Psychosocial work environment and mental health among the global workforce of seafarers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health outcomes of international seafarers, who played a crucial role in maintaining global trade during the pandemic. The study examined how changes in psychosocial work environment and policies affected mental health outcomes among seafarers. METHODS: We analyzed a survey including answers from 17,861 seafarers, serving on 44 different international commercial vessels with 154 different nationalities. Stress, anxiety, and depression were applied as outcome measures in this study. Three sets of independent variables were included; work-related consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, general psychosocial work environment onboard, and socioeconomic variables. First, we applied binary linear regression, followed by a multivariate linear regression analysis. RESULTS: The study found that changes in safety consciousness and clear communication from employers were associated with better mental health outcomes among seafarers. Eroded policies related to crew changes had a significant negative effect on mental wellbeing due to delays caused by national quarantine guidelines and travel restrictions. The results also showed a discrepancy in mental health outcomes between those onboard and those onshore, with stress being present in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that crisis management within shipping companies played an important role in mitigating adverse mental health outcomes during the pandemic. Clear communication from employers and emphasizing safety issues onboard were effective strategies for promoting better mental wellbeing among seafarers. However, delays in crew changes had a significant negative impact on mental health outcomes, highlighting the need for global cooperation and overarching agreements to protect international seafarers during times of crises.

Preparing for future pandemics: A multi-national comparison of health and economic trade-offs.

Government investment in preparing for pandemics has never been more relevant. The COVID-19 pandemic has stimulated debate regarding the trade-offs societies are prepared to make between health and economic activity. What is not known is: (1) how much the public in different countries are prepared to pay in forgone GDP to avoid mortality from future pandemics; and (2) which health and economic policies the public in different countries want their government to invest in to prepare for and respond to the next pandemic. Using a future-focused, multi-national discrete choice experiment, we quantify these trade-offs and find that the tax-paying public is prepared to pay $3.92 million USD (Canada), $4.39 million USD (UK), $5.57 million USD (US) and $7.19 million USD (Australia) in forgone GDP per death avoided in the next pandemic. We find the health policies that taxpayers want to invest in before the next pandemic and the economic policies they want activated once the next pandemic hits are relatively consistent across the countries, with some exceptions. Such results can inform economic policy responses and government investment in health policies to reduce the adverse impacts of the next pandemic.

Determinants of welfare benefit use of immigrant groups - longitudinal evidence from Germany.

While recent literature in Germany has compared predictors of welfare use between EU and non-EU immigrants, refugees have yet to be added to the analysis. Using survey data of approximately 4,000 immigrants living in Germany, I examine the determinants of basic unemployment benefits receipt for intra-EU immigrants, refugees, and third country immigrants. In particular, I investigate how education affects the likelihood of welfare use for each immigrant group. Even after controlling for human capital factors, sociodemographic characteristics, and factors related to migration such as legal status and age at migration, refugees remain significantly more likely to receive benefits. Results demonstrate that higher education significantly decreases the likelihood of welfare receipt for EU and third country immigrants, but much less so for refugees. These findings may indicate that refugees' education is not being used to its full potential in the labor market or that they face additional challenges hindering their labor market integration. A further and unanticipated finding is that immigrants who hold permanent residency or German citizenship are less likely to receive unemployment benefits, pointing either to positive effects of a secure residency or selection into permanent residency and citizenship among those with the greatest labor market success. Overall, this research shows that challenges beyond human capital deficiencies and sociodemographic characteristics must be considered when studying immigrants' receipt of social benefits, that not all educational credentials are valued equally, and that the experiences of refugees differ in significant ways from those of other immigrant groups.

Sexual Harassment in the Academy: Harnessing the Growing Labor Movement in Higher Education to Address Sexual Harassment Against Graduate Workers.

Higher education is not immune to the epidemic of sexual harassment in the United States, particularly sexual harassment of graduate workers. This is due largely to power differentials of status and income, as academia relies on low-wage work. While the literature shows sexual harassment is prevalent across disciplines, current work to address the problem does not account for graduate worker precarity. The graduate labor movement, which addresses precarity, is beginning to tackle sexual harassment. We review how the labor and anti-gender-based violence movements in higher education should come together to prevent sexual harassment, presenting recommendations for structural changes to academia.

Personal Determinants of Burden Among Indonesian Female Caregivers of Older Adults in Taiwan.

INTRODUCTION: Families increasingly employ foreign domestic workers (FDWs) to care for older loved ones. Caregiver burden reflects FDWs' difficulty adapting to work demands. We test hypothesized associations between burden and six personal characteristics: children, marriage, education, Chinese proficiency, eldercare experience, and non-eldercare experience. METHOD: In total, 299 Indonesian FDWs in Taiwan completed the Zarit Burden Interview. Exploratory factor analysis identified the dimensions of burden. Multiple and multinomial regressions related the variables to overall burden, burden dimensions, and burden severity. RESULTS: Four dimensions were found: personal strain, role strain, dependency, and guilt. Children were negatively associated with burden, role strain, dependency, and guilt. Chinese proficiency was negatively associated with severity and guilt. Eldercare experience was positively associated with severity and personal strain. Marriage was non-monotonically related to severity. CONCLUSION: Caregivers whose earnings benefit their children may be more likely to thrive in Taiwan. Language training may boost caregiver performance and host family satisfaction.

Assessing Physicians' Recall Bias of Work Hours With a Mobile App: Interview and App-Recorded Data Comparison.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown inconsistencies in the accuracy of self-reported work hours. However, accurate documentation of work hours is fundamental for the formation of labor policies. Strict work-hour policies decrease medical errors, improve patient safety, and promote physicians' well-being. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to estimate physicians' recall bias of work hours with a mobile app, and to examine the association between the recall bias and physicians' work hours. METHODS: We quantified recall bias by calculating the differences between the app-recorded and self-reported work hours of the previous week and the penultimate week. We recruited 18 physicians to install the "Staff Hours" app, which automatically recorded GPS-defined work hours for 2 months, contributing 1068 person-days. We examined the association between work hours and two recall bias indicators: (1) the difference between self-reported and app-recorded work hours and (2) the percentage of days for which work hours were not precisely recalled during interviews. RESULTS: App-recorded work hours highly correlated with self-reported counterparts (r=0.86-0.88, P<.001). Self-reported work hours were consistently significantly lower than app-recorded hours by -8.97 (SD 8.60) hours and -6.48 (SD 8.29) hours for the previous week and the penultimate week, respectively (both P<.001). The difference for the previous week was significantly correlated with work hours in the previous week (r=-0.410, P=.01), whereas the correlation of the difference with the hours in the penultimate week was not significant (r=-0.119, P=.48). The percentage of hours not recalled (38.6%) was significantly higher for the penultimate week (38.6%) than for the first week (16.0%), and the former was significantly correlated with work hours of the penultimate week (r=0.489, P=.002). CONCLUSIONS: Our study identified the existence of recall bias of work hours, the extent to which the recall was biased, and the influence of work hours on recall bias.

Inserción laboral de personas en situación de discapacidad en América Latina / Employability of people with disabilities in Latin America

Resumen Este artículo presenta una revisión bibliográfica sobre la inserción laboral de las personas en situación de discapacidad en América Latina. Se analizan leyes, informes técnicos y artículos científicos. Los resultados muestran un marco para la inserción laboral de las personas en situación de discapacidad constituido por la existencia de distintos instrumentos legales. Sin embargo, el desempleo, la pobreza, desigualdad y falta de oportunidades afectan a este colectivo. Las discusiones giran en torno a la necesidad de consolidar políticas públicas con el propósito de mejorar las condiciones de vida de estos seres humanos.

Abstract This article is a literature review about labor insertion of people with disabilities in Latin America. It analyzed different documents (regulations, technical reports and papers). The results show the existence of a legal frame in the region for inclusion of people with disabilities. However, unemployment, poverty, inequality, and lack of opportunities affect this group. The discussions concentrate on the need to consolidate public policies and priority actions to transform the lives of these people.

Workplace health promotion for older workers: a systematic literature review.

BACKGROUND: Aging of the workforce is a growing problem. As workers age, their physical, physiological and psychosocial capabilities change. Keeping older workers healthy and productive is a key goal of European labor policy and health promotion is a key to achieve this result. Previous studies about workplace health promotion (WHP) programs are usually focused on the entire workforce or to a specific topic. Within the framework of the EU-CHAFEA ProHealth65+ project, this paper aims to systematically review the literature on WHP interventions specifically targeted to older workers (OWs). METHODS: This systematic review was conducted by making a comprehensive search of MEDLINE, ISI Web of Science, SCOPUS, The Cochrane Library, CINAHL and PsychINFO databases. Search terms included ageing (and synonyms), worker (and synonyms), intervention (and synonyms), and health (and synonyms). The search was limited to papers in English or Italian published between January, 1(st) 2000 and May, 31(st) 2015. Relevant references in the selected articles were also analyzed. RESULTS: Of the 299 articles initially identified as relating to the topic, 18 articles met the inclusion criteria. The type, methods and outcome of interventions in the WHP programs retrieved were heterogenous, as was the definition of the age at which a worker is considered to be 'older'. Most of the available studies had been conducted on small samples for a limited period of time. CONCLUSION: Our review shows that, although this issue is of great importance, studies addressing WHP actions for OWs are few and generally of poor quality. Current evidence fails to show that WHP programs improve the work ability, productivity or job retention of older workers. In addition, there is limited evidence that WHP programs are effective in improving lifestyles and concur to maintain the health and well-being of older workers. There is a need for future WHP programs to be well-designed so that the effectiveness and cost-benefit of workplace interventions can be properly investigated.

Impact of states' nurse work hour regulations on overtime practices and work hours among registered nurses.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the degree to which states' work hour regulations for nurses-policies regarding mandatory overtime and consecutive work hours-decrease mandatory overtime practice and hours of work among registered nurses. METHODS: We analyzed a nationally representative sample of registered nurses from the National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses for years 2004 and 2008. We obtained difference-in-differences estimates of the effect of the nurse work hour policies on the likelihood of working mandatory overtime, working more than 40 hours per week, and working more than 60 hours per week for all staff nurses working in hospitals and nursing homes. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The mandatory overtime and consecutive work hour regulations were significantly associated with 3.9 percentage-point decreases in the likelihood of working overtime mandatorily and 11.5 percentage-point decreases in the likelihood of working more than 40 hours per week, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: State mandatory overtime and consecutive work hour policies are effective in reducing nurse work hours. The consecutive work hour policy appears to be a better regulatory tool for reducing long work hours for nurses.