Objective:To conduct a comprehensive literature review to develop recommendations for managing obesity among workers to improve health outcomes and to explore the impact of obesity on health costs to determine whether a case can be made for surgical interventions and insurance coverage.Methods:We se

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Obesity in the Workplace: Impact, Outcomes, and Recommendations.

Multiple large outbreaks of COVID-19 have been documented in prisons and jails across regions of the world, with hazardous environmental conditions amplify the risks of exposure for both incarcerated people and correctional staff. The objectives of this study are to estimate the cumulative prevalence of COVID-19 cases among U.S. prison staff over time and compare it to the prison inmate population and the general U.S. population, overall, and to examine risk of COVID-19 infection among prison staff across jurisdictions. We use publicly available data (April 22, 2020 to January 15, 2021) to estimate COVID-19 crude case rates per 1000 with 95% confidence intervals over the study period for prison staff, incarcerated population, and general population. We also compare COVID-19 case rates between prison staff and the general population within jurisdictions. Over the study period, prison staff have reported consistently higher rates of COVID-19 compared to the general population, with prison staff case rates more closely mirroring the incarcerated population case rates. The rolling 7-day average case rates for prison staff, prison population, and general population on January 15, 2021 were 196.04 per 1000 (95%CI 194.81, 197.26), 219.16 (95%CI 218.45, 219.86), and 69.80 (95%CI 69.78, 69.83), respectively. There was substantial heterogeneity across jurisdictions, yet in 87% of study jurisdictions, the risk of COVID-19 was significantly greater among prison staff than the general state population. Targeting staff for COVID-19 mitigation strategies is essential to protect the health of people who intersect with the correctional system and to flatten the curve in the surrounding communities.

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Risk of COVID-19 infection among prison staff in the United States.

As there is a growing trend for people to work from home, precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, this research examines the impact of blurred work-life boundaries on lifestyle and subjective well-being. Our cross-sectional study in the Netherlands demonstrates that heightened levels of blurred work-life boundaries predict negative changes in happiness through enhanced emotional exhaustion. In addition, the findings point to a dual role of lifestyle in this process. On the one hand, we observed that healthy overall lifestyle patterns buffered employees against the detrimental effects of blurred work-life boundaries and emotional exhaustion on happiness. On the other hand, employees who experienced increases in blurring of work-life boundaries reported a deterioration in healthy lifestyle behaviors, which in turn was related to reduced happiness. Paradoxically, it seems that those who would benefit the most from a healthy lifestyle are less able to sustain health-promoting behaviors. A case for shared responsibility between employers and employees is built as we discuss the practical implications of the current research.

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Not Able to Lead a Healthy Life When You Need It the Most: Dual Role of Lifestyle Behaviors in the Association of Blurred Work-Life Boundaries With Well-Being

Objective 
To explore work-related psychosocial stressors among people of Chinese, Vietnamese and Arabic-speaking backgrounds currently working in Australia


Methods 
In 2015, a telephone survey of 585 Vietnamese, Chinese and Arabic-speaking workers asked about workplace bullying, ethnic discrimination, job complexity, degree of control, security and fairness of payment along with demographic and employment information Estimates of job-related psychosocial stressors were derived and regression analyses used to identify significant associations


Results 
At least one workplace stressor was reported by 83% of the workers in the study Education was significantly associated with experiencing any psychosocial stressor and also with the total number of stressors Workers aged 45 years and older were more likely to be bullied or experience racial discrimination compared with younger workers of any ethnicity There was a greater likelihood of reporting low control over a job when the interview was conducted in a language other than English and the workers were either Chinese or Arabic Workers on a fixed-term contract, independent of ethnicity were more likely to report a job with low security Overall psychosocial job quality decreased with education and was associated with occupation type which interacted with ethnicity and gender


Conclusions 
The results suggest that job-related psychosocial stressors are widespread but not uniform across ethnic groups Further research into what drives differences in work experience for migrant groups would provide information to guide both employers and migrants in ways to reduce workplace psychosocial stressors

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Workplace psychosocial stressors experienced by migrant workers in Australia: A cross-sectional study

COVID-19 Pandemic: What Has Work Got to Do With It?

Obesity is a public health concern with significant economic costs affecting employers. Worksite wellness programs benefit from developing tailored interventions that consider employees’ health-related knowledge and self-efficacy to change behavior. Correction is a high stress occupation with elevated rates of overweight and obesity. Poor stress management and barriers to achieve optimal health in the work environment increases the need for adequate knowledge and self-efficacy, or the level of confidence to eat healthy and be physically active. This cross-sectional pilot study used a sample of sixteen correctional employees who participated in a Nutrition and Physical Activity Questionnaire. This survey assesses knowledge and self-efficacy for nutrition and physical activity and current health behaviors, such as current dietary habits and level of physical activity. Demographic and anthropometric data were also collected for statistical analyses. Participants were primarily male correction officers working first shift with a mean (±SE) BMI of 29 (±1.05) kg/m2, classified as overweight. Multiple regression analyses revealed that knowledge and self-efficacy scores predicted variation in BMI when controlling for other scores in the model. Findings from this study may be applicable for future health promotion interventions in high-risk occupations. In high-risk occupations such as corrections, understanding environmental and organizational barriers to achieving good health and reducing chronic disease risk is important. However, in addition to reducing these barriers, increasing knowledge, improving skills and self-efficacy to achieve good health are also critical in order to develop effective interventions for this population.

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Health Behavior Knowledge and Self-efficacy as Predictors of Body Weight.

Objective This study examined associations among health behaviors, psychosocial work factors, and health status. Methods Correctional supervisors (n = 157) completed a survey that assessed interpersonal and organizational views on health. Chi-square and logistic regressions were used to examine relationships among variables. Results Respondents had a higher prevalence of obesity and comorbidities compared with the general US adult population. Burnout was significantly associated with nutrition, physical activity, sleep duration, sleep quality, diabetes, and anxiety/depression. Job meaning, job satisfaction, and workplace social support may predict health behaviors and outcomes. Conclusions Correctional supervisors are understudied and have poor overall health status. Improving health behaviors of middle-management employees may have a beneficial effect on the health of the entire workforce. This paper demonstrates the importance of psychosocial work factors that may contribute to health behaviors and outcomes.

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Work Characteristics as Predictors of Correctional Supervisors' Health Outcomes.

Objectives:Correctional employees exhibit elevated obesity rates. This study examines interrelations among health behaviors, health climate, body mass index (BMI), and work schedule.Methods:Using survey results from correctional supervisors (n = 157), mediation and moderated-mediation analyses were

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Associations Among Work and Family Health Climate, Health Behaviors, Work Schedule, and Body Weight.

14 Introduction 15 Methods 22 Measures 22 Sample 25 Statistical Analyses 26 Results 27 Discussion 37 Conclusions and Practical Applications 43 References 45 CHAPTER TWO – Associations among work and family health climate, health behaviors, work schedule and body weight 57 Abstract 57 Introduction 58 Methods 73 57 Introduction 58 Methods 73

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Jennifer C. Buden

Papers

Health Behavior Knowledge and Self-efficacy as Predictors of Body Weight.

Work Characteristics as Predictors of Correctional Supervisors' Health Outcomes.

Associations Among Work and Family Health Climate, Health Behaviors, Work Schedule, and Body Weight.

The Interrelations between Work Factors, Family and Work Health Climate, Work Schedule, and Individual Behaviors