reading. Healthy Work is a "must read" for those concerned with creating healthy organizations. It describes the demand-control model, which has had a huge influence on research on work and health. The model was prompted by Karasek's concern about the consequences of demand-control imbalances in the workplace. Karasek and Theorell provide a vision of humane organizations in which employees can master challenges and experience personal growth. Healthy Work is not an easy read, but it is a "must read" for OD practitioners, OB professors, and those concerned with improving life in organizations. It challenges us to improve the "psychic prisons" in which many employees--unfortunately--spend much of their waking hours.

4.0 out of 5 stars A Classic, June 23, 2009

By 

S. McIntyre "Stude 64" (Braga, Portygal) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Healthy Work: Stress Productivity And The Reconstruction Of Working Life (Paperback)

This is a classic in the area of Stress research. It outlines the most widely used model of occupational stress and gives a good understanding if its development and use. It is n't a perfect model but it has advanced our understanding of stress in the workplace. Should be on everyones shelf.