An integrated approach to health, wellbeing, and productivity at work: a design of a stepped wedge worksite intervention study.

BACKGROUND: Despite an intensive focus on workers' health during recent decades, the prevalence of work-related diseases remains unchanged in Denmark and internationally. Therefore, USA and Australian researchers have initiated new paradigms for integration of health promotion, prevention of work-related disease, and organization of work. Inspired by the Australian WorkHealth Improvement Network program (WIN), this paper describes the background, design, intervention methodologies, and evaluation methods of an Integrated Approach to Health, Wellbeing, and Productivity at Work (ITASPA) intervention aiming to prevent work-related injuries and diseases and promote the health, safety, and wellbeing of the worker. METHODS: Using a stepped wedge design, worksites will be enrolled at baseline and offered the intervention starting at different times. Data will be collected at baseline, before the off-set of the intervention, and after each implementation period. The effect evaluation will be based on a mixed-methods approach. The qualitative data are based on semi-structured interviews and focus groups. The quantitative data consists of questionnaires, anthropometrics, and resting blood pressure and will be analyzed based on the intention-to-treat principle in linear mixed models with random slope and intercept. DISCUSSION: Integrated interventions are shown to increase overall health and safety at worksites more effectively and rapidly than more narrowly focused programs. Still, previous integrated interventions are lacking successful implementation. In ITASPA, the effects of the intervention is tested in a strong scientific mixed-methods design. Thus, the ITASPA project contributes to the knowledge about what characterizes a best practice for the implementation of integrated worksite interventions. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ITASPA is retrospectively registered in Clinicaltrials.gov on May 19, 2023 (NCT05866978).

Experiences managing pregnant hospital staff members using an active management policy-A qualitative study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: During pregnancy, absence from work increases significantly. Job adjustments have been shown to decrease absences; however, studies show only half of pregnant women who need job adjustments receive them. Little is known about the viewpoints of managers and possible challenges in the management of pregnant employees. The aim of this study was to investigate the experiences and considerations of managers in relation to managing pregnant hospital staff members and to describe the experiences of an active management policy for pregnant individuals. METHODS: A qualitative study based on five focus group interviews was conducted at five public hospitals in Zealand, Denmark with participation of 19 hospital managers, from 17 different wards, representing six different medical specialties. The interviews took place from February to May 2019. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. RESULTS: Four themes were identified: (1) The everyday management, (2) Managerial dilemmas, (3) Acknowledging the workplace culture, and (4) Dialogue as a means for the working relationship. The managers' experiences revolved around investing a lot of effort into the working relationship with pregnant staff members by adjusting job tasks and work schedules while balancing work tasks between all staff members. The dialogue was considered central in order to identify the needs of the individual staff member. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, management dialogue constituted a central tool in order to identify the needs of the individual staff member. A proactive and open approach increased the chances of a fruitful dialogue. The individual staff member, the influence of the workplace culture, and the everyday management of the workplace all shaped the experiences of the managers. The concept of an active management policy for pregnant individuals was perceived to entail useful elements, but also as replicating what managers already did.

[Integrated prevention and health-promoting measures in the work environment].

Despite numerous efforts to prevent work-related illnesses and health-promoting measures in the work environment, an increased number of employees find themselves mentally stressed, and work-related musculoskeletal problems are still common. To overcome these problems, new methods have been developed integrating preventive and health-promotion efforts in the work environment with a clear organisational foundation. Recent research has shown good results from these integrated approaches as shown in this review, and this may be the key to create a work environment, which may even improve the health of employees.

[Occupational allergic asthma in a laboratory animal keeper with COPD].

This is a case report of a 63-year-old woman, who had worked as a laboratory animal keeper for 23 years. She developed increasing symptoms of rhinitis, coughing and shortness of breath and was diagnosed and treated for COPD based on her smoking history and spirometry results. She went on sick leave due to dyspnoea, and after testing she was diagnosed with occupational allergic asthma from rodents. Her lung function was at this point significantly reduced. Occupational asthma is common, and occupational causes of respiratory symptoms should always be taken into consideration when assessing patients in the working population.

Exercise interventions to improve postural malalignments in head, neck, and trunk among adolescents, adults, and older people: systematic review of randomized controlled trials.

Despite the widespread use of postural correction in exercise interventions, limited experimental evidence exists for its effectiveness. The present study aimed to systematically review the literature on the efficacy of exercise interventions in improving postural malalignment in head, neck, and trunk. A systematic review was performed by screening four scientific databases (MEDLINE, Web of Science, EBSCO, and Cochrane database) for published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in English from 1996-2019. The review followed the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) statement guidelines. Two researchers independently performed study screening, extracting data and assessing the risk of bias for each included study using the Cochrane Collaboration tool for evaluating the risk of bias. A total of 22 RCTs comprising 1,209 participants were identified for inclusion in the review. There was a high risk of bias across most of the included studies (12 studies). Only two studies were classified as low risk of bias, and eight studies were classified as moderate risk of bias. The intervention duration ranged from 2 to 13 weeks, frequency from 2 to 4 days per week, and duration of each session between 15 to 60 min. The insufficiency and quality of included studies did not allow an integrated assessment of the efficacy of exercise interventions on postural malalignments; however, the positive effects noticed in most of the studies indicate some advantages but underscores the necessity of adequately designed RCTs in this field.

[Favism after ingestion of fava beans in a three-year-old child with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency].

A three-year-old Syrian boy was hospitalized with symptoms of acute haemolytic anaemia after ingestion of fava beans. He was stabilized by blood transfusion, and genetic examination revealed glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency. Oxidative stress, e.g. ingestion of fava beans, can induce acute haemolytic anaemia in affected individuals. Approximately 400 million people worldwide suffer from G6PD deficiency. The prevalence is high in African, Mediterranean and Middle East countries. Due to increased immigration, we might expect the condition to occur more often in Danish healthcare.