Exploratory Study on Occupational Health Hazards among Health Care Workers in the Philippines

The reality of occupational harm incurred by Japanese home health care nurses, the hazardous situations they face, and protective measures: a cross-sectional study

Objectives: To gain a comprehensive understanding of the occupational hazards encountered by home health care nurses in Japan and to elucidate the reality of harm they incur, the hazardous situations, and the protective measures taken.

Methods:A questionnaire survey of managers of home health care nursing agencies in Japan was conducted, and 355 valid responses were obtained. The survey questions concerned the occupational hazards experienced by home health care nursing staff. The occupational hazards were classified into 6 categories, and responses were obtained regarding harm, hazardous situations, and protective measures in each category.

Results: The types of harm that occurred at highest rates during the previous 3 years were emotional abuse by the patient or their family members, lower back pain resulting from improper posture while providing care, sexual harassment by the patients and their family members, automobile accidents while traveling to home care sites, and allergic reactions to the environment at home care sites. Some hazardous situations were caused by the unique environments of home care sites.

Conclusions: In order to prevent the occurrence of harm, the development of risk assessment tools, educational initiatives to increase awareness of occupational hazards, and consideration of the financial and technical support that will enable the use of assistive devices in the practice of nursing techniques were considered necessary. The development of effective guidelines and manuals specific to the occupational hazards encountered by home health care nurses is an important challenge.

Promoting Healthy Behaviors in Older Adults to Optimize Health-Promoting Lifestyle: An Intervention Study

Introduction: Exercise intervention is the easiest and most effective way to promote human health. This study combined technology and exercise to improve the health behavior of the older adults through a physical activity intervention and to enhance a health-promoting lifestyle. Materials and methods: A quasi-experimental research method was used to openly recruit 120 healthy male and female older adults over 65 years old (average age of males: 71.6 ± 1.25 years; average age of females: 72.3 ± 1.28 years), all of whom wore smart bracelets. The participants were monitored by special personnel during the same period of walking every Monday to Friday. All participants recorded their daily steps, distance walked, and calorie consumption data for a period of 8 weeks. Results: After 8 weeks of walking, all participants showed a positive medium−high correlation of various factors between healthy behaviors and the health-promoting lifestyle scales. In the post-tests of each factor of two scales, males had the highest correlation between regular physical activity and physical activity, and females had the highest correlation between regular physical activity and social support. The variabilities in the explanatory power of the health behaviors of males and females on the health-promoting lifestyle were R2 = 70.9% (p < 0.01) and R2 = 74.1% (p < 0.01), indicating that the variables of healthy behaviors have a positive effect on health-promoting lifestyles in male and female older adults. Conclusions: Walking interventions positively affect the health behaviors of older adults and encourage health-promoting lifestyles. The value of this study is in its contribution to health promotion and public health recommendations for older adults.

Prevalence of Work-Related Health Hazard and Associated Factors among Health Workers in Public Health Institutions of Gambella Town, Western Ethiopia: Cross-Sectional Survey

Background

Many health-related occupational hazards confront healthcare workers. Examining the prevalence of hazards enables to search for better risk management for healthcare workers because these workers are often the first point of interaction, particularly in resource-limited settings like Ethiopia. Therefore, this study assessed the prevalence of work-related occupational hazards and identified related factors among healthcare workers in public health facilities of Gambella town, Western Ethiopia.

Methods

Institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 260 randomly selected healthcare workers from June 1-21, 2021. A semi structured tool was used to collect data and data analysis was performed using SPSS version 25. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify the predictors of outcome variable and the significance of associations was declared by using a 95% CI and a p-value of <0.05.

Results

The prevalence of occupational health hazards among healthcare workers was 36.5% (95% CI: 31, 42). The absence of immediate treatments for injured health workers (AOR = 8.86, 95% CI: 2.5, 31.4), lack of personal protective equipment (AOR = 3.6, 95% CI: 1.5, 8.4), working greater than eight hours per day (AOR = 7.9, 95% CI: 3.1, 19.7), working in the night shifts (AOR = 8.1, 95% CI: 2.5, 26.1), and absence of effective leadership in the health facility (AOR = 5.2, 95% CI: 1.9, 14.5) were factors associated with the prevalence of occupational hazards.

Conclusions

There was a relatively high degree of occupational health hazard exposure among health workers in the study area compared to kinds of literature from other settings. Health workers were exposed to a wide range of occupational hazards, and risk reduction mechanisms and safety actions were inadequately implemented. Therefore, the health workers' occupational health and safety needs should be prioritized and appropriate measures should be taken to mitigate the problems.