Purpose:
To provide a nationally representative snapshot of workplace health promotion (WHP) and protection practices among United States worksites.
Design:
Cross-sectional, self-report Workplace ...Health in America (WHA) Survey between November 2016 and September 2017.
Setting:
National.
Participants:
Random sample of US worksites with ≥10 employees, stratified by region, size, and North American Industrial Classification System sector.
Measures:
Workplace health promotion programs, program administration, evidence-based strategies, health screenings, disease management, incentives, work–life policies, implementation barriers, and occupational safety and health (OSH).
Analysis:
Descriptive statistics, t tests, and logistic regression.
Results:
Among eligible worksites, 10.1% (n = 3109) responded, 2843 retained in final sample, and 46.1% offered some type of WHP program. The proportion of comparable worksites with comprehensive programs (as defined in Healthy People 2010) rose from 6.9% in 2004 to 17.1% in 2017 (P < .001). Occupational safety and health programs were more prevalent than WHP programs, and 83.5% of all worksites had an individual responsible for employee safety, while only 72.2% of those with a WHP program had an individual responsible for it. Smaller worksites were less likely than larger to offer most programs.
Conclusion:
The prevalence of WHP programs has increased but remains low across most health programs; few worksites have comprehensive programs. Smaller worksites have persistent deficits and require targeted approaches; integrated OSH and WHP efforts may help. Ongoing monitoring using the WHA Survey benchmarks OSH and WHP in US worksites, updates estimates from previous surveys, and identifies gaps in research and practice.
IntroductionPreconception health is a public health issue, concerning aspects that could have repercussions on pregnancy outcomes. Despite the importance, often there is a lack of knowledge, ...particularly among young women. This cross-sectional study aims to evaluate knowledge, attitudes and health status of young women regarding preconception health in the Italian context. MethodsFrom July 2020 until April 2021 a validated questionnaire (systematic review, Delphi procedure and pilot study) was administered to a sample of 340 women aged 18 to 25 years, without previous pregnancy and not planning it, attending secondary grade schools and universities. It collected information on knowledge, physical, sexual and mental health. T-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to determine a significant difference in knowledge mean score (KMS) among different groups. ResultsKMS was 67.6% (SD = 18.1). Participants with Italian nationality, enrolled in a health-field university, with a full-time job, a family income higher than 35,000 €/year and teachers or health providers as information source, had a significantly higher KMS. Only 15.9% of women who saw a gynaecologist in the last year (47.7%) asked about preconception health. 56.5% knew that folic acid is effective in reducing the risk of neural tube defects, while 5.9% was taking it. 82.3% was living in stressing environment. Gender-based discrimination at work, school or family was felt by 25.1%, while 38.2% experienced at least one type of violence. ConclusionsPromoting preconception health by improving knowledge, attitudes and behaviours may be an impactful possibility to improve women's, children's, and communities' health.
IntroductionCorona virus disease (COVID-19) remains pandemic globally. Vaccination is considered one of the best means to control both morbidity and mortality of COVID-19. The study aims to find out ...the people's acceptance and willingness to pay for it. MethodsThe study used cross-sectional survey design. Data were collected using a survey questionnaire from 1072 respondents (age 20-60 years) from 14 districts of Nepal. Socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents were independent and acceptance of vaccine was the dependent variable. ResultsThe study found that 84% of the respondents accepted the COVID vaccine. Only one out of six did not accept the COVID vaccine while 16% of the respondents stated that they would like to pay for the COVID vaccination. The average willingness to pay (WTP) for vaccination was NRs. 1053 (US$ 9) while median and mode remained the same NRs. 500. The middle age groups (30-49 years), respondents belonged to Madhesi, business people in terms of occupation and the respondents who had completed school level education had a higher acceptance rate than other categories. It was observed that place of residence in terms of provinces or districts, age group, caste/ethnicity, and educational level of the respondents were significantly associated with the acceptance of the COVID vaccine. Moreover, respondents residing from Lumbini Province, age group of 30-39 years, and having secondary or higher education were noticed as more likely to accept the COVID vaccine than the respective compared groups. ConclusionAppropriate information, education and communication needs to disseminate to minimize the misinformation about the COVID and lack of trust in vaccine that may lead to low acceptance and poor WTP for vaccine. These findings could be considered while making COVID and the COVID vaccine-related interventions.
IntroductionYoung adults are at the epicenter for preventing the progression of COVID-19 pandemic and must be targeted for education to impede any potential transmission of the disease. This study ...aimed to assess the knowledge, practice and behaviors of Lebanese university students regarding COVID-19. MethodsA cross-sectional study was carried out among university students at the Lebanese University between March 30, 2020, and April 4, 2020. Information on socio-demographic data, knowledge, practice, and additional information concerning COVID-19 were collected. ResultsOur survey showed that the majority of the students had good knowledge 90.8%, and more than two third of the respondents 78.6% reported good practice regarding COVID-19. Graduate students were more knowledgeable compared to undergraduate students (unstandardized beta 0.349 with a 95% confidence interval (CI) of 0.165 to 0.533; p-value < 0.0001). Moreover, male students had a negative impact on good practice compared to females (unstandardized beta -0.280 with a 95% confidence interval (CI) of -0.402 to -0.159; p-value < 0.0001). Nearly half of the students (55.2%) reported that their food intake has increased, and 82.5% of the students didn't practice sport during the quarantine. The most common information source of the students was the television (63.3%) followed by social media (53.9%). ConclusionsThis study offers useful insights into the knowledge and practices of Lebanese university students towards COVID-19. Our findings support the importance to deliver health education campaign by the ministry of public health through television and social media to improve the knowledge on disease transmission and preventive measures.
BackgroundThe advent of an effective novel COVID-19 vaccine could extinguish the current devastating pandemic but the vaccine hesitancy is a hurdle for the public health system, so this study ...estimated the COVID-19 vaccination intention and hesitancy among the healthcare workers, the priority target group for the COVID-19 vaccination in India. MethodsA web-based cross-sectional survey was conducted among the healthcare workers in Chandigarh, a union territory in North India, using a Snowball sampling technique. A total of 403 healthcare workers participated in the study between 2nd and 25th January 2021. The primary data collected were the intention to get vaccinated against the available COVID-19 vaccine and the concerns regarding the new vaccines. The attitude towards novel COVID-19 vaccine was assessed using developed Vaccine attitude examination scale. These questionnaire, which were delivered via WhatsApp, was filled by the participants over Google forms. ResultsAmong the 403 respondents surveyed, the majority (54.6%) reported they were definitely intended to get vaccinated against COVID-19, however, 7% expressed a resistance for inoculation with COVID-19 vaccination. The perceived susceptibility (aOR = 0.511, CI 0.265-0.987) and severity of COVID-19 infection (aOR = 0.551 CI 0.196-0.704) and not being concerned about the efficacy of new COVID-19 vaccines (aOR = 0.702 CI 1.109-26.55) were found to have the highest significant odds of intention to take the COVID-19 vaccine. The majority (62%) were concerned about the safety of the vaccine, in terms of side-effects, quality control, and doubted efficacy of the vaccine. The mistrust of the benefits of the vaccine is a significant predictor for vaccine hesitancy among the healthcare workers (aOR = 5.205 CI 3.106-8.723). ConclusionTherefore, strategic communication and vaccine-acceptance programs should be formulated in order to combat the prevailing mistrust on the vaccine safety and efficacy and attain effective coverage to gain herd immunity.
To quantify progress with the initiation of salt reduction strategies around the world in the context of the global target to reduce population salt intake by 30% by 2025.
A systematic review of the ...published and grey literature was supplemented by questionnaires sent to country program leaders. Core characteristics of strategies were extracted and categorised according to a pre-defined framework.
A total of 75 countries now have a national salt reduction strategy, more than double the number reported in a similar review done in 2010. The majority of programs are multifaceted and include industry engagement to reformulate products (n = 61), establishment of sodium content targets for foods (39), consumer education (71), front-of-pack labelling schemes (31), taxation on high-salt foods (3) and interventions in public institutions (54). Legislative action related to salt reduction such as mandatory targets, front of pack labelling, food procurement policies and taxation have been implemented in 33 countries. 12 countries have reported reductions in population salt intake, 19 reduced salt content in foods and 6 improvements in consumer knowledge, attitudes or behaviours relating to salt.
The large and increasing number of countries with salt reduction strategies in place is encouraging although activity remains limited in low- and middle-income regions. The absence of a consistent approach to implementation highlights uncertainty about the elements most important to success. Rigorous evaluation of ongoing programs and initiation of salt reduction programs, particularly in low- and middle- income countries, will be vital to achieving the targeted 30% reduction in salt intake.
School environments affect health and academic outcomes. With increasing secondary school retention in low-income and middle-income countries, promoting quality school social environments could offer ...a scalable opportunity to improve adolescent health and wellbeing.
We did a cluster-randomised trial to assess the effectiveness of a multi-component whole-school health promotion intervention (SEHER) with integrated economic and process evaluations in grade 9 students (aged 13–14 years) at government-run secondary schools in the Nalanda district of Bihar state, India. Schools were randomly assigned (1:1:1) to three groups: the SEHER intervention delivered by a lay counsellor (the SEHER Mitra SM group), the SEHER intervention delivered by a teacher (teacher as SEHER Mitra TSM group), and a control group in which only the standard government-run classroom-based life-skills Adolescence Education Program was implemented. The primary outcome was school climate measured with the Beyond Blue School Climate Questionnaire (BBSCQ). Students were assessed at the start of the academic year (June, 2015) and again 8 months later at the end of the academic year (March, 2016) via self-completed questionnaires. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02484014.
Of the 112 eligible schools in the Nalanda district, 75 were randomly selected to participate in the trial. We randomly assigned 25 schools to each of the three groups. One school subsequently dropped out of the TSM group, leaving 24 schools in this group. The baseline survey included a total of 13 035 participants, and the endpoint survey included 14 414 participants. Participants in the SM-delivered intervention schools had substantially higher school climate scores at endpoint survey than those in the control group (BBSCQ baseline-adjusted mean difference aMD 7·57 95% CI 6·11–9·03; effect size 1·88 95% CI 1·44–2·32, p<0·0001) and the TSM-delivered intervention (aMD 7·57 95% CI 6·06–9·08; effect size 1·88 95% CI 1·43–2·34, p<0·0001). There was no effect of the TSM-delivered intervention compared with control (aMD −0·009 95% CI −1·53 to 1·51, effect size 0·00 95% CI −0·45 to 0·44, p=0·99). Compared with the control group, participants in the SM-delivered intervention schools had moderate to large improvements in the secondary outcomes of depression (aMD −1·23 95% CI −1·89 to −0·57), bullying (aMD −0·91 95% CI −1·15 to −0·66), violence victimisation (odds ratio OR 0·62 95% CI 0·46–0·84), violence perpetration (OR 0·68 95% CI 0·48–0·96), attitude towards gender equity (aMD 0·41 95% CI 0·21–0·61), and knowledge of reproductive and sexual health (aMD 0·29 95% CI 0·06–0·53). Similar results for these secondary outcomes were noted for the comparison between SM-delivered intervention schools and TSM-delivered intervention schools (depression: aMD −1·23 95% CI −1·91 to −0·55; bullying: aMD −0·83 95% CI −1·08 to −0·57; violence victimisation: OR 0·49 95% CI 0·35–0·67; violence perpetration: OR 0·49 95% CI 0·34–0·71; attitude towards gender equity: aMD 0·23 95% CI 0·02–0·44; and knowledge of reproductive and sexual health: aMD 0·22 95% CI −0·02 to 0·47). However, no effects on these secondary outcomes were observed for the TSM-delivered intervention schools compared with the control group (depression: aMD −0·03 95% CI −0·70 to 0·65; bullying: aMD −0·08 95% CI −0·34 to 0·18; violence victimisation: OR 1·27 95% CI 0·93–1·73; violence perpetration: OR 1·37 95% CI 0·95–1·95; attitude towards gender equity: aMD 0·17 95% CI −0·09 to 0·38; and knowledge of reproductive and sexual health: aMD 0·06 95% CI −0·18 to 0·32).
The multi-component whole-school SEHER health promotion intervention had substantial beneficial effects on school climate and health-related outcomes when delivered by lay counsellors, but no effects when delivered by teachers. Future research should focus on the evaluation of the scaling up of the SEHER intervention in diverse contexts and delivery agents.
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, USA and the United Nations Population Fund India Office.
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