Occupational Health Promotion Research Articles

Improving influenza vaccination coverage at the University Medical Centre Ljubljana with workplace health promotion project

Seasonal influenza vaccination is one of the keys to preventing the spread of this disease. The seasonal influenza vaccination rate is very low for the general Slovenian population (the average rate from the 2015/16 season to the 2019/20 season is 4.3%) and also for healthcare employees (between 2009 and 2019, the average vaccination rate among healthcare workers in Slovenia was 12.9%), and it does not ensure sufficient community protection from the disease. At the beginning of the 2016/17 season, the University Medical Centre Ljubljana (UMCL) launched its first-ever occupational health promotion project with the slogan “I don’t pass on the flu! I get vaccinated to protect myself and others.” The goal of the project was to reach as many employees as possible and increase the general vaccination rate because those working in healthcare have a significantly greater risk of catching influenza than the rest of the working population. By being vaccinated, they protect not only themselves and their families against the disease, but also their patients. The project encouraged all employees to receive the free vaccination, especially those groups that had had lower vaccination rates over the past years. The support of the institution’s executive staff and the heads of individual divisions was key to securing the required funds and suitable conditions for carrying out the project. Different communication tools were used in the project. The promotion strategy increased vaccination coverage at the UMCL from under 10.0% to 13.9% in 2016, 20.9% in 2017, 21.7% in 2018, and 30.1% in 2019. Workplace health promotion can make a difference. The examples of good practice have made a substantial difference and will be taken into account in planning and organizing vaccination activities during future influenza seasons. This practical model can be used in other hospital settings as well.

Where to focus? Insights from safety personnel and external safety consultants on lessons learned about safety climate interventions – A qualitative approach

Introduction: Safety climate is important for promoting workplace safety and health. However, there is a dearth of empirical research on the effective ways of planning, designing, and implementing safety climate interventions, especially regarding what is going to be changed and improved. To address this gap, the present study sought to extract a comprehensive pool of compiled suggestions for safety climate intervention based on qualitative interviews with professionals in occupational safety and health management from potentially hazardous industries. Method: A series of systematic semi-structured interviews, guided by a comprehensive sociotechnical systems framework, were conducted with company safety personnel (n = 26) and external safety consultants (n = 15) of 21 companies from various industries. The taxonomy of five work system components of the sociotechnical systems approach served as overarching themes, representing different areas of improvement in an organization for occupational safety and health promotion, with an aim of enhancing safety climate. Results: Of the 36 codes identified, seven codes were based on the theme of external environment work system, four were based on the theme of internal environment work system, five were based on the theme of organizational and managerial structure work system, 14 codes were based on the theme of personnel subsystem, and six were based on the theme of technical subsystem. Conclusions: Safety climate intervention strategies might be most commonly based upon the principles of human resource management (i.e., codes based on the personnel subsystem theme and organizational and managerial structure work system theme). Meanwhile, numerous attributes of external/internal environment work system and technical subsystem can be jointly improved to bolster safety climate in a holistic way. Practical Applications: More systematic and organized management of safety climate would be available when various interrelated codes pertinent to a given context are carefully considered for a safety climate intervention.

Efficacy of an online self-compassion intervention at work: A randomized controlled study

The present study investigated the effectiveness of a brief internet-based intervention to improve self-compassion (SC) among employees and tested if the intervention improves health (i.e., emotional exhaustion), motivation (i.e., work engagement), and productivity (i.e., procrastination). A sample of 100 employees participated in the randomized controlled trial including an intervention group (N = 48) and a waitlist control group with delayed access to the intervention (N = 52). Assessments were taken at baseline, after the intervention (6 weeks from the baseline), and at follow-up (12 weeks from the baseline). Mixed-model repeated-measures analysis of variance showed significant intervention effects for SC and procrastination. The intervention effects were maintained at the 6-weeks follow-up. No effects were found for emotional exhaustion and work engagement. Growth curve analyses revealed that those with unfavorable initial levels of exhaustion, work engagement, and self-efficacy benefited more from the intervention in terms of increased SC. Our findings are discussed in the context of occupational health promotion in general and SC-based interventions specifically.

Adolescents’ Self-Perceptions of Occupational Strengths and Difficulties

Abstract Date Presented Accepted for AOTA INSPIRE 2021 but unable to be presented due to online event limitations. The Occupational Interview for Adolescents: Strengths, Difficulties, and Resources was developed for understanding the occupational strengths and difficulties of adolescents and their attributions of successes and difficulties. Typical adolescents described themselves as having difficulties in leisure, education, and self-care. The results of the study point to a need for occupational health promotion programs for typical adolescents. Primary Author and Speaker: Miri Tal-Saban Additional Authors and Speakers: Adina Maeir

How to Use Questionnaire Results in Psychosocial Risk Assessment: Calculating Risks for Health Impairment in Psychosocial Work Risk Assessment.

Psychosocial risk questionnaires are common instruments in occupational safety and health promotion. Organizations use psychosocial risk questionnaires to obtain an economic overview of psychological job stressors and job resources. However, the procedures to assess if a result for a given workplace group is critical and calls for further action differ significantly and are often based on an arbitrary rule of thumb instead of empirically based evaluations. This article presents a method to translate questionnaire results into risk values for the occurrence of health impairment. We test this method on a dataset including the job stressors, job resources, and emotional exhaustion of 4210 employees from different industries. We applied logistic regression analysis to calculate the risks for impaired psychological health, indicated by high values of the burnout indicator emotional exhaustion. The results indicate significantly different health impairment risks (probabilities) for different scores on the job stressors and job resources scales as well as for scale score combinations. The risk values can be used to define cutoff values between high- and low-risk workplaces that are empirically based on stressor–strain relationships and are easily understandable by all stakeholders in the psychosocial risk assessment process, including laypersons.

Work ability of Thai older Workers in Southern Thailand: a comparison of formal and informal sectors

BackgroundThai society is becoming an ageing society. Independent older persons need to be able to continue to work after retirement. The Work Ability Index (WAI) is an assessment tool for improving the health and work environment of the older workers. The objective of this study is to explore work ability and its related factors among older workers in formal and informal sectors in southern Thailand.MethodsThis cross-sectional study with multistage sampling focused on 324 Thai older workers, aged between 45 and 70 years, working in Nakhon Si Thammarat province. Data on sociodemographic status, health history, and work-related factor questionnaires were collected, including anthropometric measures and the WAI instrument between March and September 2019. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were used to examine associations.ResultsThe participants were predominantly general labourers (23.8%) and female (70.7%). Nearly half of them had noncommunicable chronic diseases (NCDs) (48.2%) and were obese (more than 60%). Approximately 60% (59.9%) engaged in safe working practices. The participants sometimes received occupational health services (51.9%) and frequently accessed health promotion services (78.1%). There was a significant difference in the total average WAI score of the formal and informal workers: 40.6 (S.D. = 4.6) and 37.5 (S.D. = 5.0), respectively. The multivariate analysis showed that workers aged 55 years and older (adj. OR = 1.45; 95% CI [1.21, 1.74]), those with NCDs (adj. OR = 2.85; 95% CI [1.69, 4.80]), and those who were exposed to unsafe working practices (adj. OR = 2.11; 95% CI [1.26, 3.55]) had a higher risk of a poor to moderate WAI.ConclusionsMost of the older workers had good to excellent work ability. Older age and the presence of NCDs were negatively associated with good to excellent work ability. Safe working practices improved older workers’ work ability. Integrated occupational health protections and health promotion programmes for older informal workers should be provided by community health services to improve work ability.

The Relevance of Social Work Professionals in the Promotion of Occupational Health and Safety among Healthcare Workers

Background: In the global era, occupational health and safety (OHS) is becoming a major concern. In the domain of health, healthcare workers are at the risk of occupational exposure due to their working pattern. Aim: To investigate the relevance of social work professionals in the promotion of OHS. Design: Exploratory research design. Method: 34 medical social workers and counsellors of GMCH-32 and PGIMER, Chandigarh were interviewed. The mean and percentage were used for the analysis. Findings:-About 76.5% respondents considered physical, biological and social aspects of workers’ wellbeing in the context of OHS. 41.2% respondents were suffered from occupational exposure. 85.3% respondents recognized the role of social work professionals in the promotion of OHS. Conclusion: The role of the professional social worker can be proved significantly with the use of professional skills and techniques. There is a need of training and awareness among professionals for the promotion of OHS.

Do consumers care about work health issues? A qualitative study on voluntary occupational health activities and consumer social responsibility

AbstractAs occupational health management (OHM) and work health promotion (WHP) become increasingly prominent in companies worldwide, little is known about consumers' attitudes towards work health‐related issues. Do consumers consider the health of employees in German companies to be important? Do German companies consider consumers to be relevant stakeholders in voluntary occupational health (OH) and well‐being activities? In the first of two qualitative interview studies, German consumers were asked which actors they consider to be responsible in OH contexts and whether or not they prefer OH‐related product attributes to other socially desirable ones. During a second qualitative interview study with representatives from German companies, suppliers, institutions, and organizations concerned with voluntary and legally mandatory OH, participants were asked about their expectations regarding whether or not consumers are interested in such OH activities. Both studies highlight the difference between the consumers' perspective on OH issues and responsibilities on the one hand and what companies and stakeholders believe consumers think about OH issues and responsibilities on the other. The findings show that consumers can recognize non‐mandatory OH and well‐being activities as elements of their own social responsibility (ConSR), while companies usually do not consider this perspective in their corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Prevalence of depression disorder in industrial workers: a meta-analysis

Objectives. Depression is known to be associated with a variety of occupational factors. The aim of this study was to meta-analyze the prevalence of depressive disorder in industrial workers. Methods. Three databases indexing abstracts of articles were selected and searched until August 2020: PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus. For each study, the sample size and number of depression events were extracted, and after extracting these data, the random effects method was used to assess the prevalence. I 2 and χ 2 values were used to investigate the heterogeneity. Results. The prevalence of depressive disorder in industrial workers is 21%. The prevalence of depressive disorder in men and women industrial workers is 23 and 28%, respectively. The prevalence of depressive disorder in Asia, Europe and America is equal to 22, 18 and 20%, respectively. The result of the heterogeneity test showed that the heterogeneity is high. Conclusion. The prevalence of depression in industrial workers is higher than in the general population. These differences can be due to the working conditions of industrial workers. Therefore, the work environment and the promotion of occupational health can play an important role in preventing depression.

PENGARUH SAFETY SIGN TERHADAP PERILAKU AMAN PEKERJA PADA BAGIAN PRODUKSI PT. JAKARANA TAMA MIE GAGA CAB. MEDAN KEC. MEDAN AMPLAS

The progress of formal industry is accompanied by the use of technology used in the production process and has the risk of harm to aspects of occupational safety and health as well as the work environment. The promotion of occupational safety and health visually using the media safety sign is an effective way to improve workers' safe behavior. Quantitative research with a quasi-experimental approach to the design of one group pretest posttest research. Using a total sampling technique with a population of 50 worker samples. Data collection using questionnaires and interviews. The statistical test in this study uses the Wilcoxon signed rank test to see differences in the results of the pre-test and post-test, the results of the study indicate that there is an effect of providing safety sign to the safety behavior of workers in the production section with the results of p (0.007) ≤ α (0.05) and can it was concluded that the posttest results experienced an increase of 5 respondents (5%) safety behaviour. The advice that can be given is that workers should further enhance safe behavior in work and pay attention to safety signs that exist in the work environment, especially in the production department and for companies to have OHS (occupational health safety), and provide OHS training and guidance on OHS to improve the abilities and skills of workers, especially in the section production to safety behavior.

Occupational Therapy and Health Promotion for Families Experiencing Homelessness: A Community-Wide Approach

Occupational Therapy and Health Promotion for Families Experiencing Homelessness: A Community-Wide Approach

Collective resources for individual recovery: The moderating role of social climate on the relationship between job stressors and work-related rumination – A multilevel approach

In this study, we link cognitive processes of recovery to the social context in which employees experience job stressors. The aim was to examine how the social context in which employees experience work stressors is associated with individuals’ work-related thoughts in nonwork time and thus may prolong work-related mental efforts beyond working hours. We used aggregated individual ratings on social relations with colleagues and supervisors as a primer for social climate within workgroups, calculated the rate of permanent employment contracts per workgroup as a proxy for the stability of social relations within workgroups and used organizational affiliations to specify job settings in terms of routine versus creative tasks. Drawing on cross-sectional data from a psychosocial risk assessment and occupational health promotion survey of N = 1836 employees in 118 workgroups with different occupations at a German university, we tested multilevel random-coefficient models for affective rumination and problem-solving pondering. Results indicated a negative association of collegial climate with affective rumination but no association with problem-solving pondering. Supervisory climate was unrelated to both types of ruminative thinking. The stability of social relations within workgroups was negatively associated with affective rumination as well as with problem-solving pondering, whereas the job setting was only associated with problem-solving pondering. A cross-level interaction indicated a positive moderation effect of collegial climate on the relationship between job stressors and affective rumination. The findings indicate that a positive collegial climate can buffer the negative impact of low to average levels of job stressors on work-related thoughts and lead to the conclusion that the social context in which job stressors are experienced may alter individuals’ ability to mentally unwind from work.

Employers’ perceived importance and the use (or non-use) of workplace risk assessment in micro-sized and small enterprises in Europe with focus on Cyprus

Occupational Safety and Health is often poorly managed in micro-sized enterprises (MiSEs) and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Previous studies have shown that employers in such enterprises do not conduct and/or regularly review workplace risk assessments, even though this is required by legislation. In other cases, they may conduct a superficial workplace risk assessment just to comply with legislation and satisfy the authorities. This study attempts to shed some light into the actual use or non-use of workplace risk assessment by MiSEs and SMEs, the level of its utilization, and investigate if it is used as a tool of occupational safety and health promotion and the reduction of workplace accidents and occupational diseases. It also introduces the concept of employers’ perception of the actual value of the risk assessment process. Data from ESENER-2 survey were analysed as well as data gathered by a survey conducted in Cyprus that included 201 MiSEs employing less than five employees, an area not covered by previous ESENER surveys. Analysis revealed that a significant percentage of employers in MiSEs do not perceive risk assessment as a valuable tool for improving occupational safety and health, indicating a problematic perception of and attitude towards health and safety issues. Moreover, considerable differences were identified not only in occupational safety and health management, but also in the perceived value of workplace risk assessment between northern and southern European countries, as well as for enterprises employing less than five employees.

Why Exercise at Work: Development of the Office Exercise Behavior Determinants Scale.

The constant increase in work pressure and the penetration of labor-saving technologies have significantly reduced physical activity in office-based work routines, threatening employees’ physical and mental well-being. Encouraging physical exercises at the office seems a potential solution. However, while there is a wealth of research into occupational health and workplace exercise promotion, little is known about which factors can influence the engagement of physical exercises in the office context. It is crucial to understand these determinants, in order to support the design of office exercise promoting intervention. This study explored the determinants of office workers’ exercise behavior by proposing and developing the Office Exercise Behavior Determinants (OEBD) scale based on existing behavioral and environmental research. The OEBD scale was assessed through an online questionnaire study involving 479 office workers. The results indicated that four factors (Intrinsic Motivation, Extrinsic Motivation, Social Environment, and Work Environment) contribute to office workers’ exercise behavior. Furthermore, confirmatory factor analysis of our obtained data provided evidence for the internal validity of the OEBD scale. Thereby, this research can support increased office exercise with valid measurements for behavioral determinants.

Use of Intervention Mapping for Occupational Risk Prevention and Health Promotion: A Systematic Review of Literature.

Aim: Intervention mapping (IM) is a method to systematically design interventions that is applied regularly within the public health domain. This study investigates whether IM is effectively used within the occupational safety and health domain as well. Specifically, this study explores the relation between the fidelity regarding the use of the IM protocol for intervention development, the implementation process and the effectiveness of the occupational risk prevention and health promotion interventions. Methods: A systematic review was conducted including articles on development, implementation, and effects of occupational risk prevention and health promotion interventions that were developed according to the IM-protocol. By means of a checklist, two authors reviewed the articles and rated them on several indicators regarding the fidelity of the IM-protocol, the implementation process, and the intervention effect. Results: A literature search resulted in a total of 12 interventions as described in 38 articles. The fidelity to the IM-protocol was relatively low for participation throughout the development process and implementation planning. No relationship was found between fidelity of the IM-protocol and the intervention effect. A theory-based approach (as one of the core elements of IM) appears to be positively related to a successful implementation process. Conclusion: Results of the review suggest that organizing a participative approach and implementation planning is difficult in practice. In addition, results imply that conducting matrices of change objectives as part of the intervention development, although challenging and time-consuming, may ultimately pay off, resulting in a tailored intervention that matches the target group.

Announcement of the 39th Annual Meeting of the UOEH Association of Health Sciences and the 47th Kyushu Regional Meeting of Association for the Promotion of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan

Announcement of the 39th Annual Meeting of the UOEH Association of Health Sciences and the 47th Kyushu Regional Meeting of Association for the Promotion of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan

Visualization of the Problem Structure and Proposal of Countermeasures for Collaboration Between Community Health and Occupational Health Promotion Projects Using Systems Thinking

Visualization of the Problem Structure and Proposal of Countermeasures for Collaboration Between Community Health and Occupational Health Promotion Projects Using Systems Thinking

Research progress of occupational disease assessment and application on burden of disease

Burden of disease (BOD) refers to the pressure on the entire social economy and health caused by disease, disability and premature death, and the resulting economic and social impacts. It includes epidemiological burden and economic burden. BOD is widely used in the analysis and research of various chronic diseases, infectious diseases and cancers. With the rapid development of economy and industrialization, the health effects of occupational diseases on workers and the resulting disease burden have become a major public health and social problem, which has caused widespread concern. However, in the field of occupational disease burden research, domestic and foreign scholars have little research on it, and lack of systematic research and framework construction. Therefore, this paper is intended to summarize the occupational disease assessment and applied research of BOD, in order to provide data support for occupational disease monitoring, health promotion and optimal allocation of health resources, and to provide theoretical basis and reference basis for the reform of occupational health work and the formulation of health policies.

Women-centred workplace health promotion interventions: a systematic review.

To analyse workplace health promotion interventions implemented exclusively for the female population. The differences in biological, psychological and social characteristics, as well as the type of work carried out by men and women, make it necessary for workplace health promotion to be specific for each group. This study focussed on working women. Workplace health promotion interventions are centred on increasing the well-being and health of the employees. Occupational health nurses play an essential role in the implementation of these interventions. A systematic review was carried out using the MEDLINE and Scopus databases, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. Twelve articles met the inclusion criteria. Two lines of interventions were found: (1) promotion of breastfeeding (16.6%) and (2) promotion of physical activity and other healthy lifestyles (83.4%). The interventions studied underlined promoting breastfeeding, preventing a sedentary lifestyle, improving body composition, reducing cardiovascular risk, relieving premenstrual symptoms, time of breastfeeding after returning to work, and showing favourable results. The lack of studies on the subject and the medium-to-low quality of the articles included in the review have made it difficult to analyse workplace health promotion interventions, making it necessary to continue research in this area. There are very few occupational health promotion interventions targeting women (1.9%), and the majority of them focus on promoting physical activity. It is worrying that specific aspects of women's health are poorly addressed. The work of the occupational nurse essentially is to guarantee the health of women in the workplace, being the key figure in the research and development of gender-related policies in the field of public health.

Gender and occupational allergy: Report from the task force of the EAACI Environmental and Occupational Allergy Interest Group.

Women's work has traditionally been considered less hazardous to health in comparison with men's work. The increased women's participation in the workforce has led to an increased attention to women's working conditions. Women and men are unequally represented in individual professions or sectors (horizontal segregation), with women also under-represented in leadership positions (vertical segregation). The selection of specific occupations can result in differences between types and levels of occupational exposures among women and men and can affect prevalence of occupational allergy. Gender distribution of work-related asthma appears to vary across countries without clear global difference. Occupational rhinitis tends to be higher in women, although is not clear if this is related to a sex/gender effect or to differences in work exposure. Women are more likely to have occupational contact dermatitis, mainly due to wet work. No clear effects of gender on rates of hypersensitivity pneumonitis have been shown. Besides variation in exposures, physical and physiological characteristics, different behaviours and health consciousness have an impact on the occupational health hazards of women and men. Occupational allergy health promotion strategies need to consider approaches for women and men adjusted by gender, and legislative actions similarly could be implemented in a more gender-sensitive way.