Worksite Wellness

The Cons of Traditional Worksite Wellness Interventions and a Proposed Model

Elizabeth Ablah, PhD, MPH

 

Keywords worksite wellness model, traditional, workplace, modifiable behaviors

With the intention of improving workers’ health and productivity and/or a worksite’s profit, worksites across the United States are offering traditional worksite wellness interventions, such as collecting biometric data or facilitating weight-loss competitions.¹ Although a growing body of research on worksite wellness can inform these interventions, a gap exists among practitioners and to some extent in the worksite wellness literature. Despite advances in research, such as the relevant influence of the built environment on one’s behavior²and the need to focus on preventing the root causes of chronic disease,^3-7 there appears to be little recognition of these advances among practitioners and researchers in the offered interventions. As such, it is important to differentiate between a traditional approach to worksite wellness and a more comprehensive approach to worksite wellness. This commentary provides a working definition of a traditional worksite wellness model and proposes a more comprehensive model.

Vagas para mais de 50 anos

A AMICOR Ana Lúcia Robinson Achutti recomenda:

JOVEM CRIA PLATAFORMA COM VAGAS DE EMPREGO PARA PESSOAS COM MAIS DE 50 ANOS

Mórris Litvak se inspirou em sua avó, que trabalhou até os 80 anos de idade, para criar a Maturi Jobs

03.03.2017|Por 

Rennan A. Julio

Mórris Litvak, fundador da Maturi Jobs, plataforma de emprego para pessoas mais velhas (Foto: Divulgação)

OBrasil vive um momento difícil para certa faixa da população. Com a crise, muitas pessoas na faixa dos 50 e 60 anos perderam seus empregos e agora se encontram em uma situação muito delicada: não conseguem se recolocar no mercado e ainda não podem se aposentar.

LEIA TAMBÉM

• Projeto tem banco de vagas para profissionais trans

Foi pensando nisso que o empreendedor Mórris Litvak teve a ideia de lançar uma plataforma de empregos para pessoas mais velhas, conectando empresas interessadas neste tipo de mão de obra a quem não quer – e nem pode – parar de trabalhar./.../

SAFETY AND HEALTH AT WORK 2013

Appointed by the AMICOR Berenice Goelzer

WORLD DAY FOR SAFETY AND HEALTH AT WORK 2013

 

The Cochrane Reviews highlighted here are freely available while this Special Collection is featured on The Cochrane Library homepage. 

INTRODUCTION

The International Labour Organisation celebrates the World day for Safety and Health at Work on the 28th of April, with a theme for 2013 of prevention of occupational diseases (www.ilo.org). Labour unions worldwide also commemorate workers who have died at work or as a result of exposure at work on this day.

Fortunately, many statistics indicate that workplace health and safety have improved over time. Occupational injury rates in the US show a steady decline over the past 100 years, and exposure to chemical agents in the US and Europe has also decreased considerably in the past forty odd years.[1] However, uncertainty about what specific interventions led to these improvements makes it difficult to select appropriate interventions in countries where rates remain high. Moreover, there are still occupational health statistics that are not favourable at all. Noise-induced hearing loss, work-related musculoskeletal disorders, stress-related complaints and skin disorders remain very prevalent. Other less prevalent conditions (for example HIV and Hepatitis C) have extremely serious consequences, and so protecting workers from these risks remains a high priority.

The Cochrane Occupational Safety & Health Review Group has selected a number of recent Cochrane Reviews that explore the evidence for interventions aimed at preventing occupational diseases. These can be used by employers to develop preventive policy and practice and achieve tangible health benefits for their employees.

References:[1] Creely KS, Cowie H, Van TM, Kromhout H, Tickner J, Cherrie JW. Trends in inhalation exposure--a review of the data in the published scientific literature. Ann Occup Hyg 2007;51(8):665-78.

qualidade no ambiente de trabalho

Indicação da AMICOR Maria Inês Reinert Azambuja

ANO 116 Nº 121 - PORTO ALEGRE, SÁBADO, 29 DE JANEIRO DE 2011

Mais qualidade no ambiente de trabalho

A Organização das Nações Unidas está solicitando a todos os governos que façam gestões no sentido de que os trabalhadores possam dispor de um ambiente de trabalho saudável para desenvolver suas funções. Para isso, espera que campanhas sejam feitas a fim de sensibilizar os empresários para que eles adotem medidas preventivas e protetivas. Segundo o secretário-geral da Organização das Nações Unidas, Ban Ki-moon, a estimativa é que 60% das doenças não transmissíveis, como câncer, diabetes, problemas respiratórios e ocorrências de acidente vascular cerebral (AVC), poderiam ser evitadas com a redução dos fatores de risco. O dirigente da entidade prevê que, a se manterem as condições atuais, as ocorrências dessas patologias deverão aumentar significativamente até 2030, com maior incidência de doenças crônicas nos países da África, do Oriente Médio e do Sudeste da Ásia, onde esse aumento poderá ficar em torno de 50%. Um outro dado trazido por Ban Ki-moon diz respeito ao fato de que essas moléstias referidas são as causas diretas da morte de um contingente em torno de 35 milhões de pessoas com idade inferior a 70 anos em todo o mundo. Em sua intervenção no Fórum Econômico Mundial de Davos, na Suíça, ressaltou que isso não pode continuar acontecendo. Deixou claro que esse desafio precisa ser enfrentado com iniciativas eficazes e que os países emergentes precisam assumir suas responsabilidades. Considerou que se faz necessária uma ampla articulação entre os setores público e privado a fim de minorar os efeitos de relações de trabalho bastante precárias. É contraditório que se possa imaginar um trabalhador que fez um grande esforço para se colocar no mercado de trabalho sem poder exercer suas funções de forma digna, arcando ainda com prejuízos para sua saúde. Além de obter uma vaga, é preciso que sua cidadania seja respeitada, pois o emprego aviltante não condiz com o que se espera de uma sociedade civilizada.

EDITORIAL > correio@correiodopovo.com.br

Global Atlas of the Health Workforce

Global Atlas of the Health Workforce
There is a growing need for high quality information on human resources in health systems to inform decision making for policies and programmes at the national and international levels. The WHO Department of Human Resources for Health has been collecting and compiling cross-nationally comparable data on health workers in all WHO Member States. The data available in the Global Atlas of the Health Workforce is the main outcome of this effort. Estimates of the stock (absolute numbers) and density (per 1000 population) of the health workforce are available here for 193 Member States. National-level data refer to the active health workforce, that is, all persons currently participating in the health labour market. Counting health workers poses challenges, including how to define them. The World Health Report 2006 defines health workers as "all people engaged in actions whose primary intent is to enhance health." Various permutations and combinations of what constitutes the health workforce potentially exist depending of each country's situation and the means of measurement. The information presented here reflects a framework for harmonizing the boundaries and constituency of the health workforce across contexts. Two sets of data are contained in the Global Atlas: a main (aggregated) set and a disaggregated set. The aggregated dataset includes estimates of the stock and density of health workers for up to 9 occupational categories. This includes: (i) physicians; (ii) nursing and midwifery personnel; (iii) dentistry personnel; (iv) pharmaceutical personnel; (v) laboratory health workers; (vi) environmental and public health workers; (vii) community and traditional health workers; (viii) other health service providers; and (ix) health management and support workers, that is, those who do not provide services directly but are critical to the performance of health systems. In the disaggregated dataset, estimates of the stock of health workers are available for some countries for up to 18 occupational categories, reflecting greater distinction of some categories of workers according to assumed differences in skill level and skill specialization. More information on the framework for categorizing health workers can be found in the definition notes. /.../