Naming and shaming as a strategy for enforcing the Paris Agreement: The role of political institutions and public concern.

Enforcement is a challenge for effective international cooperation. In human rights and environmental law, along with many other domains of international cooperation, "naming and shaming" is often used as an enforcement mechanism in the absence of stronger alternatives. Naming and shaming hinges on the ability to identify countries whose efforts are inadequate and effectively shame them toward better behavior. Research on this approach has struggled to identify factors that explain when it influences state behavior in ways that lead to more cooperation. Via survey of a large (N = 910) novel sample of experienced diplomats involved in the design of the Paris Agreement, we find support for the proposition that naming and shaming is most accepted and effective in influencing the behavior of countries that have high-quality political institutions, strong internal concern about climate change, and ambitious and credible international climate commitments. Naming and shaming appears less effective in other countries, so further enforcement mechanisms will be needed for truly global cooperation. We also find that the climate diplomacy experts favor a process of naming and shaming that relies on official intergovernmental actors, in contrast with studies suggesting that NGOs, media, and other private actors are more effective at naming and shaming. We suggest that these tensions-the inability for naming and shaming to work effectively within the countries least motivated for climate action and the preference for namers and shamers that seem least likely to be effective-will become central policy debates around making cooperation on climate change more enforceable.

The impact of extreme heat on workplace harassment and discrimination.

I study the impact of extreme heat on the incidence of harassment and discrimination using data on Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) charges brought forward by US Postal Service (USPS) workers. I analyze more than 800,000 EEO charges filed between FYs 2004 and 2019. I find that heat stress experienced on days when maximum temperatures exceed 90 °F increases EEO incidents by roughly 5% relative to days when temperatures are between 60 °F and 70 °F. The uncovered effect is widespread across the USPS and appears to be driven by changes in the number of incidents rather than in their reporting.

Supportive management practice and intrinsic motivation go together in the public service.

Drawing on over 4,000,000 individual and 2,000 agency observations across five countries, this paper examines the relationship between features of an employee's work environment and intrinsic motivation in public agencies. It finds that practices which foster employees' sense of autonomy, competence, and relatedness are associated with substantially higher levels of intrinsic motivation across a broad range of settings. This is true both at the individual and agency level and when examining changes within agency over time. These patterns appear to be at least partially a result of differential selection in and out of the agency, with lower levels of supportive practices associated with greater desire to exit for employees with higher levels of intrinsic motivation. Nonfinancial elements of job design are strongly associated with intrinsic motivation, as are potentially more difficult to alter features of an agency, such as satisfaction with compensation and managerial quality. There is also suggestive evidence that the relationship between agency practices and employee intrinsic motivation is stronger when tasks are more difficult to monitor.

Teamwork and Collaboration: Bright Spots of Governmental Public Health Employee Reflections on the COVID-19 Response.

The public health emergency response following the outbreak of COVID-19 necessitated greater internal public health agency teamwork and external collaboration. Building on previous research, this article is the third of 3 research briefs that highlight "bright spots" or valuable experiences and opportunities from the COVID-19 response. Using PH WINS 2021 data, we qualitatively examined responses to a question about pandemic workforce experiences. Teamwork and collaboration were emphasized as a critical component of employees' experiences. Across 260 responses, 7 subthemes emerged, generally commemorating the ways that the response effort and employees were supported by teamwork and collaboration. Findings highlight the value of ongoing cross-division teamwork within agencies, the role of leaders in teamwork, and that lessons from teamwork/collaboration experiences can inform organizational system improvements. Maintaining and expanding on improved external collaboration and partnerships should be prioritized for preparing for future emergency events and serving public health communities on a daily basis.

Exposure to ambient air pollutants is associated with an increased incidence of hyperuricemia: A longitudinal cohort study among Chinese government employees.

BACKGROUND: It is widely recognized that ambient air pollution can induce various detrimental health outcomes. However, evidence linking ambient air pollutants and hyperuricemia incidence is scarce. OBJECTIVES: To assess the association between long-term air pollution exposure and the risk of hyperuricemia. METHODS: In this study, a total of 5854 government employees without hyperuricemia were recruited and followed up from January 2018 to June 2021 in Hunan Province, China. Hyperuricemia was defined as serum uric acid (SUA) level of >420 µmol/L for men and >360 µmol/L for women or use of SUA-lowering medication or diagnosed as hyperuricemia during follow-up. Data from local air quality monitoring stations were used to calculate individual exposure levels of PM10, PM2.5, SO2 and NO2 by inverse distance weightingn (IDW) method. Cox proportional hazard model was applied to evaluate the causal relationships between air pollutant exposures and the risk of hyperuricemia occurrence after adjustment for potential confounders and meanwhile, restricted cubic spline was used to explore the dose-response relationships. RESULTS: The results indicated that exposures to PM10 (hazard ratio, HR = 1.042, 95% conficence interal, 95% CI: 1.028, 1.057), PM2.5 (HR = 1.204, 95% CI: 1.141, 1.271) and NO2 (HR = 1.178, 95% CI: 1.125,1.233) were associated with an increased HR of hyperuricemia. In addition, a nonlinear dose-response relationship was found between PM10 exposure level and the HR of hyperuricemia (p for nonlinearity = 0.158) with a potential threshold of 50.11 µg/m3. Subgroup analysis demonstrated that participants usually waking up at night and using natural ventilation were more vulnerable to the exposures of PM10, PM2.5, NO2, and SO2. CONCLUSION: Long-term exposures to ambient PM10, PM2.5 and NO2 are associated with an increased incidence of hyperuricemia among Chinese government employees.

Eliciting preferences for truth-telling in a survey of politicians.

Honesty is one of the most valued traits in politicians. Yet, because lies often remain undiscovered, it is difficult to study if some politicians are more honest than others. This paper examines which individual characteristics are correlated with truth-telling in a controlled setting in a large sample of politicians. We designed and embedded a game that incentivizes lying with a nonmonetary method in a survey answered by 816 Spanish mayors. Mayors were first asked how interested they were in obtaining a detailed report about the survey results, and at the end of the survey, they had to flip a coin to find out whether they would be sent the report. Because the probability of heads is known, we can estimate the proportion of mayors who lied to obtain the report. We find that a large and statistically significant proportion of mayors lied. Mayors that are members of the two major political parties lied significantly more. We further find that women and men were equally likely to lie. Finally, we find a negative relationship between truth-telling and reelection in the next municipal elections, which suggests that dishonesty might help politicians survive in office.

Mental health of diplomatic personnel: scoping review.

BACKGROUND: Diplomatic personnel frequently relocate as part of their roles, requiring them to adapt to various cultural and political conditions; many are also at risk of experiencing trauma from being deployed to high-threat postings. With diplomatic personnel having to balance the usual pressures of their work with the uncertainties of COVID-19 in recent years, it is particularly important now to understand how to protect their mental health. AIMS: To synthesize existing literature on the well-being of diplomatic personnel to improve understanding of how to protect their mental health. METHODS: A scoping review was carried out to explore what is already known about the well-being of staff working in diplomatic roles. Four databases were searched and reference lists, as well as one key journal, were hand-searched. RESULTS: Fifteen relevant publications were included. There was little consensus as to how the psychological well-being of diplomatic personnel compares to other populations or which factors predict well-being. Diplomats' psychological responses to traumatic experiences appeared similar to those of other trauma-exposed occupational groups. CONCLUSIONS: Further research is needed to better understand the well-being of diplomatic personnel, particularly those not deployed to high-threat posts.

Multi-level change strategies for health: learning from people-centered advocacy in Uganda.

BACKGROUND: The paper analyzes how the Accountability Can Transform Health (ACT Health) program activated bottom-up citizen action to secure government responses and more accountable health services in Uganda. The ACT Health program had two phases-Phase 1 focused on a community-level intervention studied with a randomized control trial, and Phase 2 supported citizen-led advocacy targeting government officials across multiple levels. The focus of this paper is an analysis of Phase 2, when the "people-centered advocacy" approach supported almost 400 community advocates representing 98 health facilities to organize, identify joint advocacy priorities, directly monitor health services, and collaborate on health advocacy campaigns in 18 districts. Most district campaigns focused on the complex, power-laden issue of health worker absenteeism. With a few notable exceptions, iterative cycles of engagement between citizens and the state across multiple levels are infrequently discussed in the formal literature on health accountability. METHODS: This paper is based on a comparative, inductive, practitioner-led analysis of program monitoring data from 18 multi-level health advocacy campaigns. The findings emerge from analysis of a "Heat Map," capturing grounded accounts of government responses to community-led advocacy. RESULTS: Officials in eight out of 18 districts fulfilled or surpassed commitments made to community advocates. Government responses included: increased monitoring, more downward accountability, countering backlash against advocates, applying sanctions for absent health workers, and increased budget allocations. Advocates' bottom-up advocacy worked in part through triggering top-down responses and activating governmental checks and balances. CONCLUSIONS: Methodologically, this article demonstrates the value of analyzing process monitoring and program data to understand outcomes from direct engagement between citizens and the state to improve health services. Survey-based research methods and quantitative analysis may fail to capture signs of government responsiveness and relational outcomes (such as subtle signs of shifting power dynamics) many hope to see from citizen-led accountability efforts. Practitioners' perspectives on how accountability for health emerges in practice are important correctives to much positivist research on accountability, which has a tendency to ignore the complex dynamics and processes of building citizen power.

Farming, pesticide exposure and respiratory health: a cross-sectional study in Thailand.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the association of lung function and respiratory symptoms with farming, particularly pesticide use, in an agricultural province in Thailand. METHODS: We undertook a cross-sectional survey of adults aged 40-65 in Nan province, Thailand, between May and August 2019. We randomly recruited 345 villagers and enriched the sample with 82 government employees. All participants performed post-bronchodilator spirometry and completed a questionnaire covering information on respiratory symptoms, farming activities, pesticide use and known risk factors for respiratory disease. Associations of respiratory outcomes with farming and pesticide exposures were examined by multivariable regression analysis. RESULTS: The response rate was 94%. The prevalence of chronic airflow obstruction among villagers was 5.5%. Villagers had, on average, a lower percent predicted post-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in one second/forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC) than government employees (98.3% vs 100.3%; p=0.04). There was no evidence of association of lung function with farming activities, the use of specific herbicides (glyphosate and paraquat), insecticides (organophosphates and pyrethroids) or fungicides. The exceptions were poultry farming, associated with chronic cough and an increase of FEV1/FVC, and atrazine, for which duration (p-trend <0.01), intensity (p-trend <0.01) and cumulative hours (p-trend=0.01) of use were all associated with higher FEV1/FVC in an exposure-response manner. Cumulative hours (-280 mL/hour), low duration (-270 mL/year) and intensity (-270 mL/hour/year) of atrazine use were associated with lower FVC. CONCLUSIONS: Chronic airflow obstruction is uncommon among villagers of an agricultural province in Nan, Thailand. Farming and pesticide use are unlikely to be major causes of respiratory problems there.

Lobbying and nutrition policy in Canada: a quantitative descriptive study on stakeholder interactions with government officials in the context of Health Canada's Healthy Eating Strategy.

BACKGROUND: The political activities of industry stakeholders must be understood to safeguard the development and implementation of effective public health policies. METHODS: A quantitative descriptive study was performed using data from Canada's Registry of Lobbyists to examine the frequency and governmental target of lobbying that occurred between various types of stakeholders (i.e., industry versus non-industry) and designated public office holders (DPOH) regarding Health Canada's Healthy Eating Strategy, from September/2016 to January/2021. Initiatives of interest were revisions to Canada's Food Guide, changes to the nutritional quality of the food supply, front-of-pack nutrition labelling and restrictions on food marketing to children. RESULTS: The majority of registrants (88%), and corporations and organizations (90%) represented in lobbying registrations had industry ties. Industry-affiliated stakeholders were responsible for 86% of communications with DPOH, interacting more frequently with DPOH of all ranks, compared to non-industry stakeholders. Most organizations and corporations explicitly registered to lobby on the topic of marketing to children (60%), followed by Canada's Food Guide (48%), front-of-pack nutrition labelling (44%), and the nutritional quality of the food supply (23%). The food and beverage industry, particularly the dairy industry, was the most active, accounting for the greatest number of lobbying registrations and communications, followed by the media and communication industry. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest a strategic advantage of industry stakeholders in influencing Canadian policymakers. While some safeguards have been put in place, increased transparency would allow for a better understanding of industry discourse and help protect public health interests during the policy development process.

Transparency of the national government as key in promoting the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines.

A recent correspondence discussed two important attributes of the government officials, namely, public service and common good. These two could possibly help the government in terms of promoting vaccination programs in the Philippines. This paper proposes transparency as the third attribute that could help in gaining trust from the people in promoting vaccination in the country.

Common good and public service as vital components for government officials in promoting COVID-19 vaccination.

Recent reports show that there is resistance in certain countries in regard with receiving COVID-19 vaccination. Different factors contribute to this resistance. With this, if we are to promote COVID-19 vaccination, government officials must build public trust so that the hesitancy among the citizens will be lessened. Thus, this paper proposes that in building public trust, the true essence of common good and public service must be seen from the officials so that their constituents will trust them with their decisions.

SMS texts on corruption help Ugandan voters hold elected councillors accountable at the polls.

Many politicians manipulate information to prevent voters from holding them accountable; however, mobile text messages may make it easier for nongovernmental organizations to credibly share information on official corruption that is difficult for politicians to counter directly. We test the potential for texts on budget management to improve democratic accountability by conducting a large (n = 16,083) randomized controlled trial during the 2016 Ugandan district elections. In cooperation with a local partner, we compiled, simplified, and text-messaged official information on irregularities in local government budgets. Verified recipients of messages that described more irregularities than expected reported voting for incumbent councillors 6% less often; verified recipients of messages conveying fewer irregularities than expected reported voting for incumbent councillors 5% more often. The messages had no observable effect on votes for incumbent council chairs, potentially due to voters' greater reliance on other sources of information for higher profile elections. These mixed results suggest that text messages on budget corruption help voters hold some politicians accountable in settings where elections are not free and fair.

Willingness to Pay for Social Health Insurance and Its Predictors among Government Employees in Mujja Town, Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Social health insurance is one of the possible organizational mechanisms for raising and pooling funds to finance health services, private health insurance, community insurance, and others. OBJECTIVE: The study was aimed to assess willingness to pay for social health insurance and associated factors among government employees in Mujja town, Ethiopia. METHODS: An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted on the total sample size of 375 study respondents. A simple random sampling technique was employed. Data were entered into EPI info 7 and analyzed by Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 22.0. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify independent predictors by controlling confounding variables. Statistical significance was declared at p < 0.05. RESULTS: This study revealed that 37.6% (95% CI: 33.1%, 42.61%) respondents were willing to pay for social health insurance. In the final model, respondents who ever heard about health insurance schemes were seven times (AOR = 7.205; 95% CI: 1.385, 37.475) more likely willing to pay for social health insurance. Thos who had history of difficulty and having other source to cover medical bills were 92.6% (AOR = 0.074; 95% CI: 0.009, 0.612) and 94.6% (AOR = 0.054; 95% CI: 0.011, 0.257) less likely to pay, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Willingness to pay for social health insurance was low. Being heard about health insurance, history of difficulty, and having other sources to cover medical bills were associated factors. Thus, it is recommended that media promotion and these factors should be considered for the successful implementation of the scheme.

Drinking behavior among government employees in Changsha and its influencing factors. / é•¿æ²™å¸‚å ¬èŒäººå‘˜é¥®é ’è¡Œä¸ºçŽ°çŠ¶åŠå ¶å½±å“å› ç´ .

OBJECTIVES: To analyze the prevalence and influencing factors for drinking behavior and heavy drinking among government employees in Changsha and provide a basis for carrying out interventions for drinking behaviors and formulating public health promotion plans for government employees. METHODS: Government employees were recruited consecutively from the Health Management Center of a general hospital in Changsha between December 2017 and December 2018. Information on sociodemograpic characteristics, drinking behaviors, life events, and psychosocial characteristics was collected using a standard set of questionnaire. Drinking behavior was defined as drinking once or more per week for the past 12 months. The differences in drinking rates and excessive drinking rates among groups with different characteristics were compared. Multivariate analysis was performed to analyze the associated factors of drinking behaviors and heavy drinking for government employees. RESULTS: A total of 6 190 people completed this investigation. The overall drinking rate of government employees in Changsha was 21.9%, and the rate of drinking was higher in males than that in females (44.7% vs 4.0%, P<0.01). Among the participants who drinked, the heavy drinking rates of males and females were 26.4% and 10.1%, respectively, while the harmful drinking rates of males and females were 6.0% and 2.2%, respectively. The results of multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that smoking, below high school education level, frequency of social intercourse ≥ 2 times per week, and having married or the divorced/widowed marital status were associated with alcohol drinking for male governmental employees. While aged 41 to 60 years old, frequency of social intercourse ≥ 2 times per week, life events stimulation ≥8 points were the risk factors for female; male, aged 41 to 60 years old, smoking, frequency of social intercourse≥ 2 times per week, and life events stimulation ≥1 point were the risk factors for heavy drinking. CONCLUSIONS: The drinking and heavy drinking rates of government employees are high in Changsha. Marital status, physical exercise, and frequency of social intercourse are the common influencing factors of male drinking behavior and female drinking behavior. The life events stimulation is the influencing factor of heavy drinking.

Who maintains good health functioning? The contribution of social, work-related and behavioural factors to mental and physical health functioning trajectories in ageing employees.

OBJECTIVES: The determinants of poor functioning and subsequent early exit from work are well established but very little is known about the positive determinants of maintaining good functioning among the ageing workforce. We investigated modifiable determinants of maintaining good mental and physical health functioning. METHODS: We used prospective survey data collected across four waves among the midlife employees of the City of Helsinki, Finland, 2000-2017 (n=3342). Health functioning was repeatedly measured using the Short Form 36 (SF-36) inventory. Trajectories of mental and physical health functioning were separately examined using group-based trajectory analysis. Multinomial logistic regression models were fitted to examine determinants of each trajectory. RESULTS: Four trajectory solutions for the developmental patterns in health functioning during the follow-up period were selected, with a slightly different shape of the first trajectory for mental and physical functioning: (1) continuously low (mental), low and decreasing (physical), (2) increasing, (3) decreasing and (4) continuously high functioning. After adjustments, the employees in the continuously high mental health functioning group were more likely to have optimal job demands, high job control, no sleep problems and no binge drinking behaviour. Employees in the continuously high physical functioning group had more likely low levels of physically strenuous work and hazardous working environment and no sleep problems and normal weight. CONCLUSION: High job control, good sleep and avoiding binge drinking may help maintain good mental health functioning. Low levels of physical or environmental work exposures, good sleep and recommended healthy weight may support maintenance of good physical health functioning among ageing employees.

Exposure to bullying behaviours and support from co-workers and supervisors: a three-way interaction and the effect on health and well-being.

PURPOSE: Workplace bullying can be very stressful and it has detrimental effects on health and well-being which makes it an important area of study. Social support has traditionally been seen as important in moderating work-related stress. It was hypothesised that the negative association between exposure to bullying behaviours, and health and well-being is moderated by (a) perceived support from close co-workers and (b) perceived supportive leadership. In the study, we also investigated a three-way interaction between exposure to bullying behaviours, perceived support from close co-workers and perceived supportive leadership. This association has not been studied before and add new knowledge to the research field. METHODS: We used a moderated moderation analysis of workplace bullying, co-worker support and supervisor support using cross-sectional data from a work environment survey with 1383 respondents (75% response rate). RESULTS: The moderated moderation analysis confirmed the moderating effect of perceived co-worker support but not the moderating effect of perceived supervisor support. There was a three-way interaction, but not in the case of the lowest 12.6% of perceived supervisor support scores. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that the negative effect of workplace bullying on health and well-being is weaker if victims perceive that they have co-worker support, but this protective effect seems to be conditional on the perceived level of supervisor support. In other words, lack of supportive leadership may block the beneficial effect of perceived co-worker support.

The longitudinal association between shift work and headache: results from the Danish PRISME cohort.

PURPOSE: We investigated the effect of shift work on headache. Furthermore, we investigated whether the association between shift work and headache was explained by potential mediators in terms of perceived stress, poor sleep and health behaviors. METHODS: In this longitudinal study, we used questionnaire data (collected in 2007 and 2009) from civil servants and hospital employees from the PRISME study. 2952 individuals were available for the analyses of shift work and headache and 2272 individuals were available for the analyses of shift work and migraine. Headache was operationalized as the participants' experience of "being bothered by headache during the past 4 weeks". Migraine was operationalized as "ever being diagnosed with migraine by a medical doctor". We used binary logistic regression to compare shift workers with permanent day workers and adjusted for socio-demographic factors. In a subsequent step, we adjusted for potential mediators. RESULTS: We found higher odds of unspecific headache (OR = 1.25; 95% CI 1.02-1.54) and migraine (OR = 1.72; 95% CI 1.04-2.86) among shift workers compared with day workers. Our results suggest that the effect of shift work on headache and migraine differ between men and women. Inclusion of potential mediators in the analyses did not attenuate the associations. CONCLUSION: Shift workers have higher risk of reporting being bothered by headache as well as reporting being diagnosed with migraine. Future research is needed to disentangle the underlying mechanisms with the aim of reducing headache related to occupational exposures.

Connections between viewing media about President Trump's dietary habits and fast food consumption intentions: Political differences and implications for public health.

A nationally representative sample (N = 1050) responded to a survey testing possible connections between Americans' attention to media about President Donald J. Trump's preference for fast food, their perceptions of Trump, and public perceptions and behavioral intentions regarding fast food consumption. This survey utilized measures aimed at integrating theory about audience responses to celebrity health issues with the Theory of Planned Behavior and found a significant positive relationship between attention to media about Trump's diet and perceptions that fast food is socially acceptable, as well as intentions to consume it. Some, but not all, media-related variables in the analyses were positively associated with fast food perceptions and intentions, even after controlling for demographic and psychosocial factors. Attention to media specifically about Trump's dietary habits was more often associated with fast food-related perceptions and outcomes than were other types of media attention. Additionally, having a positive parasocial relationship with Trump was positively associated with increased perceived acceptability of fast food. There were also differences in the connections between attention to media about Trump's diet, parasocial relationships with Trump, and fast food perceptions and consumption intentions for audiences with different political affiliations. For instance, attention to media about Trump in general was positively associated with more positive attitudes toward fast food for Republicans, but not for Democrats are those unaffiliated with either political party. Attention to media specifically about Trump's diet was positively related to fast food attitudes for both Republicans and Democrats but not unaffiliated individuals. This study demonstrates the important role of social, political, and media influences in shaping fast food related perceptions and preferences and offers many potential avenues for future research in this area.

A Retrospective Study of Federal Employees' Outcomes Following A Smoking Cessation Intervention.

This retrospective study aimed to describe the federal employee population who participated in Federal Occupational Health's (FOH) smoking cessation intervention and to examine relationships and factors that influenced smoking cessation within this population. A large-scale national database of federal employees who participated in the smoking cessation intervention from January 2009 to January 2019 was obtained from FOH's administrators. The sample included 1265 participants who completed the survey 6 months post intervention. Descriptive statistics, chi square (c2), Pearson's correlation, and logistic regression were used to describe and correlate variables. Out of 1243 smokers, 590 (47.5%) successfully quit smoking while 653 (52.5%) did not quit smoking post intervention. Employees smoked, on average, for 23 years and smoked 18 cigarettes (more than ½ pack) per day before quitting. There was a positive correlation between the number of cigarettes smoked and number of years smoked before quitting. As the number of cigarettes and length of time smoking increased, the odds of quitting increased. FOH's cessation intervention helped participants quit smoking. FOH is positioned to integrate cessation strategies with its health promotion and protection programs to help end tobacco-related illnesses and diseases. The investigators' findings provide important evidence and support for FOH's work-site smoking cessation intervention. FOH could collaborate with other federal entities and provide evidence-based smoking cessation interventions with limited or no barriers.