This is National Public Health Week, when public health organizations from across the U.S. turn the focus on practices and policies that will help reverse the downturn in U.S. life expectancy, which has declined for two years in a row.
A bill proposed in New York City would prohibit employers from emailing or texting their workers during non-work hours.
The effects of an increasingly connected workplace have been a frequent focus of psychological studies.
Congress did right by public health in the FY 2018 budget it passed recently, according to the American Public Health Association (APHA).
“By increasing funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and other health agencies, Congress has shown its commitment to improving the health of all communities and investing in activities that keep our country healthy and safe,” according to a statement released by the organization.
The fear that a robot or computer could put workers in the unemployment line may be directly linked to some physical and mental health issues, says three Ball State University researchers and a Villanova University professor.
“County-level job automation risk and health: Evidence from the United States,” published in the journal Social Science and Medicine, found that exposure to automation risk may be negatively associated with health outcomes, plausibly through perceptions of poorer job security.
Severe combat wounds and chronic PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder) may put service men and women at risk of having high blood pressure later, according to new research in the American Heart Association’s journal Hypertension.
PTSD, a mental health disorder that stems from a traumatic or life-threatening event, has been previously linked to risk of high blood pressure and other issues, including substance abuse, obesity, coronary artery disease, and suicide.
People who suffer from some forms of depression may be able to get some non-pharmaceutical relief for their symptoms from mindfulness meditation training.
A study appearing in the Annals of Family Medicine looked at primary care patients with subthreshold depression – something more than ordinary feelings of sadness but less than severe depression. The researchers found that in certain patients, mindfulness mediation proved to be a feasible method of preventing major depression.
Nurses who rate themselves as being in suboptimal health are more likely to make medical errors, reports a study in the February Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
Nurses who feel their workplace provides good support for wellness perceive their health as better—and thus may be less likely to make errors, suggests the study by Bernadette Melnyk, PhD, RN, of The Ohio State University College of Nursing and colleagues.
Bullying is most often associated with children and teens, but adults can be victims and perpetrators as well. Workplace bullying is more common than most people realize, and it can have devastating consequences. Those who suffer the most and are most likely to be victims are workers and children with disabilities.
Mentally healthy workplaces are as important to employees as physically safe ones. But how do you get there? A lot of employers have the desire to do more for their employees’ well-being but get overwhelmed by the amount of resources and information that’s available.
Sexual harassment in the workplace is a pervasive, chronic problem that can cause enduring psychological harm, according to the president of the American Psychological Association (APA).
“Sexual harassment in the workplace is a significant occupational health psychology problem,” said APA President Antonio E. Puente, PhD. “Psychological research has offered understanding into the causes of workplace harassment, as well as some strategies for preventing or reducing it."
