Exploring Early Adopter Baby Boomers' Approach to Managing Their Health and Healthcare

The Patient 3.0 Profile is used to explore to the patient engagement strategies of early adopter baby boomers' in three domains: 1) patient relationships, 2) health information use and 3) consumer health technology (CHT) use. Findings from six focus groups with early adopter boomers challenge prior notions about older adults' passive approach to patient engagement. Baby boomers want to make final healthcare decisions with input from providers. While adept at finding and critically assessing online health information for self-education and self-management, boomers want providers to curate relevant and trustworthy information. Boomers embrace CHTs offered through providers (i.e., patient portals, email and text messaging) and sponsored by wellness programs (i.e., diet and activity devices and apps). However, there is no indication they add information to their online medical records or use CHT for diagnosis, treatment or disease management. Additional resources are needed to encourage widespread adoption, support patient effectiveness, and confirm cost-benefit.

The Effect of Wellness Programs on Long-Term Contract Employees' Workplace Stress, Absenteeism, and Presenteeism

The quasi-experimental study reported in the present article is aimed at increasing the understanding of the effects of long-term contract employees participating in wellness programs. The reported study examines the effect (if any) that a wellness program has on workplace stress, absenteeism, and presenteeism for long-term contract employees participating in a wellness program. A one group pretest-posttest design was used. Convenience sampling was conducted in a hospital in the New York City Metro area. Data was collected from 19 participants. Paired sample t-test and a Wilcoxon signed-rank test were used to determine if there was a significant statistical difference before and after a dance aerobic exercise intervention. The instruments used to gather data were the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the World Health Organization Health Performance Questionnaire (HPQ). The results indicated a statistical difference for workplace stress, but no statistical difference for absenteeism and presenteeism.

A national study of the availability of law enforcement agency wellness programming for officers: A latent class analysis

The purpose of this study is to understand the availability of employee wellness programs within law enforcement agencies (LEAs) across the United States, including physical fitness, resilience/wellness, coping skills, nutrition, mental health treatment, and substance use treatment. The research team investigated whether patterns of LEA wellness programming are identifiable and, if so, what characteristics describe these patterns. We assess using latent class analysis whether there are distinct profiles of agencies with similar patterns offering different types of wellness programs and explore what characteristics distinguish agencies with certain profiles of wellness programming. Data were from a nationally representative sample of 1135 LEAs: 80.1% municipal, 18.6% county and 1.3% other agencies (state-level and Bureau of Indian Affairs LEAs). We found that many agencies (62%) offer no wellness programming. We also found that 23% have comprehensive wellness programming, and that another group of agencies specialize in specific wellness programming. About 14% of the agencies have a high probability of providing resilience coping skill education, mental health and/or substance use treatment services programming. About 1% of the agencies in the United States limit their programming to fitness and nutrition, indicating that fitness and nutrition programs are more likely to be offered in concert with other types of wellness programs. The analyses revealed that agencies offering broad program support are more likely to be large, municipal LEAs located in either the West, Midwest or Northeast (compared with the southern United States), and not experiencing a recent budget cut that impacted wellness programming.

Assessing the quality of distance learning in the discipline “physical culture and sports” in the educational process of the university

The pandemic announced in the world requires non-standard solutions from teachers to implement a full-fledged educational process in the higher education system of the Russian Federation. The academic discipline Physical Culture and Sports is no exception. The use of accessible and modern wellness programs in the classroom is necessary for the full maintenance and strengthening of students ' health, increasing their motor activity during the day. Special responsibility is assigned to teachers who are able to organize a competent educational process in the context of distance learning, while observing all the principles of teaching. Modern information technologies have made it possible to conduct training sessions online on the Mirapolis platform. To do this, we used selected wellness programs published on YouTube, the Fitify program and the Pacer pedometer. Students studied under the guidance of a teacher, using a video link. Thus, the teacher could not only control the correctness of the exercises, but also adjust the programs. At the end of the semester of distance learning in the discipline Physical Culture and Sports, a survey of students was conducted, the purpose of which was to analyze the degree of their satisfaction with the organization and methodology of classes. The greatest difficulties in physical education (6.3% of respondents) were caused by 1st year students, nevertheless, the motivation for physical education has not changed. More than 50% of respondents are satisfied with the received physical activity in distance classes. Among the positive aspects of distance learning were noted: the absence of the need to spend time on the way to and from the place of study and, as a result, the availability of more free time 79%, low risk of infection (71%), the opportunity to study at an individual pace (56%). For 40% of respondents, it is an opportunity to use modern technologies. Thus, the results showed that the majority of students adapted well to the organization of distance learning at SPbGUP, including in the discipline physical culture and sports.

Taking Age-Friendly Campus Efforts to New PEAKS

The University of North Georgia’s Personal Enrichment, Action, Knowledge Series (PEAKS) was developed as a monthly series of engaging and seasonally appropriate presentations and activities designed to expressly meet the needs of the region’s large and quickly growing older adult population during the Covid-19 pandemic and resultant isolation. The PEAKS programs are available virtually to allow for broad participation throughout the 30 county UNG service region. While we developed PEAKS to specifically reach-out to older adults in our region, we have found that our audience is actually multi-generational, actively engaging with our speakers and one another. AFU underpinnings for PEAKS include Principle #8 - To enhance access for older adults to the university's range of health and wellness programs and its arts and cultural activities; and #9 - To engage actively with the university's own retired community.

Fit for the Next Fifty Exercise Program: 25 Years of Reflections, Results, and Partnerships

Consistent exercise provides a multitude of physical, social, and emotional benefits. Common barriers to regular exercise for older adults include time, transportation, risk of injury, existing limitations, and negative experiences or attitudes about exercise. Fit for the Next Fifty is a comprehensive exercise and wellness program designed to address barriers and excuses. The program , based in CNY, has an impressive 25 year history of providing a unique mix of aerobic, strength training, yoga, and balance-based ballet. Participants (100-120) attend up to 5 classes per week at no charge during summer months and continue through winter months for a small fee. Developing and sustaining funding partnerships has been critical to the long-term success of Fit for the Next Fifty. Participants, ages 60-96, are active providers of feedback and suggestions, a key component to keeping the music, movements, and fellowship enjoyable and meaningful for over two decades. Program details, participant pictures and testimonials, research results, surveys across the years, and partnering/funding strategies provided. Of special interest is the social support dimension of the program. Participants have developed a sophisticated network to support each other outside of the exercise and wellness programs provided by Fit for the Next Fifty.

Case law: Learning tools for organizations

Purpose In this paper, we examine the use of court cases as learning tools for organizations, drawing upon a case involving a workplace wellness program. The study measures employee perceptions and provides an insight into employee beliefs about wellness plan programming. Practical insights for organizations wanting to incorporate court cases into organizational learning are provided. Design/methodology/approach This exploratory study was conducted via Amazon Mechanical Turk survey data (n= 396). We asked participants about their levels of trust in employer-sponsored wellness programs, their understanding of wellness program parameters and limitations, and their perceptions of liability by utilizing the 2017 Whitman v. Interactive Health Solutions court case. Findings The results of this study show that, although employees may not fully understand their employer-sponsored wellness programs, they have a high degree of trust in their employers. Additionally, employees have strong beliefs about potential employer and third-party vendor liability when unintended consequences related to wellness plan programming occur. Originality/value This study adds to the small, but growing body of research focused on wellness programming in the workplace. Additionally, by measuring employee perceptions of this court case, we discovered a unique approach to problem-based learning.