ABSTRACT
The boundaries between work and life are navigated through communication (Clark 2000; Kirby, Golden, Medved, Jorgenson, & Buzzanell, 2003). The challenge for organizations is to design and implement programs that assist employees in navigating these boundaries eff ectively. The purpose of this chapter is fourfold. The fi rst goal is to summarize how communication scholars defi ne the notion of communicating health and wellness at work. The second goal is to describe the evolution of wellness programs. The third goal is to off er an expanded notion of wellness at work by reconsidering what it means to communicate health in organizations. Fourth and fi nally, our goal is to recommend directions for future research on health communication and wellness programs through four theoretical lenses. In essence, this chapter is directed toward understanding employees’ navigation of worklife boundaries by turning toward health communication research. In the process, we will discover how topics in organizational communication research off er enhanced understanding of health communication in work settings.
