Workplace Wellness Programs to Promote Cancer Prevention

Five overlooked dimensions of campus wellness: Qualitative lessons from a Health Sciences Center's wellness program evaluation

Objective: Successful university wellness programs approach wellness holistically and regularly assess for improvements to program offerings. This case-study reports five lessons learned from a university wellness program evaluation that must be considered when developing wellness programming. Participants: Faculty, staff, and students at a public university health sciences center. Methods: A 23-question electronic survey with open-ended questions was administered to measure feedback on current and future wellness programming. Responses were analyzed with an open coding approach into five themes for program improvement to more holistically address wellness. Results: The five improvements to wellness programming identified by respondents were: wellness offering awareness, workplace culture and environment, racial representation, wellness programming policy enforcement, and creating an environmentally friendly campus. Conclusions: Themes identified in this case-study require additional attention by university wellness programs to ensure they are equitably accessible and comprehensive in their offerings.

Preliminary results of the implementation of the program to reduce morbidity and prevent mortality from diseases of the circulatory system in workers of locomotive crews

Corporate health programs are a common measure for the primary and secondary prevention of chronic non-communicable diseases.

Aim. To study the first implementation results of a Targeted comprehensive program to reduce morbidity and prevent mortality from circulatory system diseases and early cancer detection in employees of JSC "Russian Railways" for the period from 2019 to 2023.

Material and methods. The study used a survey of employees of locomotive crews (RLC), which was conducted twice: in the summer of 2018 and February-March 2021. The survey was conducted using a specially designed questionnaire that takes into account the health status of drivers and their assistants, production, and non-production risk factors. In 2018, 10476 questionnaires were collected (>7% of employees), and in 2021 — 14403 questionnaires (>10% of employees). The age structure of railways has not changed, which made it possible to analyze the frequency of occurrence of risk factors in dynamics.

Results. In general, the mention of the RLC of the interfering effect of the noise factor, uncomfortable temperature, and undesirable odors in the driver’s cabin decreased for JSC "Russian Railways". The number of smokers on the South-Eastern Railway significantly increased during the study period. The number of people consuming insufficient amounts of vegetables and fruits has increased on the Far Eastern, West Siberian, Krasnoyarsk, and Volga railways. The frequency of workers’ meals at fast food restaurants has increased on the Southeastern Railway. The number of people with a good commitment to the basic principles of a healthy lifestyle has increased on the East Siberian, Trans-Baikal, West Siberian, Kuibyshev, Oktyabrskaya, Sverdlovsk, North Caucasian, and South Ural railways.

Conclusion. The conducted research has shown the effectiveness of the initial stage of the implementation of the corporate program to reduce morbidity and prevent mortality from diseases of the circulatory system in RLC. The heterogeneity of the results for different railways was revealed. 

Risk Factors for Locomotive Crew Members Depending on Their Place of Work

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study is to examine the prevalence of workplace exposure, behavior, and individual health conditions, along with resulting medical activity among locomotive crew members depending on their place of work.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Participants included 5585 train drivers and 3723 train drivers' assistants (7% of the total train operators in the Russian Federation). Measured height and weight were used to calculate body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference, pulse rate, and blood pressure were also measured. The risk assessment was conducted using the STEPS tool. The level of commitment to a Healthy Lifestyle was assessed based on World Health Organization recommendations. Occupational risk factors were surveyed. Morbidity was analyzed over the past year.

RESULTS

The lowest frequency of work exposure risk factors was found for employees of the Trans-Baikal railway; the highest was among Krasnoyarsk, North, and South-East. The participants from the Far East and October Railways had the lowest self-reported frequency of behavioral risk factors. The participants from the Eastern Siberian, October, and Southern Urals railways had the lowest occurrence of individual health conditions. The participants from the East Siberian, Far East, Kuibyshev, and Sverdlovsk railways were the least likely to visit their doctor, take temporary disability leave, or be hospitalized. The total assessed Healthy Lifestyle commitment index was higher for participants from the Far Eastern and Southern Urals railways. The participants from the Moscow and October railways were the least committed to a Healthy Lifestyle.

CONCLUSIONS

Significant differences exist between risk factors and Healthy Lifestyle commitment between railways. Future research should examine changes due to a new corporate health program introduced in 2020.

Effectiveness of a Water Intake Program at the Workplace in Physical and Mental Health Outcomes

Introduction

Adequate water intake is a low-cost and effectively non-invasive strategy for individual health outcomes. We aimed to demonstrate the efficacy of water intake intervention in intensive-labor and static-type workplaces.

Method

Smart drinking cups were provided to the participants, and a built-in application (App) associated with the cup was downloaded on their phones. The App collected and recorded the amount of drinking water consumed by the participants set reminders for drinking water and drinking water health education information. We assessed the data, including the amount of and time interval between water intake, sedentary time, the degree of physical and psychological importance of oneself, self-satisfaction, and physical fitness.

Results

After the intervention, water intake in the two companies significantly increased during the reminder period compared with the non-reminder period. A significant increase was noted in week 3 in the amount of water intake by the participants after using the App, and the total sedentary time considerably decreased. Furthermore, the interval between water consumption decreased compared with the preintervention interval. The systolic and diastolic blood pressure decreased in the participants working at the static-type and intensive-labor workplaces after the intervention, respectively. The participants ' lower limb muscle performance also improved significantly, and the emphasis on self-care was significantly improved.

Conclusions

The health-promoting effects of the water intake wellness intervention were akin to the butterfly effect. Besides significantly increasing water intake, the intervention improved other health behaviors, thereby benefiting physical and mental health. Hence, promoting water consumption in workplaces till it becomes a habit may benefit the employees.

Specifics of corporate health programs for railway workers

Preventive workplace programs are one of the optimal organizational models for the prevention of noncommunicable diseases in the workingage population. Corporate health programs allow to effectively influence the lifestyle of employees, which makes it possible to reduce human resource risks due to morbidity and increase labor efficiency. First, programs for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases are being implemented. A number of researchers report that implementing prevention programs in the workplace can reduce the number of people with bad habits. The effectiveness of preventive workplace programs largely depends on the mechanisms of their implementation. A feature of railway companies is the presence of a large staff of employees of various specialties. Many factors affecting health are, in one way or another, related to the workflow, since most railway companies operate continuously. Low health literacy of railway workers on health protection and disease prevention was noted. Measures such as financial incentives, preventive counseling, the creation of personalized health profiles and the availability of healthy food in the workplace have been shown to be effective. The review also discusses Russian corporate preventive workplace programs.