Universities could positively impact the health and well-being of employees through workplace wellness programs (WWP). To assess the prevalence of WWP among Asia-Pacific universities, identify gaps and challenges, and solutions to challenges. An online survey was sent to members of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities to assess programs on physical fitness, nutrition/weight, mental health/stress, family support, chronic disease prevention, and safety. Employees at 28 universities in 13 economies completed the survey on behalf of their university. Most common WWP were paid maternity/paternity leave (89.3% /85.7%), disaster preparedness training (85.7%), fitness challenges (78.6%), written policies regarding discrimination/hate speech (75.0%), and quiet rest areas (71.4%). However, few addressed childcare, breastfeeding support, workplace sexual harassment, tobacco use, or mental health. Programs rarely aligned with the reported goal of increasing employee morale, but instead resulted from government mandates. Many universities offered sporadic, one-off programs but lacked comprehensive, coordinated programming and adequate evaluation procedures. Key challenges were low employee participation, limited budget, and lack of leadership support. This study highlights the need for improved program administration, information dissemination, data collection to evaluate impact, and leadership support. WWP could benefit universities and employees but should be implemented and evaluated as part of a comprehensive campus wellness culture.

Healthcare workers typically perform their work under adverse conditions, increasing their susceptibility to developing burnout syndrome (BO). The paucity of research on the relationship between organizational identification (OI) and perceptions of organizational justice has created the need to address this topic more deeply. This study aimed to assess the relationship between OI and BO, identifying whether perceptions of organizational justice act as mediating variables. In total, 402 healthcare workers (physicians, professionals, and nursing assistants) completed Colquitt's (2001) Organizational Justice Scale, Mael and Ashforth's (1992) Organizational Identification Scale, and Maslach's (1986) Burnout Inventory. Two competing structural equation models were evaluated. Our partial mediation model showed that the direct relationship between OI and BO was not significant (β= -0.16; p = 0.07). Therefore, a total mediation model was selected, showing that the indirect effects of OI on BO through perceptions of distributive justice (β= -0.16; p = 0.00) and interpersonal justice (β= -0.11; p = 0.02) were significant. Adjusting the processes of health institutions considering a vision of organizational justice and increasing the worker's sense of belonging to his or her organization and his or her work team would, in turn, result in a lower probability of experiencing burnout syndrome.

Teachers are a category at high risk for co-occurring mental diseases. The purpose was to assess well-being of schoolteachers and psychological effects of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Data were collected in April 2021, during the partial re-opening of public schools in Italy, from 838 schoolteachers who complete a battery of psychological tests on a multimedia platform. In females, school closure increases anxiety (BAI, p < 0.001), depression (BDI-II, p < 0.05), stress-related insomnia (FIRST, p < 0.001), and perceived stress (PSS, p < 0.05). In males, on the contrary, rises perceived health (p < 0.001) and vitality (p < 0.001), also in terms of total score (PWBI p < 0.05). In addition, having a family member with COVID in the past month increased anxiety (BAI, p < 0.05), reduced perceived physical health (PWBI, p < 0.05) and vitality (PWBI, p < 0.05). The main results of this pilot study showed that female teachers had a worse well-being perception with respect to men, in terms of health and vitality and an increase in negative emotional reactivity, that impaired when a family member was affected by COVID. The results emphasize the need to invest in prevention and wellness promotion programs in this professional category.

As a result of the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, compliance with isolation measures has become challenging. To evaluate the individual workload perception and compliance with isolation measures of nurses working in the emergency service and critical care unit during the COVID-19 outbreak. This descriptive correlational study was carried out in the emergency service and critical care unit of a public hospital between April 20 and May 20, 2021. A total of 153 nurses working in the emergency service and critical care unit who agreed to participate in the study were included in the study. Nurses from a state hospital's emergency department and critical care unit (n = 153) were included in the study sample. The impression of overall individual workload by nurses and compliance with isolation (r = 0.153; p < 0.05) had a positive, weak, and significant relationship. The Isolation Measures Compliance Scale resulted in a mean score of 70.70±5.35. The mean score on the Individual Workload Scale for nurses was moderate (3.22±0.54). The low perception of individual workload of nurses working in the emergency service and critical care unit during the COVID-19 pandemic increased the compliance with isolation measures.

Low back pain (LBP) is a prevalent condition frequently leading to disability. Research suggests that self-management (SM) programs for chronic LBP should include strategies to promote sustainable return to work. This study aimed to 1) validate and prioritize the essential content elements of a SM program in light of the needs of workplace representatives, and 2) identify the main facilitators and barriers to be considered when developing and implementing a SM program delivered via information and communication technologies (ICT). A sequential qualitative design was used. We recruited workplace representatives and potential future users of SM programs (union representatives and employers) and collected data through focus groups and nominal group techniques to validate the relevance of the different elements included into 3 broad categories (Understand, Learn, Apply), as well as to highlight potential barriers and facilitators. Eleven participants took part in this study. The content elements proposed in the scientific literature for SM programs were found to align with potential future users' needs, with participants ranking the same elements as those proposed in the literature as the most important across all categories. Although some barriers were identified, workplace representatives believed that ICT offer an appropriate strategy for delivering individualized SM programs to injured workers who have returned to work. Our study suggests that the elements identified in the scientific literature as essential components of SM programs designed to ensure a sustainable return to work for people with LBP are in line with the needs of future users.

Nurses work in a shift system that determines the provision of round-the-clock care of a patient in hospital conditions; however, it entails health consequences. The aim of the study was the evaluation of work conditions of nurses engaged in shift work in hospital wards during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was conducted in 2020, and included 108 nurses working in a shift system in hospital wards. The research method was a diagnostic survey, using an author-constructed questionnaire. 88.9% nurses reported a negative effect of shift work on their physical health: 'musculoskeletal pain', 'elevated arterial blood pressure', and 'hormonal disorders' - 54.5% of respondents used pharmacological treatment. The causes of physical disorders were: 'microclimate', 'physical effort', 'noise', and 'forced body position'. Shift work exerted a negative effect on psychological health of the majority of respondents (75.0%): 'deconcentration', 'sleep disorders', 'feeling of occupational burnout' - treatment in 38.9% of respondents. Psychological health disorders were caused by: 'circadian rhythms disturbance by shift work', 'chronic stresses', and 'conflicts at work'. 69.7% of respondents reported that their shift work was disturbed by organizational factors, including: a 'badly planned work schedule', 'enhanced pace of work due to staff shortage', 'ambiguous division of duties, rights, responsibilities', 'shortages of equipment at the workplace'. The examined nurses experienced a negative effect of shift work on their physical and psychological health which, for some of them, was the cause of pharmacological treatment. Many organizational factors hindered the work of nurses in a shift system in hospital wards.

Mobile health interventions are being widely tried because of their attractive advantages. However, there is not enough evidence for its effectiveness. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of mobile app-based stress management intervention (mSMI) on highly stressed workers. A sample of 82 white-collar workers with elevated symptoms of perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale-10≥22) were randomly assigned to the intervention or control group. The mSMI consisted of three modules: self-management including a work diary, counseling based on cognitive behavioral therapy and interventions focused on music, meditation, relaxation and image healings. Self-report data were collected at the baseline and post-intervention. Study outcomes analyzed perceived stress, anxiety, depression, and work engagement. Data were assessed using analysis of covariance with covariates. There was significantly reduced perceived stress from baseline to 6 weeks in mSMI (t = 5.788, p < 0.001) and control group (t = 3.184, p = 0.003). After adjusting for covariates, the between-group difference in the perceived stress was significantly different (F = 4.051, p = 0.048); however, the effect size was small. There was no significant intervention effect on anxiety, depression, and work engagement. The process evaluation indicated that most participants (85.3%) were satisfied with the intervention and their mental health benefited. This study found that mobile health intervention facilitated perceived stress management for highly stressed workers. Further studies should address job-related outcomes and mental health symptoms in workers by applying the latest information technology and addressing the limitations of mobile interventions.

Although the association of chronic pain (CP) with a poor work-life balance has been well studied, the interaction effect of multiple pain sites on work-life balance is unknown. To evaluate the most prevalent CP site among healthcare workers, the demographic characteristics of the individuals with the predominant pain type, and to assess the interaction of multiple pain sites on work-life balance. Using data from the National Health Interview Survey, 2,458 healthcare works were identified for this study. The independent variables were chronic low back and hip pain. The dependent variables were (1) if pain affected their family or significant other, (2) if pain limited their life or work activities, and (3) Usually working >35 hours/week. Multiple logistic regression and an interaction analysis were used to analyze the impact of different pain sites on work-life balance. Among healthcare workers, chronic low back pain was more prevalent than chronic hip pain (69.4% vs 61.4%, p-value<0.001). Respondents with chronic low back pain were mostly 40 - 64 years of age (49.6%), females (71.2%), white (77.6%), married (55.5%), had no college degree (85.4%), earn greater than $75,000 (50.0%). In the interaction analysis, in the presence of chronic hip pain, those with chronic low back pain had an AOR of 2.20 (1.05 - 4.64), p-value 0.038 of chronic low back pain affecting their family and significant others, and an AOR of 2.18 (1.17- 4.05), p-value 0.014 of chronic low back pain affecting their life or work. Chronic low back pain was more prevalent than chronic hip pain among healthcare workers. Together both pain sites had a significant impact on the work-life balance of this population. Further studies should assess other dimensions of work-life balance and chronic pain.

Cleaning is considered a female-dominant occupation. Women cleaning workers present a high risk of suffering impaired health probably as a result of performing low-skilled tasks. However, to date, no studies have been found that examine the health status of female cleaning workers in Spain. The objectives were to 1) determine the level of perceived health in a sample of female cleaning workers, 2) evaluate the main psychosocial risks they face, 3) explore the relationship between perceived health and psychosocial risk factors, and 4) compare the perceived health of those women who present some psychosocial risk factor and those who do not. This is a multi-centered cross-sectional study carried out in the service sector of a Spanish company. The final sample was composed of 455 female cleaning workers. Sociodemographic variables, perceived health status and psychosocial risk factors were assessed. Women presented a high perception of health status. The main psychosocial risk was lack of acknowledgement by their superiors, which affected 25.2% (n = 111) of the sample. Moderate negative correlations (r=-.222 to -.442; p < .01) were identified between perceived health and evident psychosocial risks. Those women who presented some psychosocial risk (n = 174; 38.3%) had a worse state of perceived health in all variables studied. Presence of psychosocial risk had a relationship with a worse health perception. This article highlights the need to orient preventive actions in the psychosocial field. The COVID-19 pandemic represents a new situation to renew the health promotion between cleaning workers.

There are many musculoskeletal disorders in staff members at health centres, given the specific characteristics of their work. The objective was to analyse the postural risk of patient handling tasks performed by nursing assistants and orderlies, as well as task factors, individual or organisational, that may be associated with increased postural risk. This is a cross-sectional observational study. Analysis was done on 170 postures in five different tasks performed by 39 participants at three hospitals in Andalusia (Spain). The questionnaires collected sociodemographic variables, the task done, and REBA were used for assessment of postural risk. Overall the average REBA score was 9.0±2.4. Moving the patient to the head of the bed was the task with the highest risk (9.8). Handling involving more than two participants at once increased postural risk. Using mechanical aids were associated with high risk in the legs. Logistic regression analyses showed that age, stature, and not having adjustable beds available were associated with postural risk (p < 0.05). Health centre staff perform many tasks with high musculoskeletal disorder risk. Age, stature of the participants, and adjustment of bed height were associated with postural risk.