Dr. Elizabeth Barbeau
elizabeth_barbeau@dfci.harvard.edu

Research interests

Dr. Barbeau's research program's unifying theme is understanding how the behavior of social institutions influences workers' health status. Recognizing the disparities in health status that exist among classes in the United States, she is committed to conducting research on how to bring about improvements in the health of the working class.

The focus of Dr. Barbeau's work has been on understanding how social institutions (e.g., employers, labor unions, regulatory agencies, the tobacco industry) create conditions that protect or endanger workers' health. This research is distinct from but complementary to research efforts aimed at improving individual workers' health behaviors. Much of Dr. Barbeau's research to date has been on tobacco industry behavior and tobacco policy. She has investigated the industry's compliance with its own voluntary advertising and promotion code to limit the appeal of tobacco to underage youth, the conflicts associated with promoting the public's health through strong tobacco control policy while also creating unemployment in tobacco-related sectors of the economy, and several tobacco policy issues relevant to organized labor.

She is currently funded to use tobacco industry internal documents and reports to investigate how the industry targets working class populations and to track tobacco industry advertising and promotion strategies in Massachusetts following implementation of the Master Settlement Agreement with state attorneys general. She is also currently participating in research to assess the relationship between worksite organizational culture in small business manufacturing settings employing multi-ethnic, blue-collar workers and workers' health behaviors and managers' health protection efforts.

Recent publications

Rosenberg B, Barbeau E, Moure-Eraso R, Levenstein C. The work environment impact assessment: A methodologic framework for evaluating health-based interventions. American Journal of Industrial Medicine 2001;39(2):218-226.

Barbeau E. Addressing class-based disparities related to tobacco: working with labor unions. Cancer Causes and Control 2001; 12:91-93.

Barbeau E, Yaus K, McLellan D, Levenstein C, Youngstrom R, Siqueira CE, Sorensen G. Organized labor, public health, and tobacco control policy: A dialogue toward action: Conference report and consensus statement for action. New Solutions: A Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health Policy. (In Press, 2001)

Sorensen G, Stoddard A, Youngstrom R, Emmons K, Barbeau E, Khorasanizadeh F, Levenstein C. Local labor unions' positions on worksite tobacco control. American Journal of Public Health 2000; 4:618-620.

Barbeau E and Levenstein C. Feeling the heat: displaced tobacco workers in North Carolina. New Solutions: A Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health Policy. 1999;9(1):65-80.

Barbeau E, DeJong W, Brugge D, Rand W. Does cigarette advertising adhere to the tobacco industry's voluntary advertising and promotion code? An assessment. Journal of Public Health Policy 1998; 19(4):473-488.