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Recruiting for wellness initiatives is challenging. WorkWell KS, a statewide worksite wellness initiative, offers unique worksite recruitment strategies that may serve as lessons. From 2012 to 2018, WorkWell KS utilized champions, well-connected local leaders, to recruit worksites. A total of 784 worksites were recruited for at least one WorkWell KS workshop. A survey of champions requested identification of strategies, barriers and facilitators for successful recruitment and continued engagement. Forty-three champions reported on recruitment experiences. Sixty-three percent of respondents attributed recruitment success to having funding to complete their work. Face-to-face meetings was the most commonly reported successful strategy. Eighty-six percent of respondents reported that improving employee health was motivation for worksites to participate. Champions with a significant funding incentive for worksites commonly indicated that funding was a motivating factor. The most commonly selected factor for continued engagement was having a worksite staff member with wellness in their job description (67% of respondents). Forty-nine percent of respondents reported worksites' lack of time as a barrier to participation. The WorkWell KS initiative has implemented innovative recruitment methods that leverage well-connected leaders to recruit worksites to participate in a comprehensive worksite wellness initiative. Future worksite-based initiatives may benefit from adopting recruitment strategies presented here.

Intervention: In an effort to increase physical activity, 15 workplaces participated in a minimal-contact 10,000-steps-a-day program sponsored by the Sedgwick County Health Department in 2007 and 2008. Pedometers were provided to measure participants' weekly steps for the 10-week intervention. Method: Participants were defined as those who completed the preregistration survey and logged at least 1 week of results. Registrants were defined as those who completed a registration survey but did not log any weekly results. The primary dependent variable was whether or not participants achieved weekly success, as measured by achieving at least 70,000 steps in a week. A secondary dependent variable was participants' number of steps each week during the weeks they logged results. Repeated measures logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify factors associated with weekly success. Results: Of the 2,515 registrants, 1,292 (51%) were participants. The average number of weeks of participation for this 10-week intervention was 5.6 weeks (SD = 3.4). Those from small employers (n < 750) were more likely (OR = 2.0) than those from large organizations (n > 750) to become participants. Participants who achieved at least 70,000 steps in the first week of the intervention were 7.3 times more likely than participants who walked less than 70,000 steps in the first week to achieve 70,000 steps each week for all 10 weeks. Conclusions: Results from implementing a minimal-contact 10,000-step intervention can be maximized by targeting small worksites and supporting employees to achieve 70,000 steps in their first week.

Background: Many nonpublic water well users unknowingly consume contaminated groundwater containing unsafe levels of pollutants. This has important implications for more than 13 million households in the United States that rely upon nonpublic water wells for drinking, cooking, and other household uses. Although public water quality is regulated through the Safe Drinking Water Act, there are no drinking water standards for nonpublic water well quality in Kansas, nor is there an adequate public health infrastructure in place to prevent or address potential exposures to contamination. OBJECTIVES: This project was conducted to identify promising action steps that would protect Kansans relying on nonpublic water wells for drinking, cooking, and other household purposes. METHODS: The project team consisted of public health, environmental health, and legal professionals with experience working on groundwater quality issues impacting nonpublic water wells in Kansas. From 2015 through 2018, the team established and convened an advisory group; reviewed relevant state statutes and regulations, all Kansas county environmental codes, and a representative sample of 23 city water well codes; conducted an extensive review of academic literature to identify best practices; conducted dozens of key informant interviews; proposed recommendations; engaged dozens of stakeholders through a survey of these proposed recommendations; and conducted interactive webinars to identify which organizations need to lead each of the recommendations. Discussion: The project team developed 18 recommendations. The recommendations are organized by survey respondents' perceptions of potential public health impact. There are very few standard practices in Kansas that ensure safe water for nonpublic household water wells. Although not all of the 18 recommendations may be applicable to other communities and states, many likely would be useful for governmental agencies, academic institutions, nonprofit organizations, and others to consider. These recommendations offer more protections for nonpublic household water well users than any resource we have found., Introduction Many nonpublic well water users are unknowingly consuming water contaminated with industrial solvents, pesticides, or other contaminants at levels that are unsafe. In a study conducted by the U.S. [...]

Hybrid environments and remote work are shifting how employees in more sedentary positions work during the day and how employers can offer opportunities for employees to be physically active. Additionally, organizations with a higher proportion of employees working from home reported their physical work environment to be less likely to support physical activity by providing amenities such as onsite fitness centers, walking trails, and standing desks.[20] A person's employment industry determines how and when they work. Keywords: physical activity; exercise; workplace wellness; workplace physical activity; remote work; technology; activity tracking; exercise is medicine; community partnerships EN physical activity exercise workplace wellness workplace physical activity remote work technology activity tracking exercise is medicine community partnerships 723 730 8 06/06/23 20230601 NES 230601 Introduction How and where we do our work is changing in the United States across industry, government, and non-profit sectors. These employees may get more of their physical activity at work (ie, occupational physical activity) vs in leisure time, so workplace health promotion programs should prioritize the safety of their physical activity and adjust for other health and well-being priorities like work-life balance. [Extracted from the article]

Introduction: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is one of the most common arrhythmias among hospitalized patients. Among patients admitted with septic shock (SS), the new occurrence of atrial fibrillation has been associated with an increase in intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay and in-hospital mortality. This is partially related to further reduction in cardiac output and thus worsening organ perfusion due to atrial fibrillation. However, there is a paucity of research on the outcomes of patients who have underlying chronic AF (UCAF) and then develop SS. This study aimed to identify the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with UCAF admitted with SS compared to patients with SS without UCAF. Methods: This study was a retrospective analysis of the 2016 and 2017 Nationwide Readmission Database. ICD-10 codes were used to identify patients with SS, and these patients were stratified into those with and without UCAF. Propensity matching analyses were performed to compare clinical outcomes and in-hospital mortality between the two groups. Results: A total of 353,422 patients with hospitalization for SS were identified, 5.8% (n = 20,772) of whom had UCAF. After 2:1 propensity matching, 20,719 patients were identified as having SS with UCAF, and 41,438 patients were identified as having SS without UCAF. Patients with SS and UCAF had a higher incidence of ischemic stroke [2.5% versus 2.2%, p = 0.012], length of stay [11.5 days versus 10.9 days, p < 0.001], mean total charges [$154,094 versus $144,037, p < 0.001] compared to those with SS without UCAF. In-hospital mortality was high in both groups, but was slightly higher among those with SS and UCAF than those with SS and no UCAF [34.4% versus 34.1%, p = 0.049]. Conclusions: This study identified UCAF as an adverse prognosticator for clinical outcomes. Patients with SS and UCAF need to be identified as a higher risk category of SS who will require more intensive management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]