Trails for Health. Promoting healthy lifestyles and environments.

Background: The World Health Organization and the International Labour Organization recognize that workplace health is not only affected by occupational hazards, but is mainly affected by social determinants and individual factors. An accelerated rise in noncommunicable diseases has fostered the importance of creating supportive environments and encouraging healthy behaviours. Therefore, an operational approach to making workplaces healthy and sustainable is needed. This paper describes the development of an e-Health monitoring program entitled ‘Integrated eHealth Monitoring System for Health Management in Universities’ (e.cuidHaMUsTM) as a possible solution to that operational approach. Methods: We developed the program e.cuidHaMUsTM that proposes to detect risk behaviours related to noncommunicable diseases and to implement problem-solving measures by establishing a health-promoting workspace in a Portuguese higher education institution. Based on the ‘I-Change’ conceptual model, our program provides personalized feedback; improves health-related knowledge, attitude and good practices; and encourages actions to promote healthy lifestyles through individual health capacitation. Focusing on evaluation as an activity that generates knowledge, the e.cuidHaMUsTM program aggregates all the relevant health information, shares the results with decision-makers and evaluates health-related policy changes in the workplace. Discussion: This paper presents the design of the e.cuidHaMUsTM program, the development of an eHealth web platform to share information between the different stakeholders, and a questionnaire to evaluate the health status of higher education institution workers (e.cuidHaMUs.QueST®). Also, the procedures for data collection and analysis are outlined. The e.cuidHaMUsTM program can enhance health surveillance through cross-sectional and longitudinal studies and provide scientific evidence to support the envisioned interventions and promotions of healthy lifestyles. This program is an effort to incorporate a holistic culture of health-promoting workspace in higher education institution policies.

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The Associations Among Health-Promoting Lifestyle, eHealth Literacy, and Cognitive Health in Older Chinese Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17072263 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (7) ◽

pp. 2263 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Shao-Jie Li ◽

Yong-Tian Yin ◽

Guang-Hui Cui ◽

Hui-Lan Xu

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Interactive Effect ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Cluster Sampling ◽

Healthy Lifestyles ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Cognitive Health ◽

Ehealth Literacy ◽

Health Promoting ◽

Health Promoting Lifestyle

Background: Healthy lifestyles and health literacy are strongly associated with cognitive health in older adults, however, it is unclear whether this relationship can be generalized to health-promoting lifestyles and eHealth literacy. To date, no research has examined the interactive effect of health-promoting lifestyles and eHealth literacy on cognitive health. Objective: To examine the associations among health-promoting lifestyles, eHealth literacy, and cognitive health in older adults. Methods: Using a stratified cluster sampling method, we conducted a survey with older adults in four districts and two counties in Jinan (China). Older adults (n = 1201; age ≥ 60 years) completed our survey. We assessed health-promoting lifestyles, eHealth literacy, and cognitive health, and collected participants’ sociodemographic information. Results: Health-promoting lifestyles and eHealth literacy were significantly and positively associated with cognitive health (both p < 0.01). In addition, eHealth literacy was positively associated with health-promoting lifestyles. Moreover, the interaction of health-promoting lifestyle and eHealth literacy negatively predicted cognitive health (β = −0.465, p < 0.01). Conclusions: Health-promoting lifestyles and eHealth literacy were associated with the cognitive health of Chinese older adults, both independently and interactively. Further, eHealth literacy was associated with health-promoting lifestyles in older adults. Therefore, interventions regarding healthy lifestyles and eHealth literacy would benefit older adults.

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