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BACKGROUND: Compared to workers of larger companies it is less clear what health promoting interventions might be beneficial for employees of small businesses and self-employed individuals. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to critically appraise trials investigating health promotion programs among small business workers and self-employed individuals, by means of a systematic review. METHODS: We conducted a search of primary studies using MEDLINE, Web of Science, LIVIVO and the Cochrane library. Our assessment followed the recommendations of the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions and PRISMA. RESULTS: We identified six trials including 5,854 participants from Asia, North America and Australia. Most were of moderate methodological quality, only one was of low quality. Some of the supervised psycho-educational lifestyle programs focusing on individual behavior changes showed benefits in terms of stress reduction and increased physical activity levels among small enterprise employees. CONCLUSIONS: There is a huge knowledge gap on evidence-based health promotion interventions for self-employed and for small business workers, especially in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic has served as a catalyst for recognizing the challenging environments in which healthcare workers operate, underscoring the urgent need to enhance their wellness to better support themselves and others. The implementation of a culture of wellness within the context of healthcare education, with a particular emphasis on individual-level strategies, allows for the realization of its intrinsic value and significance as a foundation for broader organizational strategies. This approach facilitates the establishment of a sustainable culture of wellness that benefits both current and subsequent generations of healthcare professionals. Methods We implemented our wellness program using a pragmatic pre-post study design for different settings. Our wellness intervention program was tested in three ways by creating combinations of different intensities (high, moderate, or low), delivery methods (face-to-face vs. virtual), different motivations (incentive, mandatory, or volunteer participation), and different timings (during medical programs or before entering into healthcare programs) among medical and nursing students. The effects of the wellness program were measured on quality of life, emotional intelligence, and efficacy scores among healthcare students. Statistical methods included repeated measures analysis of variance and paired t-tests. Results A total of 224 students (13 in high, 145 in moderate, and 66 in low-dose interventions) participated in our study program. Most scores were significantly improved except for a few factors in the high-dose face-to-face Well-Teach intervention cohort. Among quality of life components, the average psychological scores were markedly increased after high (13.2 vs. 14.7, p = .018), moderate (13.9 vs. 14.8, p

Organizations for decades have offered a myriad of health benefit options designed to engage employees in their own personal health. These programs have been aimed at supporting a healthier workforce in hopes that, a healthy workforce would also equate to a more productive and engaged workforce. As a result, organizations have developed a myriad of choices that employees can choose from to enhance their personal health (i.e., wellness programs, assistance counseling, health risk assessments, etc.). From a workplace perspective, research in the Human Resource Development (HRD) field, as well as related disciplines, have started to explore connections between work and health. Despite emerging research on work and the working experience, organizationally focused health and wellness offerings have been historically absent from most models of work in HRD. The purpose of this research was to examine how work and the working experience influenced employee decision points around personal levels of health engagement. Using two multiple regression models with data from 206 participants working at a Fortune 500 global logistics company, we explored the linkage between work, health, and employee agency in participating in corporate wellness programs. Through our work, we contribute to traditional engagement theory as well as an emerging framework in HRD— Work Determinants of Health (WDOH)—and provide practical suggestions for how leaders could prioritize employee wellness and health engagement within their organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We assessed factors associated with engagement in lifestyle wellness programs for patients with prediabetes. Methods: This mixed-methods study, conducted between March 2018 and April of 2021, combined a retrospective cohort study and semi-structured interviews in a Northern California cohort of patients from a randomized controlled pragmatic clinical trial aged 18–75 with body mass index ≥ 25 and at least one HbA1c between 5.7–6.4 % in the previous 3 months. Patients were assigned to a peer support, enhanced usual care, or control arm. We used generalized linear mixed models to analyze the association between clinical, demographic, and study-related factors and referral to and participation in wellness programs within 12 months. We conducted semi-structured interviews with intervention participants and analyzed them using thematic analysis. We integrated qualitative and quantitative findings using the “following a thread” method. Results: We identified 2,164 eligible patients; 12.8% were referred to a wellness program and 7% attended a wellness program. Patients not exposed to peer support, males, and Asian-American participants had the lowest odds of participation in wellness programs. Qualitative interviews with 30 intervention participants provided contextual information on quantitative findings including the importance of physician referrals and formal recruitment, a need for social support and accountability, and matching patient needs to wellness program descriptions as facilitators of engaging in wellness programs. Conclusion: Given the low percentage of patients with prediabetes referred to and participating in wellness programs, there is a need to develop health system strategies to improve wellness program engagement for patients at-risk for diabetes.

The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate wellness and student suicidality in nurse anesthesia programs. Graduate students such as student registered nurse anesthetists (SRNAs) are at increased risk of suicide from environmental and educational stressors. Wellness interventions may help. An observational, anonymous online survey of all program directors (PDs) was conducted. Identical responses on a simultaneous pilot SRNA study were compared. Quantitative data were analyzed using Wilcoxon rank sum and Fisher's exact tests. Three PDs reported student suicides. Anxiety, depression, and emotional lability were warning signs. Student and PD responses to wellness program assessments were varied, with PD responses more positive and students more negative. PDs were as stressed as students and struggled to meet their own wellness needs. Most PDs reported no or insufficient training in suicide risk and prevention. Suggestions for improving wellness initiatives included to improve and standardize activities and make initiatives more accessible and seek innovative solutions to fit more content into an overcrowded curriculum. PDs and SRNAs need suicide prevention training and improved wellness efforts at local and national levels. Approaches are needed to counter stigma and reluctance to discuss mental health challenges. Suicide is multidimensional, but with proactive awareness, it may be preventable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emergency responders engage in occupations that benefit from living a healthy lifestyle to ensure physical and mental preparedness. We compared fitness and healthy lifestyle behaviors between special weapons and tactics (SWAT) officers and firefighters. We analyzed data from 14 SWAT officers and 17 firefighters. Self-reported healthy lifestyle behavior measures included physical activity, sleep quality, and dietary behaviors. Fitness measures included body composition, flexibility, muscular strength, and endurance. Firefighters had higher (p < .05) body mass, body mass index, body fat percentage and fat mass than SWAT officers. SWAT officers performed better (p < .05) than the firefighters on vertical jump, push-ups, and a maximum plank hold. We found no difference regarding sleep quality or dietary behaviors; however, SWAT officers reported more minutes of vigorous (p = .006) and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (p = .035). Our findings suggest that fitness and lifestyle behaviors vary among different emergency responder populations and public safety departments implementing health and wellness programs should consider the diversity of sub-groups of emergency responders that may exist within a department.

Background: e-Health interventions can potentially improve health care. My Viva Plan? (MVP) is a web-based program that focuses on mindfulness, nutrition, and physical fitness. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of this platform on stress indicators and diet quality among first-year university students. Methods: Ninety-seven university students were enrolled in a randomized, controlled clinical trial. Participants were randomized into control (n?=?49) and MVP (n?=?48) groups. Perceived stress was measured using the self-report Stress Indicator Questionnaire. Diet quality was assessed by the nutrient-rich foods index, and body composition was assessed by a hand-to-foot, multifrequency, bioelectrical impedance analysis. Results: There were no differences in physical, sleep, behavioral, emotional, and personal habit indicators between groups. Diet quality and body composition were similar between groups, except among women in the MVP group with decreased body fat (?1.2???2.6?kg, p?0.05). Participant engagement was low: 50% of the MVP group did not access the platform. Conclusions: The MVP web-based intervention was not associated with improvements in stress indicators, diet quality, and body composition, likely due to the characteristics of our cohort of healthy young individuals. Future studies should focus on enhancing motivational approaches to explore the potential of e-health interventions that improve health behavior. Clinical Trial Registration number: NCT03579264A.

The wellbeing of employee has become a challenge associated with working towards sustainable human resource management. This study, therefore, focuses on analyzing the role played by companies' wellness practices as an important part of the social dimension of the "triple bottom line. "We hypothesize that these practices are linked to the employees' perceived organizational support, and, simultaneously, to organizational performance, in addition to observing the mediating effects of job satisfaction and commitment. We tested the hypotheses by developing a questionnaire. The direct and mediating effects were analyzed using the Partial Least Square (PLS) structural equation technique. The results eventually obtained from 137 questionnaires provided evidence that wellness programs and perceived organizational support influence organizational performance, with mediating effects on job satisfaction and commitment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]