scholarly journals Attitudes of Company Executives toward a Comprehensive Workplace Health Management—Results of an Exploratory Cross-Sectional Study in Germany

Author(s):  
Achim Siegel ◽  
Aileen C. Hoge ◽  
Anna T. Ehmann ◽  
Peter Martus ◽  
Monika A. Rieger

Workplace health management (WHM) in Germany aims at maintaining and increasing the health and well-being of employees. Little is known about company executives’ attitudes toward WHM. To gain more insight, we conducted a large-scale survey in companies in the German county of Reutlingen in 2017. We sent a standardized questionnaire to 906 companies, containing inter alia 26 self-constructed declarative statements depicting company executives’ opinions on various WHM aspects; 222 questionnaires could be evaluated. By exploratory factor analysis we assigned the 26 items to six factors reflecting different attitudes toward WHM. Factor values were standardized to a scale from 0 to 10. The attitude ‘positive view of general health services in the company’, for example, achieved by far the lowest mean agreement (3.3 points). For the attitude ‘general skepticism toward WHM’, agreement and disagreement were balanced (5.0 points). Using multiple regression analyses, we searched for variables that could partially explain respondents’ agreement with attitudes. In conclusion, a general WHM skepticism was widespread, but not dominant. The idea that general health services should be offered in companies was predominantly rejected. Older respondents and respondents from smaller companies and craft enterprises were more skeptical than average about WHM and its possible extensions.

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. e048378
Author(s):  
Carley Riley ◽  
Brita Roy ◽  
Veronica Lam ◽  
Kerianne Lawson ◽  
Lauren Nakano ◽  
...  

IntroductionCommunities are seeking to learn if and how they can improve the well-being of their residents. We therefore examined the impact of a community-led, collective-impact initiative, deployed through Blue Zones Project by Sharecare, aimed at improving health and well-being in one set of US communities.MethodsWe used data from cross-sectional surveys of the Well-Being Index (2010–2017) to assess how the Life Evaluation Index (LEI) in Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach in California (Beach Cities) changed over time and how this change compares with change for similar cities (Beach Cities-like) and for the USA as a whole. We examined types of interventions, perceived impacts, and relationships between intervention type and change in LEI.ResultsThe Beach Cities experienced greater increases in LEI than Beach Cities-like communities and the nation. The entire portfolio of interventions was positively associated with change in LEI in the Beach Cities (+1.12, p=0.012), with process-oriented interventions most closely associated with improvement.ConclusionsCommunity-led collective action that leverages community engagement and activation, strategic use of programming and large-scale built-environment and policy change can improve health and well-being at scale.


2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 702-715 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albanita Gomes da Costa de Ceballos ◽  
Gustavo Barreto Santos

INTRODUCTION: Musculoskeletal pain is one of the most frequent complaints among teachers, compromising their health and quality of life. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain among teachers, assessing their occurrence according to sociodemographic characteristics, general health and well-being at work. METHODS: An exploratory cross-sectional study conducted with 525 teachers. During activities of continuing education, the teachers completed a self-administered questionnaire containing questions about sociodemographic factors, general health, well-being at work and musculoskeletal pain. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of musculoskeletal pain was equal to 73.5%. The most common musculoskeletal pains were localized in the shoulders (31.6%), upper back (27.8%), neck (27.2%) and ankles and/or feet (24.0%). Circulatory and respiratory problems and Common Mental Disorders were associated with pain in the shoulders, upper back, neck and ankles and/or feet. Well- being at work is associated with pain in the shoulders, neck and ankles and/or feet. CONCLUSION: It is necessary to deepen the knowledge about musculoskeletal pain among teachers, exploring the biological, ergonomic, occupational and psychosocial mechanisms of teaching, as well as invest in practices that improve the relationship of coexistence between workers and activities that enhance the comfort and reduce referred pain.


2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elenna R. Cowen ◽  
Eric Wiedenman ◽  
Megan Adkins ◽  
Kazuma Akehi ◽  
James W. Ball ◽  
...  

Students that participate in recreational sports and regular exercise are more likely to continueto be physically active. Thee purpose of this cross-sectional study design was to examine differentiatingmotives among participants and how motivation constructs relate to body composition.College students(n=403) were surveyed using the EMI-2 to determine motivational constructs in relation to body com-position. Standardized coefficients indicate that Appearance (β=-0.242, p=0.001), Health Pressures (β=0.208, p=0.05), and Weight Management ( β=0.332, p=0.001) have a statistically signi cant in uenceon intramural participants’ BMIs. This study is useful for promoting, designing, and implementing futurehealth programs for young adults.Creating diversity in activities encourages additional populations toparticipate in physical activity opportunities, thus improving overall health and well-being.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria da Piedade Moreira Brandão ◽  
Laura Martins ◽  
Marlena Szewczyczak ◽  
Dorota Talarska ◽  
Ian Philp ◽  
...  

Introduction: According to the OECD, Portugal and Poland rank below average in several well-being measures such as income and wealth, and health status. Investigating how people perceive the threats to health in these two countries, is an important issue to address priority needs. To meet this need, the objective of this paper was to compare the perceptions of the threats to the health and well-being among the Polish and Portuguese older persons and explore differences between the countries in respect of patterns of self-rated health.Material and Methods: A Cross-sectional study with two convenience samples from primary health care services of Poland and Portugal was conducted; 480 adults aged 65 and over (247 Portuguese) were included. The EASYCare standard assessment of 2010 was applied under a joint project of both countries. The association between ‘self-rated unhealthy’ and socio-demographic and threats to health variables was examined using logistic regression.Results: In both countries about two thirds of the older persons self-rated their health as unhealthy. Having more than enough finances was associated with a significant lower odds of being unhealthy compared with those without enough finances at the end of the month (Portugal: OR = 0.25, 95% CI 0.10 to 0.63; Poland: OR = 0.33, 95% CI 0.12 to 0.88). Visual problems, bodily pain, memory loss, feeling bored or lonely and reporting shortness of breath during normal activities was consistently associated with fair or poor self-rated health.Discussion: These findings provide important information regarding the health profile of older people which can help in the development of people-centred health systems where their lives and well-being can be improved. Conclusion: The unhealthy perception of older people was consistently associated with indicators of major health threats.


KYAMC Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 193-198
Author(s):  
Sailendra Nath Biswas ◽  
Rubaiyat Farzana Hussain ◽  
Mohd Raisul Hasan ◽  
Taslima Akber Happy ◽  
Mahaidhe Hassan ◽  
...  

Background: Healthy lifestyle is one which helps keeping and improving health and well-being. This means maintaining hygiene, eating balanced diet, getting regular exercise, avoiding tobacco and drugs and getting adequate rest and recreation. Objective(s): To assess healthy lifestyle practice among selected rural-community of Sirajganj district. Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among people living in selected villages of Sirajganj. A total of 490 respondents were interviewed face-to-face using a semi-structured questionnaire. Results: Among the respondents 73.3% were female, mean age was 40.29 ± 15.84 years and 56.9% were literates. Mean monthly income was 10812.30±10039.63 taka. Majority (97.3%) said that they wash their hands 'before eating', 89.0% said 'after coming from washroom', 18.6% mentioned of 'after coming in contact with sick person', 3.9% said 'after playing and 3.1% mentioned of 'after holding coins'. About 84% used soap and water for hand washing. One third (33.9%) washed their hands for a period of more than 20 seconds. About 28% consume meat, fish, and egg daily. Majority (77.8%) consumed extra salt daily, 81.8% never took part in playing of doing exercises and 9.8% were current smokers. Conclusion: Subjects were ruralpeople and showed lack of many elements of healthy lifestyle. Proportion of tobacco-use was less. Yet a big proportion consumes extra salt, don't do any exercise, don't eat fruits and cannot eat protein rich food. KYAMC Journal Vol. 11, No.-4, January 2021, Page 193-198


Author(s):  
MARIA CONSUELO MORÁN ASTORGA

The present study examined the relationship among bullying, coping strategies, and health in a sample of 255 Spanish teachers. They completed a set of questionnaires to evaluate: 1) bullying (with a bullying perceived questionnaire); 2) health (with General Health Questionnaire); and 3) coping strategies (with the Brief COPE). Results showed that teachers bullied by colleagues had a poorer health than those not bullied. The analysis established also the differences between targets and non-targets in coping strategies: It was observed that bullying targets use more non-functional coping strategies and fewer functional ones than non-targets. These results suggest that it is necessary eradicate bullying in order to improve workers’ health and well-being. The victims also need to change their strategies to coping harassment. More investigations in these issues are needed, as they are essential to workplace health and well-being.ResumenEn este estudio se examinó la relación entre el sentimiento de acoso psicológico en el trabajo, la salud y las estrategias de afrontamiento del estrés. Participaron 255 profesores no universitarios que completaron el Cuestionario de Acoso Psicológico Percibido, el Cuestionario de Salud General y el Brief Cope (Cope-28, en español). Los resultados hallaron que los profesores acosados por colegas tenían peor salud que los no acosados. Se encontraron también diferencias en el uso de estrategias de afrontamiento entre las víctimas y las no víctimas de acoso: las primeras utilizan más estrategias disfuncionales y menos estrategias funcionales. Estos resultados sugieren que es necesario erradicar el acoso en el entorno laboral con el fin de mejorar la salud y el bienestar. También las víctimas de acoso necesitan cambiar sus estrategias de afrontar el bullying. Son necesarias mas investigaciones en el campo de la salud y el bienestar en el ámbito laboral.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anabela Marisa Azul ◽  
Ricardo Almendra ◽  
Marta Quatorze ◽  
Adriana Loureiro ◽  
Flávio Reis ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are a leading cause of health loss worldwide, in part due to unhealthy lifestyles. Metabolic-based diseases are rising with an unhealthy body-mass index (BMI) in rural areas as the main risk factor in adults. Health loss risks in rural areas may be amplified by wider determinants such as socio-demography and surrounding environments. We assessed weather (un)healthy lifestyles and environment in rural neighbourhoods are reflected into metabolic risks and health capability, and how community circumstances may impact the self-ability for making balanced decisions.Methods: We conducted a community-based cross-sectional study in fifteen Portuguese rural neighbourhoods (with high ageing index and high illiteracy) to describe individuals’ health functioning condition and to characterize the community environment. We followed a qualitatively driven mixed-method design, using a healthy lifestyle assessment toolkit, to gather evidence-based data and lifestyles (incorporated in eVida technology), within a random sample of 270 individuals; and 107 in-depth interviews to determine whether environment influence the capability for improving or pursuing heath and well-being.Results: Men showed to have a 75% higher probability of being overweight than women (p-value=0.0954); and the reporting of health loss risks was higher in women (RR: 1.48; p-value=0.122), individuals with larger waist circumference (RR: 2.21; IC: 1.19; 4.27), overweight and obesity (RR: 1.38; p-value=0.293) and participants aged over 75 years (RR: 1.78; p-value= 0.235; when compared with participants under 40 years old). Metabolic risks were more associated to BMI and physical activity than diet (or sleeping habits); participants strongly evidenced the adherence to a Mediterranean dietary pattern. From the interviews, we identified seven environmental circumstances reflecting health needs, health expectations and health capability: economic development, built environment, social network, health care, demography, active lifestyles, and mobility. And, while the starting point of the interview addressed community needs, participants expressed the value of natural environment in their neighbourhood as the main positive effect to pursuing health and well-being, with particular emphasis to lower exposure to air / noise pollution, daily routines linked to nature or land use, and diversity of nature experiences.Conclusions: Our qualitatively driven mixed-method design, involving the community, uncovers environment contextual-dependent circumstances influencing the ability of individuals to pursue healthy habits. The active participation of local representatives, with its degrees of negotiation and flexibility, contributed to adapt the health-related messages. The co-benefits from this co-designing community program advance the evidence to support academy-community driven interventions for pushing health and well-being at a broader social, health care and (natural) environment agenda in rural neighbourhoods.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inger Ahlstrand ◽  
Ingrid Larsson ◽  
Margaretha Larsson ◽  
Aimée Ekman ◽  
Lena Hedén ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Educational environments are considered important for strengthening students’ health status and knowledge, which is associated with good educational outcomes. It has been suggested to establish healthy universities based on a salutogenic approach—namely, health promotion. The aim of this study was to describe health-promoting resources and factors among first-semester students in higher education in healthcare and social work.Methods: This cross-sectional study is based on a survey provided to all students in seven healthcare and social work programmes from six universities in southern Sweden. The survey was performed in 2018 using a self-reported, web-based questionnaire focussing on general health and well-being, lifestyle factors and three validated instruments measuring health-promoting factors and processes—the Sense of Coherence (SOC) scale, Salutogenic Health Indicator Scale (SHIS) and Occupational Balance Questionnaire (OBQ).Results: Of 2283 students, 851 completed the survey, where 742 (87.1%) were women; 722 students participated in healthcare programmes, and 129 students participated in social work programmes. Most reported good general health and well-being (88.1% and 83.7%, respectively). The total mean scores for the SOC scale, SHIS and OBQ were 59.09 (SD = 11.78), 44.04 (SD = 9.38) and 26.40 (SD = 7.07), respectively. Well-being and several health-promoting lifestyle factors were related to better general health and higher SOC, SHIS and OBQ scores. Multiple linear and logistic regressions showed that perceived well-being and no sleeping problems significantly predicted higher general health and higher SOC, SHIS and OBQ scores. Being less sedentary and non-smoking habits were significant predictors of higher SOC.Conclusions: Swedish students in higher education within the healthcare and social work sector report good general health and well-being in the first semester, as well as health-promoting resources (i.e. SOC, SHIS and OBQ), and in some aspects, a healthy lifestyle. High-intensity exercise, no sleeping problems and non-smoking seem to be of importance to both general health and health-promotive resources. This study contributes to the health promotive characteristics of students in the healthcare and social work sectors, which is of importance for planning universities with a salutogenic approach.


Healthcare ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 160
Author(s):  
Jinlin Liu ◽  
Ying Mao

National basic public health services (BPHSs) are important for promoting the health of rural populations. A better understanding of rural BPHSs from the viewpoint of residents utilizing the services can help health-related departments and primary health care (PHC) centers further improve rural BPHSs. By conducting a large-scale cross-sectional survey in 10 western provinces of China, the study depicts rural resident experiences with rural BPHSs. Of the 9019 participants, 59.33% and 66.48% did not receive services related to health examinations or health education in the six months prior to the survey, respectively. A total of 56.90% were satisfied with the rural BPHSs, and the mean overall satisfaction score was 3.61 ± 0.908 (out of a maximum of 5). The most satisfying domain for rural residents with BPHSs was the attitude of PHC workers, whereas rural residents with chronic diseases were the least satisfied with the health management. Satisfaction with the attitude of PHC workers was identified as the strongest determinant of rural residents’ overall satisfaction with BPHSs. This study could enlighten rural BPHSs management in China.


2019 ◽  
pp. 128-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Delia Ortega Lenis ◽  
Fabián Méndez

Introduction: Colombian population is getting old in an accelerated manner, causing economic, social and health services effects. The Ministry of Health and Social Protection in the National System of Population Studies and Surveys for Health implemented the first health, well-being and aging survey- SABE-2015 Colombia- to know the living conditions of people 60 years of age or older. Objective: Describe the design of the method, statistical sampling and quality control of information from the SABE-2015 survey. Methods: A cross-sectional study, with quantitative and qualitative approaches, representative for the population in urban and rural areas aged 60 or over. Information was collected on socioeconomic variables, physical and social environment, behavior, cognition and affection, functionality, mental well-being, health conditions, and the use and access to health services. Results: 23,694 surveys were conducted, 17,189 in urban population (72.5%) and 6,505 in rural population. The percentage of effective national response was 66% in 244 municipalities. Supervision was made in 40% of the surveys and telephone re-contact in 25%. The consistency of 100% surveys was reviewed and double entry was developed in 5% of them. National estimates have a 5% margin error. Conclusion: The SABE Colombia 2015 survey is representative of the main indicators of health, well-being and aging in Colombia. The design allows regional comparisons, between large cities and urban and rural population.


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