Michigan Workers Research Articles

Acceptance, Intent, Hesitance, and Attitudes Towards SAR-CoV-2 Vaccines Among Healthcare Workers in Michigan, USA.

Healthcare workers (HCWs) are critical infrastructure workers for whom COVID-19 vaccination was prioritized. It is believed that healthcare workers would have little or no hesitancy to take the COVID-19 vaccines given the risks of the pandemic to them, their families, and their patients. The study aims to understand the acceptance and attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines among the HCWs in Michigan. A cross-sectional survey was fielded from January 11, 2021, through February 28, 2021. We obtained a representative sample of HCWs at MidMichigan Health. The participants were approximately 1500 clinical and non-clinical HCWs. COVID-19 vaccination acceptance and the intent to be vaccinated were measured with a questionnaire. HCWs indicating hesitance were asked to enter their reasons for hesitance as a free text response. A total of 1,467 HCWs responded to the survey. Overall, 62% indicated they had received both shots; 19.7% reported that they had received the first shot and would take the second; 2.3% noted that they were yet to receive the vaccine but would take both shots; 0.4% reported that they had received the first shot but would not take the second; 5.7% noted that they were unsure; and 9.9% indicated they did not intend to take the vaccine. Factors associated with vaccine hesitance included being female, younger age, having administrative staff or other health workers, having a larger household size, and having received no vaccines in the past year. Vaccine hesitancy concerns included safety, efficacy, antivaccine beliefs, the need for additional information, and a lack of trust. This survey revealed that 16% of HCWs in central and northern Michigan were hesitant about COVID-19 vaccines. Vaccine education is needed to increase the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines among HCWs.

COVID-19 Virus and Vaccination Attitudes among Healthcare Workers in Michigan: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Defining the characteristics of healthcare worker (HCW) attitudes toward the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine can provide insights into vaccine hesitancy. This study's goal is to determine HCWs' attitudes regarding the COVID-19 vaccination and reasons for vaccine hesitancy. This cross-sectional study surveyed HCWs working in institutions in Saginaw, Sanilac, and Wayne counties in Michigan (N = 120) using tipping-scale questions. Analysis of variance and t-test were used to measure HCWs' attitudes toward the COVID-19 virus and vaccines. Most HCWs received (95.9%) and recommended (98.3%) a COVID-19 vaccine. The top three factors that HCWs cited for recommending a COVID-19 vaccine were: (1) efficacy of the vaccine, (2) current exposure to patients with active COVID-19 infection and risk of virus spread, and (3) safety of vaccine and long-term follow-up. Female HCWs or HCWs aged 25-54 years were more concerned about contracting COVID-19. Physicians or HCWs aged 55-64 were less concerned regarding the effectiveness and side effects of the vaccine. Gender, age, ethnicity, provider type, and medical specialty showed statistically significant differences among COVID-19 attitudes. Focusing educational efforts on HCW demographics who are more likely to have negative attitudes can potentially decrease vaccine hesitancy.

Do Workers Speak Up When Feeling Job Insecure? Examining Workers' Response to Precarity During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic inflicted unprecedented precarity upon workers, including concerns about job insecurity. We examine whether workers respond to job insecurity with voice, and assess the role of unions, managers, and employment arrangements in this relationship. Analyses of an original 2020 survey representative of Illinois and Michigan workers show that job insecurity is not significantly associated with voice. Further, while we find that union membership and confidence in organized labor are positively associated with voice, insecure workers are less likely to speak up than secure workers as confidence in organized labor increases. Last, we find that insecure nonstandard workers are less likely to use voice than their secure counterparts.

Opioid prescriptions for individuals receiving workers' compensation in Michigan.

PurposeWe evaluated the prevalence of opioid prescriptions after injury and associated characteristics among workers receiving workers’ compensation for a lost work time injury.MethodsInjured workers identified in Michigan’s Workers’ Compensation records from 2016 to 2018 were linked to the opioid prescription history in the Michigan Automated Prescription System.ResultsAmong the 46,934 injured workers with paid claims, the prevalence of receiving an opioid prescription, morphine milligram equivalents (MME) per prescription, number of opioid prescription and probability of receiving opioids prescription>90 days after injury decreased from 2016–2018. Despite the decrease over 50% of the injured workers received an opioid prescription. Being over 34 years, a male, having had an opioid prescription before the injury, working in construction or having an amputation or sprain/strain of the shoulder had a significantly higher probability of receiving an opioid prescription, a higher MME per prescription, a higher number of opioid prescriptions and a higher probability having opioids prescription >90 days after the injury.ConclusionsEven though opioid prescribing patterns generally decreased from 2016 to 2018 (64.5–52.8%), injured workers in Michigan had a higher prevalence of opioid prescription after injury, than those reported from other states.

COVID-19 Virus and Vaccination Attitudes Among Healthcare Workers in Michigan: A Cross-Sectional Study

COVID-19 Virus and Vaccination Attitudes Among Healthcare Workers in Michigan: A Cross-Sectional Study

Experiences of female agricultural workers in Michigan: Perspectives from the Michigan Farmworker Project

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Agricultural work is recognized as one of the most physically demanding and hazardous occupations worldwide and farmworkers face a myriad of complex social vulnerabilities that create greater health risks from these occupational exposures. Although demographically the United States farming industry mainly employs male workers, about 33% are female, and they face unique working conditions that are relatively understudied. In the present study, we examine the unique social and occupational hazards female farmworkers face, utilizing data from the Michigan Farmworker Project, a community-engaged project that seeks to understand the working and living conditions of farmworkers in Michigan. METHODS: We conducted in-depth interviews with farmworkers (n=34) and health, legal, and social service providers (n=21) in four Michigan counties with higher concentration of farmworkers. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed thematically using NVivo 12. The present analysis primarily draws on interviews with female farmworkers. RESULTS:Female farmworkers in our study (n=19; average age=40) reported hazardous and exploitative working conditions such as lack of ventilation, chemical exposures, harmful weather conditions, and problems with proper hygiene and sanitation especially during menstruation, including lack of bathroom access and problems leading to urinary tract infections. Participants discussed pregnancy-specific concerns (i.e., chemical exposures, lack of disclosure of pregnancy to supervisors due to fear, lack of access to prenatal and postnatal care, inability to breastfeed due to work schedule) and concerns regarding children (i.e., lack of childcare, inappropriate living conditions for children). Other themes included sexual harassment and assault, disproportionately excluded from employment consideration due to gender, and social isolation. CONCLUSIONS:Our findings suggest that female farmworkers are disproportionately burdened with occupational hazards and lack social and labor protections to ensure their health and well-being and that of their families. Study results can inform policies and interventions to improve working and living conditions for female workers. KEYWORDS: Female, Occupational epidemiology, Occupational exposures, Environmental justice, Environmental disparities, Pregnancy outcomes

Too Old to Work: Joe Glazer, Labour Music, and Occupational Pensions

ABSTRACT From the 1940s to 2000s, musician and union educator Joe Glazer earned the moniker ‘Labor’s Troubadour’ by composing, performing, studying, and recording work and union songs. Although less well known outside of labour circles than Woody Guthrie or Pete Seeger, Glazer’s music told the history of, and provided a soundtrack for, many struggles of the twentieth century US labour movement. In 1950, Glazer wrote ‘Too Old to Work,’ a protest song inspired by the United Automobile Workers’ campaign for occupational pensions. Four days after the song was adopted by striking Chrysler workers in Michigan, the manufacturer gave in to the union’s demands. The song was soon picked up by an array of organisers, educators, politicians, and musicians, becoming arguably the most significant ‘pension song’ in the US labor movement. Drawing analytical tools from age studies, labour studies, and folklore studies, this interdisciplinary study examines the genealogy, aesthetic, impact, and legacy of ‘Too Old to Work’ in the US and beyond. As well as re-evaluating Glazer’s influential, if underappreciated career, this article unpacks some of the complexities of autoworkers’ post-war pension campaign, draws attention to autoworker music, and outlines a remarkably rich transatlantic tradition of pension- and age-related labour music.

It’s About Time: Initial Findings From a Feasibility Study of a Time-Study Tool for School Social Workers in Michigan

It’s About Time: Initial Findings From a Feasibility Study of a Time-Study Tool for School Social Workers in Michigan

The Decline of Industrial Detroit

An interview with Frank Hammer, former President of Local 909 of the United Automobile Workers (uaw) in Michigan, usa, conducted by Marek Hrubec, Director and Senior Research Fellow of the Centre of Global Studies at the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic. Hammer worked for 32 years at General Motors, and retired in 2007. At present he organizes the Autoworker Caravan, an advocate association of retired and active autoworkers.

Surveillance for work-related skull fractures in Michigan

Objectives: The objective was to develop a multisource surveillance system for work-related skull fractures. Methods: Records on work-related skull fractures were obtained from Michigan's 134 hospitals, Michigan's Workers' Compensation Agency and death certificates. Cases from the three sources were matched to eliminate duplicates from more than one source. Workplaces where the most severe injuries occurred were referred to OSHA for an enforcement inspection. Results: There were 318 work related skull fractures, not including facial fractures, between 2010 and 2012. In 2012, after the inclusion of facial fractures, 316 fractures were identified of which 218 (69%) were facial fractures. The Bureau of Labor Statistic's (BLS) 2012 estimate of skull fractures in Michigan, which includes facial fractures, was 170, which was 53.8% of those identified from our review of medical records. The inclusion of facial fractures in the surveillance system increased the percentage of women identified from 15.4% to 31.2%, decreased severity (hospitalization went from 48.7% to 10.6% and loss of consciousness went from 56.5% to 17.8%), decreased falls from 48.2% to 27.6%, and increased assaults from 5.0% to 20.2%, shifted the most common industry from construction (13.3%) to health care and social assistance (15.0%) and the highest incidence rate from males 65+ (6.8 per 100,000) to young men, 20–24years (9.6 per 100,000). Workplace inspections resulted in 45 violations and $62,750 in penalties. Conclusions: The Michigan multisource surveillance system of workplace injuries had two major advantages over the existing national system: (a) workplace investigations were initiated hazards identified and safety changes implemented at the facilities where the injuries occurred; and (b) a more accurate count was derived, with 86% more work-related skull fractures identified than BLS's employer based estimate. Practical Applications: A more comprehensive system to identify and target interventions for workplace injuries was implemented using hospital and emergency department medical records.

Grip and Pinch Strength Norms for Michigan Workers

The purpose of this study was to create a norm reference of current grip and pinch strength norms for working-age Michigan adults. This normative study included a convenience sample of 179 volunteers who were employees at car plants in South East Michigan or hospital sites in West Michigan. Participants’ ages ranged from between 20 and 62 years of age with a mean age of 49.15 years. There were 78 females (44%) and 101 males (56%). Subjects were classified by gender and in the age categories of ages 20 to 49 years and ages 50-62 years. Grip and pinch strength norms were collected following the American Society of Hand Therapy protocol. The norms from these working adults were calculated with descriptive statistics for males and females in two age classifications: ages 20 to 49 and ages 50 to 62 years. Standard Errors (SE) are better than the 1985 norms for both males and females ages 20 to 49 years. SEs are higher than the ages 20 to 49 years’ norms for the ages 50 to 62 years age categories in both males and females. These norms offer a point of comparison for clinicians to use for clients in Michigan who are ages 20 to 62 years and who have a goal to improve their grip strength. Clients’ grip and pinch strength could be compared to their age level or gender norms using the comparison for one standard deviation above, below, or at the means.

Alison K. Hoagland. Mine Towns: Buildings for Workers in Michigan’s Copper Country. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2010. 328 pp.; 115 black-and-white illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. $25.00 (paper).

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewAlison K. Hoagland. Mine Towns: Buildings for Workers in Michigan’s Copper Country. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2010. 328 pp.; 115 black-and-white illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. $25.00 (paper).Donald L. HardestyDonald L. HardestyUniversity of Nevada, Reno Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Winterthur Portfolio Volume 46, Number 4Winter 2012 Published for the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, Inc. Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/669744 Views: 14Total views on this site For permission to reuse, please contact journalpermissions @press.uchicago.edu.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Social Workers and Broadband Advocacy

This article presents the results of an exploratory study examining attitudes toward broadband advocacy, as related to attitudes toward and use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and a variety of other personal, political, and professional characteristics. A random sample ( n = 297) of licensed social workers in Michigan was surveyed. There is a growing body of literature indicating that access to broadband Internet is an important element of the digital divide, especially in the United States, which after having led in this area has fallen behind. Findings from this study indicate significant relationships between willingness to engage in broadband advocacy and political views, attitudes toward and use of ICTs, and knowledge about broadband. The implications for a profession focused on social justice and advocacy on behalf of vulnerable populations are explored.

Alison K. Hoagland. Mine Towns: Buildings for Workers in Michigan's Copper Country. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2010. xxvi + 307 pp. ISBN 978-0-8166-6566-2, $75.00 (cloth); 978-0-8166-6567-9, $25.00 (paper).

Alison K. Hoagland. Mine Towns: Buildings for Workers in Michigan's Copper Country. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2010. xxvi + 307 pp. ISBN 978-0-8166-6566-2, 25.00 (paper). - Volume 13 Issue 2

Use of Family History Information for Neural Tube Defect Prevention

Background: A family history of neural tube defects (NTDs) can increase the risk of a pregnancy affected by an NTD. Periconceptional folic acid use decreases this risk. Purpose: Our objective was to determine whether seconddegree relatives of NTD-affected children showed differences in folic acid use compared with the general population and to provide them with folic acid education. Methods: Michigan and Colorado health workers contacted families with a previous pregnancy or child affected by an NTD, identified through NTD recurrence prevention programs. Families were interviewed to identify the number of second-degree relatives of child-bearing age. Families mailed surveys to these relatives, who returned them to the state health departments. The survey assessed folic acid use, views on having an affected child, and reproductive planning. Folic acid education materials were sent to relatives who provided contact information. Results: Folic acid supplement use among relatives was similar to that of the general population, despite elevated risk perceptions. Discussion: Both state health departments plan to increase efforts to contact affected families and their relatives through partnerships with family support groups. Translation to Health Education Practice: Including outreach to second-degree relatives in NTD recurrence prevention programs could increase the impact of these programs.

A Study of Characteristics of Michigan Workers With Work-Related Asthma Exposed to Welding

To describe the characteristics of subjects with work-related asthma (WRA) secondary to welding exposure. As part of statewide surveillance, WRA reports were received from health care professionals. These reports were followed up with a telephonic interview using a standardized questionnaire; lung function tests were reviewed, and final assessment regarding the diagnosis was made. Welding exposure was the fifth leading cause of WRA (n = 142; age, 43.3 ± 11.4 years; male to female ratio, 94:48). Several workers (n = 72) were nonwelders but all worked around welding fumes. More than a third had predicted forced expiratory volume in one second less than 80% (38 of 106, 35.8%). Most had sought medical treatment (95.8%) and had emergency room visits (n = 86, 60.6%), and several had required hospitalization (n = 50, 36.7%). Welding exposure is a common cause of WRA. It is seen in workers from different industries engaged in diverse jobs. Spirometry changes are common. Work-related asthma is associated with high morbidity and health care costs.

Mine Towns: Buildings for Workers in Michigan's Copper Country by Alison K. Hoagland (review)

Mine Towns: Buildings for Workers in Michigan's Copper Country by Alison K. Hoagland (review)

<i>Mine Towns: Buildings for Workers in Michigan’s Copper Country</i> (review)

Reviewed by: Mine Towns: Buildings for Workers in Michigan’s Copper Country Jack Williams (bio) Alison K. Hoagland Mine Towns: Buildings for Workers in Michigan’s Copper Country Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2010. 328 pages. 115 black-and-white illustrations. ISBN 978-0-8166-6566-2, $75.00 HB ISBN 978-0-8166-6567-9, $25.00 PB America’s industrial landscapes contain many evocative clusters of subsidized housing built by a parent company for its workers. Usually peripheral to a company’s manufacturing or mining structures, these modest worker dwellings serve as physical reminders of the difficult and sometimes dramatic struggles of their inhabitants for dignity and equality. Often these clusters are all that remain after the demolition of the main industrial structures. Their at times monotonous similarity renders them intelligible within an often grim and marginalized context. Even individualized changes over time, such as porch additions or wrappings of vinyl or asphalt siding, cannot disguise their once standardized construction and simple site plans. Familiar examples exist in most regions of the United States, like the alphabetized streets of the mill community of Whitinsville, Massachusetts, or the unrelenting streets of repetitive housing forms in the mining towns of Pennsylvania’s anthracite coal region. Mill communities in the South such as Monroe, Georgia, have row upon row of “shot-gun” houses whose tiny pedimented entrances front tree-lined streets. Southern New England’s larger former textile centers have entire neighborhoods of ubiquitous “triple deckers,” long blocks of matched multifamily dwellings. The discovery of these forgotten fragments of replicated worker housing reveals other deeply hidden layers of history. The most famous, and beautiful, example is the failed social experiment of Pullman, Illinois, south of Chicago. Pullman’s attractive brick row houses and hierarchical streets and squares make a harmonious urban composition envied today by planners and architects, in spite of its deeply flawed paternalism. The repetition of housing forms in these and other examples suggest a complex urban ambiguity. On the one hand, repetition negates individuality, reducing inhabitants to faceless cogs in the vast impersonal machinery of nineteenth-century industrial capitalism. Yet these same forms also tell a different story—of individuals joined together into communities that offered hope and resilience. The resolution of the tension between repetitive parts that perhaps constitutes a larger whole and the expression of the individual though his or her private dwelling is the essence of successful urbanism. In this thoughtful, rigorously researched book, Alison K. Hoagland addresses this ambiguity through discovery and discussion of unique company towns in Michigan’s northern peninsula. She finds her evidence in housing and other aspects of the area’s material culture—schools, churches, libraries, and other communal structures—and weaves a fascinating tale of immigrant workers that brings alive the people and communities that labored in the region’s copper mines in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Because Hoagland describes modest buildings that have often been demolished, the book relies heavily on plans and historic photographs. Mine Towns is unusually rich and graphically complete, with many illustrations that are well explained and thoughtfully integrated with the text. The author’s grasp of the subtleties of architectural spaces inferred from plans is remarkable and rewards a close study of her thorough research. After a brief introduction to the Copper Country of the upper Michigan peninsula, Hoagland discusses the different typologies of the region’s worker housing, such as “saltboxes and T-plans.” By interpreting historic plans and photographs, her writing exposes the daily lives of immigrant families and their different living arrangements. Poignant photographs capture the sparseness of the interior furnishings of these homes; Hoagland’s writing explains the incredible crowding. The density of boarders within such limited spaces recalls the conditions of New York’s Lower East Side tenements. She notes that workers may have shared the same beds in shifts corresponding to their working hours. In “Acquiring Conveniences” (chapter 4), she elaborates housing modernizations such as interior plumbing, central heating, and electrical services in fascinating detail and provides an insightful history of the conveniences we take for granted today. As many of these [End Page 103] changes to the interiors of dwellings took place within...

Review

158 Michigan Historical Review Grant has made a valuable contribution to our understanding of the significance of railroads in this mostly neglected early-twentiethcentury period of new construction. Richard Saunders Clemson University Alison K. Hoagland. Mine Towns: Buildings for Workers in Michigan’s Copper Country. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2010. Pp. 336. Bibliography. Illustrations. Index. Maps. Notes. Paper, $25.00. The built environment in which workers lived has often been ignored or at best understudied by social historians and others interested in working-class life; they have left this subject to architectural historians or historic preservationists. (The work of Tamara K. Hareven and Randolph Langenbach on Amoskeag, New Hampshire, is one major exception.) Alison K. Hoagland‘s Mine Towns: Buildings for Workers in Michigan’s Copper Country makes a strong case for including the investigation of the built environment in studies of working-class and industrial communities. Hoagland, Professor Emerita of History and Historic preservation at Michigan Technological University (MTU), taught in MTU‘s outstanding industrial archeology graduate program. That program‘s faculty and students have produced a remarkable body of work on the Copper Country. Mine Towns is a welcome addition to that research and uses a number of the theses and monographs from the program to good effect. The first five chapters are a systematic study of the built environment of the Copper Country; they are organized around the theme of the paternalism of the various large mining companies, focusing most closely on the years between 1890 and 1918. Attracting a sufficient workforce to the Keweenaw was a significant challenge for the mining companies. The region was remote from population centers, and its harsh climate combined with its isolation worked against building a diverse economy. Hoagland demonstrates the ways in which corporate paternalism initially developed to address the need for housing and later faced the necessity of providing various modern amenities in company housing. Paternalism was not allencompassing on the Keweenaw. Hoagland makes a solid case for the reluctance of the mining companies to provide services that could be supplied by individual entrepreneurs, contradicting the Book Reviews 159 classic image of the all-sufficient company store as a fixture of the company town. The mining companies also donated land for schools and churches, but they left the organization of these establishments to workers and local government units, even when company officials served in those offices and on school boards. Hoagland‘s research blends field work with research in the mining companies‘ archival and published records to furnish detailed descriptions of the architecture of a wide array of structures, both residences and buildings reserved for public use. These chapters show the complex nature of company paternalism in the Copper Country and the diverse approaches taken by the different mining companies. The findings complement other recent work on the Copper Country— especially that of Larry Lankton. The sixth and final chapter, ―Preservation and Loss,‖ addresses efforts to preserve the historical resources of the region, which led to the creation of the Keweenaw National Historical Park. Although it is interesting and informative, this chapter is not well integrated into the book and is therefore somewhat problematic. Rather than pulling together the many points raised by the author in the previous five chapters, it introduces new questions and diffuses rather than focuses Hoagland‘s research. There are two small errors that should be corrected: Gwinn is about one hundred miles east of the Copper Country, not west (p. xx), and the first name of historian John Bodnar is omitted in the bibliography (p. 286). Also, the method used for footnotes does not follow the Chicago Manual of Style. The author uses a short form of citation for the first as well as subsequent references rather than providing the standard full citation the first time. One hopes this is not a trend in publishing. I would not want to end this review on a negative note. Mining Towns will appeal to readers who wish to know more about the history of the Copper Country, as well as provide a valuable resource for those interested in corporate paternalism more generally. William H. Mulligan, Jr. Murray State University ...

Knowledge of evidence-based urinary catheter care practice recommendations among healthcare workers in nursing homes.

To assess the knowledge of recommended urinary catheter care practices among nursing home (NH) healthcare workers (HCWs) in southeast Michigan. Self-administered survey. Seven NHs in southeast Michigan. HCWs. The survey included questions about respondent characteristics and knowledge about indications, care, and personal hygiene pertaining to urinary catheters. The association between knowledge measures and occupation (nurses vs aides) was assessed using generalized estimating equations. Three hundred fifty-six of 440 HCWs (81%) responded. More than 90% of HCWs were aware of measures such as cleaning around the catheter daily, glove use, and hand hygiene with catheter manipulation. They were less aware of research-proven recommendations of not disconnecting the catheter from its bag (59% nurses, 30% aides, P<.001), not routinely irrigating the catheter (48% nurses, 8% aides, P<.001), and hand hygiene after casual contact (60% nurses, 69% aides, P=.07). HCWs were also unaware of recommendations regarding alcohol-based hand rub (27% nurses and 32% aides with correct responses, P=.38). HCWs reported informal (e.g., nurse supervisors) and formal (in-services) sources of knowledge about catheter care. Significant discrepancies remain between research-proven recommendations pertaining to urinary catheter care and HCWs' knowledge. Nurses and aides differ in their knowledge of recommendations against harmful practices, such as disconnecting the catheter from the bag and routinely irrigating catheters. Further research should focus on strategies to enhance dissemination of proven infection control practices in NHs.