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"One need not be an economic ideologue...to recognize that the price of austerity can be calculated in human lives," say David Stuckler, a senior research leader in sociology at Oxford, and Sanjay Basu, an assistant professor of medicine and an epidemiologist in the Prevention Research Center at Stanford. Their article in the New York Times recounts their recent research stating the link between austerity in a time of recession, and increased suicide rates. "We are not exonerating poor policy decisions of the past or calling for universal debt forgiveness. It’s up to policy makers in America and Europe to figure out the right mix of fiscal and monetary policy. What we have found is that austerity — severe, immediate, indiscriminate cuts to social and health spending — is not only self-defeating, but fatal."
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A new study found a relationship between sleep duration and suicidal thoughts in people with insomnia. Results show that every one-hour increase in sleep duration was associated with a 72 percent decrease in the likelihood of moderate or high suicide risk, in comparison with low risk. Data were adjusted for age, gender, race/ethnicity, education and age of onset of sleep difficulties. “We were surprised by the strength of the association between sleep duration and suicide risk,” said primary author Linden Oliver, MA, clinical research coordinator for the University of Pennsylvania Behavioral Sleep Medicine Research Program in Philadelphia, Pa. “A 72 percent decrease in the likelihood of moderate or high suicide risk with a one-hour increase in sleep is interesting given the small sample size. These results further highlight the importance of obtaining adequate amounts of sleep."
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People with job stress and an unhealthy lifestyle are at higher risk of coronary artery disease than people who have job stress but lead healthy lifestyles, found a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). Of the 102,128 total participants, 15,986 (16%) reported job stress. "The risk of coronary artery disease was highest among participants who reported job strain and an unhealthy lifestyle; those with job strain and a healthy lifestyle had about half the rate of this disease," writes Dr. Mika Kivimäki, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London (UCL), London, United Kingdom. "In addition to stress counselling, clinicians might consider paying closer attention to lifestyle risk factors in patients who report job strain," the authors conclude.
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Middle-aged women who have depression are almost twice as likely to have a stroke as women the same age who are not depressed, according to new research from The University of Queensland. The study, led by Dr Caroline Jackson from UQ's School of Population Health, found that even after accounting for other stroke risk factors such as high blood pressure and diabetes, middle-aged women who were depressed were 1.9 times more likely to have a stroke than women without depression. Dr Jackson said the findings highlight the serious impact poor mental health can have on physical health. “Current guidelines for stroke prevention tend to overlook the potential role of depression,” she said.
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Non-communicable diseases (NCD) and mental disorders each constitute a huge portion of the worldwide health care burden, and often occur together, so they should be addressed together. These are the conclusions of the third article in a series published in PLOS Medicine that provides a global perspective on integrating mental health. Victoria Ngo from the RAND Corporation in California and international colleagues say that collaborative care models, where NCD care and mental health care are integrated and provided in the primary care setting, are effective for patients, strengthen health care service systems, and reduce costs.
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People suffering from clinical depression express personal goals and reasons for their attainment or failure in less specific terms than people without the disorder. This lack of specificity in representing personal goals may be partially responsible for the motivational deficits seen in these patients, according to research published May 15 in the open access journal PLOS ONE. Compared to non-depressed control participants, depressed individuals' goals tended to be less specific and more abstract, for example 'to be happy', rather than 'to improve my time running the local 10 km race'. The authors suggest that these results may help to improve psychotherapeutic approaches used to treat depression.
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A course of antibiotics may be enough to cure up to 40 per cent of chronic back pain cases, The Guardian reports. A recent study showed that many of the worst cases of chronic back pain were caused by bacterial infections. The results have surprised surgeons and doctors. "This is vast. We are talking about probably half of all spinal surgery for back pain being replaced by taking antibiotics," said Peter Hamlyn, consultant neurological and spinal surgeon at University College London hospital. "This will not help people with normal back pain, those with acute, or sub-acute pain – only those with chronic lower back pain," said Dr Hanne Albert, of the Danish research team. "These are people who live a life on the edge because they are so handicapped with pain. We are returning them to a form of normality they would never have expected."
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People with job stress and an unhealthy lifestyle are at higher risk of coronary artery disease than people who have job stress but lead healthy lifestyles, found a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). "The risk of coronary artery disease was highest among participants who reported job strain and an unhealthy lifestyle; those with job strain and a healthy lifestyle had about half the rate of thisdisease," writes Dr. Mika Kivimäki. "These observational data suggest that a healthy lifestyle could substantially reduce the risk of coronary artery disease risk among people with job strain."
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People who used a workplace wellness center on frequent basis reported an improvement in their overall quality-of-life, while those that used the center less often reported no improvements in their physical quality-of-life and a decline in their mental quality-of-life, finds a new study in the American Journal of Health Promotion. While fitness is a key domain of wellness, wellness is also relationships, spirituality, quality of life, nutrition, resiliency, stress management and financial well-being,” said lead author Matthew Clark, Ph.D., a professor of psychiatry and psychology at the Mayo Clinic. “To examine wellness we need to include more domains than just fitness...When life is super stressful, the motivation for wellness probably takes a big hit."
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For adults with no apparent symptoms of depression, routine screening is not recommended in primary care settings because of the lack of high-quality evidence on the benefits and harms of screening for depression. "In the absence of a demonstrated benefit of screening, and in consideration of the potential harms, we recommend not routinely screening for depression in primary care settings, either in adults at average risk or in those with characteristics that may increase their risk of depression," writes Dr. Michael Joffres, chair of the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care (CTFPHC) depression guideline writing group and member of the Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, with coauthors.
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Patients coping with chronic pain should also be evaluated for anxiety disorders, according to new research published in General Hospital Psychiatry. “I think [health care] providers are more aware of the common occurrence of depression in patients with chronic pain, and there has been less of an emphasis on anxiety,” said lead author Kurt Kroenke, M.D., professor of medicine at Indiana University in Indianapolis. The study found that 45 percent of the pain patients screened positive for at least one or more of the common anxiety disorders. And those who had an anxiety disorder also reported significantly worse pain and health-related quality of life than patients without a disorder. “Many patients benefit from cognitive behavioural therapy to help them in coping with the pain and related anxiety,” said pain expert Roger Chou, M.D. “Just throwing pain medications at someone like this doesn’t tend to be very effective since you’re not dealing with an important driver of the pain.”
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The offspring of parents who were addicted to drugs or alcohol are more likely to be depressed in adulthood, according to a new study by University of Toronto researchers. After adjusting for age, sex and race, parental addictions were associated with more than twice the odds of adult depression. Co-author Robyn Katz, suggests that, “It is possible that the prolonged and inescapable strain of parental addictions may permanently alter the way these children’s bodies reacts to stress throughout their life. One important avenue for future research is to investigate potential dysfunctions in cortisol production – the hormone that prepares us for 'fight or flight' – which may influence the later development of depression.”
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A report published by the Federal Government calls for tougher medical scrutiny of the 10,000 public service workers currently claiming workers' compensation, The Canberra Times reports. The study was conducted by former Defence Department boss Allan Hawke, and is part of a larger review of the $1.2 billion scheme that insures 218,000 bureaucrats and an additional 164,000 private-sector workers. Dr Hawke said that with over 10,000 current claims amounting to over $2.6 billion, a significant expense was "cost leakage" through payments for inappropriate medical care. ''Given Comcare has over 10,000 open premium claims, there is a need for quicker review," said Dr Hawke. ''There is also a need to introduce more disciplines in the clinical panel to review other types of treatment.'' Read more.
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A Boston University School of Medicine study shows a mind-body class elective for medical students helps increase their self-compassion and ability to manage thoughts and tasks more effectively. The study, published in Medical Education Online, also discusses how this innovative course may help medical students better manage stress and feel more empowered to use mind-body skills with their patients. "An effective career in medicine requires technical competence and expertise, but just as important is the ability to empathise and connect with others, including patients," said Robert Saper, MD, MPH. However, medical students experience tremendous demands from workload, stress and competition from other students to succeed, resulting in burnout and a decreased ability to connect with patients, according to studies. "Our study provides compelling evidence that mind-body approaches have benefits for medical students and could have a positive impact on their interaction with peers and patients." Read more.
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The mantra that quality is more important than quantity is true when considering how social relationships influence depression, say U-M researchers in a new study. Results find people are better off not having a spouse than having poor relationship with one. After analysing data from nearly 5,000 American adults, the researchers found that the quality of a person’s relationships with a spouse, family and friends predicted the likelihood of major depression disorder in the future, regardless of how frequently their social interactions took place. Individuals with strained and unsupportive spouses were significantly more likely to develop depression, whereas those without a spouse were at no increased risk. And those with the lowest quality relationships had more than double the risk of depression than those with the best relationships. “Our study shows that the quality of social relationships is a significant risk factor for major depression,” says psychiatrist Alan Teo.
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A new study led by University of North Carolina School of Medicine researchers is the first to identify a genetic risk factor for persistent pain after traumatic events such as motor vehicle collision. In addition, the study contributes further evidence that persistent pain after stressful events has a specific biological basis. “Our study findings indicate that mechanisms influencing chronic pain development may be related to the stress response, rather than any specific injury caused by the traumatic event,” said Samuel McLean, MD, MPH, senior author of the study and assistant professor of anaesthesiology. "Because we don't understand what causes these outcomes, individuals with chronic pain after traumatic events are often viewed with suspicion, as if they are making up their symptoms for financial gain or having a psychological reaction." Read more
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It's no secret that stress increases your susceptibility to health problems, and it also impacts your ability to solve problems and be creative. But methods to prevent associated risks and effects have been less clear — until now. Published in PLOS ONE, new research from Carnegie Mellon University provides the first evidence that self-affirmation can protect against the damaging effects of stress on problem-solving performance. Understanding that self-affirmation — the process of identifying and focusing on one's most important values - boosts stressed individuals' problem-solving abilities will help guide future research and the development of educational interventions. "People under high stress can foster better problem-solving simply by taking a moment beforehand to think about something that is important to them," Creswell said. "It's an easy-to-use and portable strategy you can roll out before you enter that high pressure performance situation." Read more.
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Brain function in adults as young as 35 may decline as their heart disease risk factors increase, according to new research in the American Heart Association journal Stroke. “Young adults may think the consequences of smoking or being overweight are years down the road, but they aren’t,” said Hanneke Joosten, M.D., lead author and nephrology fellow at the University Medical Center in Groningen, The Netherlands. “Most people know the negative effects of heart risk factors such as heart attack, stroke and renal impairment, but they do not realizer it affects cognitive health. What’s bad for the heart is also bad for the brain.” Researchers found that participants with the most heart disease risks performed 50 percent worse on cognitive tests as compared to participants with the lowest risk profile. Read more.
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Workplace and mental health experts fear an influx of workplace mental health claims following changes in how mental illness is defined in the latest version of the number one mental health diagnostic reference, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), Mental Health Hub reports. Within it, the symptoms required to diagnose some mental health conditions will be expanded. Many mental health experts say this may risk increasing unnecessary diagnosis and treatment. ”The uncertainty will lead to less risk-taking in some instances and, undoubtedly, more legal challenges in others,” said US employment and labour lawyer Douglas Hass. ”The net result for employers and employees will be more money and higher costs.” Read more.
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Back pain is a leading cause of absence from work in the UK, with 4.5 million days being lost every year, at a cost to employers of £335 million, with four out of five Britons suffering from the complaint at some point in their lives. Researchers have found that the family members of those who managed to stay at work were much more independent of each other. “They were supportive but seemed quite separate; whereas the families of back pain sufferers that weren’t working were very involved in each other’s lives,” said Dr McCluskey. Read more.
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Stressful situations at work can have a negative impact on the cardiovascular system and the metabolism. Stress, which is transmitted by direct and indirect signalling pathways, leads to an inflammatory response in the body, which can trigger cardiovascular diseases, amongst others. “The insights gained from this study form important starting points for finding preventive measures that will protect against stress-related diseases such as coronary heart disease,” says Dr. Emeny, first author of a study recently published in the specialist journals Brain, Behavior, and Immunity and Psychosomatic Medicine. Read more.
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Young people seeking help who are at high risk of developing psychosis could significantly reduce their chances of going on to develop a full-blown psychotic illness by getting early access to cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), new research shows. Researchers from The University of Manchester found the risk of developing psychosis was more than halved for those receiving CBT at six, 12 and 18-24 months after treatment started. Dr Paul Hutton said: “Our research suggests that young people seeking help who are at risk of developing psychosis should now be offered a package of care which includes at least six months of CBT." Read more.
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Two in three (63%) people with mental health problems who tell their partners about their condition have said that partners ‘weren’t fazed’ and were ‘really understanding’ when they first heard the news. UK organisation, Mind, and the largest provider of relationship support, Relate, have today released research which shows that 77% of people with a mental health problems surveyed actively tell their partners about their mental health, and only 5% of those people said their partners broke up with them when they heard about their condition. Read more.
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ABC Radio National's Breakfast interviews The Health Report's Dr. Norman Swan, who explains new evidence from the New England Journal of Medicine that "having X-Rays or MRI scans on your back are ineffective, possibly harmful." Swan explains: "What they showed was that after a year - this was following people who had surgery, or no surgery for their chronic back pain - that the appearance on the MRI at one year, whether or not they still showed a slipped disc...made absolutely no difference to the outcome." Click here to listen to the podcast.
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Depression is the leading cause of disability with more than 350 million people globally affected by this disease. Depression predisposes an individual to physiological disease such as heart disease, and conversely heart disease increases the risk of depression. Dr. Susan K. Wood investigates brain-related biomarkers for depression-heart disease comorbidity. Her latest study revealed more than 35 genes in stressed rats that had altered expression compared with non-stressed controls. Many of the genes that were differentially expressed were related to inflammation. The identification of factors in the brain that distinguish susceptibility and resiliency to depression and heart disease comorbidity would be a major advance in predicting, preventing and treating these disorders. Read more
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Patient satisfaction is an important indicator of a hospital’s service quality, but new Johns Hopkins research suggests that it doesn’t necessarily reflect the quality of the surgical care patients receive. “We found that the quality of what goes on in the operating room doesn’t closely correlate with the patient’s perception of the quality of his or her medical care,” says Martin A. Makary, M.D., M.P.H., an associate professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and leader of the study described online in JAMA Surgery. “It is important for patient satisfaction to be tracked and transparent, but the quality of the actual care may be independent of that. It’s misleading to say a patient satisfaction score says it all.” Read more
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An international study found that despite widespread acceptance that mental illness is a disease that can be effectively treated, a common "backbone" of prejudice exists that unfairly paints people with conditions such as depression and schizophrenia as undesirable for close personal relationships and positions of authority. While the findings might be discouraging to mental health advocates, the data can be used to reconfigure public health efforts to reduce stigma and to determine important issues for treatment providers to consider. "The stereotype of all people with mental illness as 'not able' is just wrong. No data supports this," said Bernice Pescosolido. "If the public understands that mental illnesses are medical problems but still reject individuals with mental illness, then educational campaigns directed toward ensuring inclusion become more salient," the authors wrote. Read more
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Overworked and stressed out? Look on the bright side. Some stress is good for you. While too little stress can lead to boredom and depression, too much can cause anxiety and poor health. The right amount of acute stress, however, tunes up the brain and improves performance and health. “You always think about stress as a really bad thing, but it’s not,” said Daniela Kaufer, associate professor of integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley. “Some amounts of stress are good to push you just to the level of optimal alertness, behavioural and cognitive performance. I think the ultimate message is an optimistic one,” she concluded. “Stress can be something that makes you better, but it is a question of how much, how long and how you interpret or perceive it.” Read more
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The workers who may have the most to gain from attending company social events may be the ones who actually get the least value from them, a new study suggests. Researchers found that, in general, workers tended to report closer relationships with their colleagues the more that they attended company social events and shared their nonwork lives with their co-workers.“There is something about being different from your co-workers that can make socialising less effective in building closer relationships,” said Tracy Dumas, lead author. “Sometimes you can create cohesion around the work task itself – you don’t need outside social interaction. If everyone can feel good about the work they do and celebrate the successes they achieve together, it is not necessary to find ways to connect outside of work,” she said. Read more
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Two studies suggest that demanding physical work has a detrimental effect on an individual's risk of coronary heart disease. The first evaluated occupation in 250 consecutive patients with a first stroke, 250 with a first acute coronary event and 500 equally matched controls. Overall, the analysis showed that those suffering the stroke and coronary events were more commonly engaged in physically demanding occupation than the controls. A second study also supports the view that physically demanding work is a risk factor for coronary heart disease, even when leisure-time activity is taken into account. "The results of this study suggest that additional physical activity during leisure time in those who are already physically exhausted from their daily occupation does not induce a 'training' effect but rather an overloading effect on the cardiovascular system." Read more
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The annual WorkSafe Awards celebrate businesses, groups or individuals who are making a dedicated commitment to safety, health and wellbeing and return to work in their workplace. All initiatives are welcome and no idea is too small. "Simply tell us your story, what you've done, why you've done it and how it has had a positive impact in the workplace. Write it in your own words and tell us what you think is most important about your initiative or achievement." The deadline for the first round of 2013 finalists is 30 April. Don't miss out, enter now
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According to a new study published online in the Journal of the American College of Radiology, any efficiencies in physician interpretation and diagnosis gained when different providers interpret different medical imaging scans performed on the same patient are minute and vary by procedure. "While potential efficiencies exist in physician pre- and post-service work when same-session, same-modality imaging services are rendered by different physicians in the same group practice, these are relatively minuscule, and have been grossly overestimated. These findings support the need for greater transparency and methodological rigor when health care regulatory actions are taken," said Geraldine McGinty, M.D., chair of the American College of Radiology Commission on Economics. Read more
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In addition to health-related risk factors, some non-traditional "well-being risks" can have a significant impact on workers' productivity, reports a study in the April Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Specific health risks independently related to decreased productivity included high blood pressure, recurring pain, unhealthy diet, inadequate exercise. Some of the less-traditional well-being risks also affected productivity, including poor emotional health, poor supervisor relationship, not using one's strengths on the job, and working for a company that was unsupportive of well-being. Read more
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Veterans who sustained major limb injuries during combat reported little improvement in symptoms of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental-health problems up to 2 years post injury, according to research presented today. “Our research confirms that chronic daily pain, including neuropathic pain, continues to be a burden for limb-injured servicemen, that post-traumatic stress is a far more prominent feature of recovery than in other chronic pain populations, and that returning to meaningful role functioning in their lives is challenging for many." Read more
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Those who accept their pain condition are best able to tolerate pain, while distraction can be the way to lower pain intensity, according to research reported in The Journal of Pain. A team of German researchers evaluated the most common short-term cognitive pain management techniques for acute pain – acceptance, distraction and cognitive restructuring. Acceptance is intended to disrupt the link between thoughts and behaviours so patients are willing to tolerate pain. The study showed that acceptance led to increased pain tolerance relative to cognitive restructuring and distraction lowered pain intensity compared to acceptance. Read more
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A new study published in the May issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine finds that Google searches for information across all major mental illnesses and problems followed seasonal patterns, suggesting mental illness may be more strongly linked with seasonal patterns than previously thought. Monitoring population mental illness trends has been an historic challenge for scientists and clinicians alike. "The Internet is a game changer," said lead investigator John W. Ayers. "By passively monitoring how individuals search online we can figuratively look inside the heads of searchers to understand population mental health patterns." Read more
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ABC Radio National's The Health Report with Norman Swan looks at treatments for chronic low back pain, including avoiding scans of your back when it's sore, "because an MRI or CT scan of your back could do more harm than good." A researcher elaborates: "MRI studies were done on a large group of patients, but only half were given their results and it turned out that the patients who did not get their results actually reported better improvements when they were followed up than the patients who received their results, suggesting that simply getting the results of an MRI scan may be sufficiently alarming that people feel less healthy." Listen here
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Safe Work Australia has released the first report devoted to work-related mental stress in Australia. Mental disorders arising from stress in the workplace have become an increasingly important concern for employees, employers and the general public as a whole. Mental disorders also have an impact on the Australian economy because mental stress claims are the most expensive form of workers’ compensation claim as a consequence of the lengthy periods of absence from work that are common with such claims. This report explores various elements of work-related mental stress. The first chapter describes what work-related mental stress is, its causes, effects and recognised preventive measures. chapter two analyses the characteristics of employees who have made a workers’ claim resulting from mental stress, such as age, s-x, occupation and industry of workers claiming compensation. Read more
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The way people react to everyday stress may be a predictor of their future mental health, Medical News Today reports. A study published in Psychological Science set out to determine whether everyday irritations can harm us or make us stronger. The data suggested that people who reacted to a daily stressor - such as an argument - in a negative emotional manner were at an increased risk of psychological distress and mood disorders later in life. "How we manage daily emotions matters to our overall mental health," said lead researcher Susan Charles. "We're so focused on long-term goals that we don't see the importance of regulating our emotions. Changing how you respond to stress and how you think about stressful situations is as important as maintaining a healthy diet and exercise routine." Read more
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A new study of Hong Kong chronic pain patients suggests that targeting feelings of mental defeat could prevent severe depression, anxiety and interference with daily activities. Mental defeat occurs when pain patients view their pain as an ‘enemy’ which takes over their life and removes their autonomy and identity. The researchers monitored levels of mental defeat through how much the participants agreed with statements such as ‘because of the pain I felt destroyed as a person’ and ‘I felt humiliated and that I was losing my sense of inner dignity’. When the two groups of individuals with chronic pain were compared, those who were seeking specialist treatment for their pain were found to have higher levels of mental defeat than those who did not require such treatment. The study also found that people who had a sense of mental defeat because of pain also reported higher levels of depression and anxiety as well as a higher incidence of the pain interfering with their daily lives. Read more
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Exposure of the developing foetus to excessive levels of stress hormones in the womb can cause mood disorders in later life and now, for the first time, according to research presented at the British Neuroscience Association Festival of Neuroscience (BNA2013) in London. The concept of foetal programming of adult disease, whereby the environment experienced in the womb can have profound long-lasting consequences on health and risk of disease in later life, is well known; however, the process that drives this is unclear. Adverse environments experienced while in the womb, such as in cases of stress, bereavement or abuse, will increase levels of glucocorticoids in the mother, which may harm the growing baby. “The stress hormone cortisol may be a key factor in programming the foetus, baby or child to be at risk of disease in later life. Cortisol causes reduced growth and modifies the timing of tissue development as well as having long lasting effects on gene expression." Read more
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A study by the universities of Manchester and Liverpool observing monkeys has found that those in the middle hierarchy suffer the most social stress. The source of this stress is social conflict and may help explain studies in humans that have found that middle managers suffer the most stress at work. “It’s possible to apply these findings to other social species too, including human hierarchies. People working in middle management might have higher levels of stress hormones compared to their boss at the top or the workers they manage. These ambitious mid-ranking people may want to access the higher-ranking lifestyle which could mean facing more challenges, whilst also having to maintain their authority over lower-ranking workers.” Read more
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The costs of caring for people with dementia in the U.S. are comparable to – if not greater than – those for heart disease and cancer, according to new estimates by researchers at the University of Michigan Health System and nonprofit RAND Corporation. Annual healthcare costs tied to dementia, including both formal and unpaid care, reach $159-$215 billion – rivalling the most costly major diseases – according to the findings that appear in The New England Journal of Medicine. “Our findings show why dementia is sometimes described as a ‘slow-motion disaster’ for patients and families,” says co-author Kenneth Langa, M.D., Ph.D. “The majority of the costs associated with dementia — about 80 percent in our study—are due to the long-term daily care and supervision provided by families and nursing homes, often for many years. Ignoring these long-term care costs that build up steadily day-after-day leads to a huge under-counting of the true burden that dementia imposes on our society.” Read more
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Walking briskly can lower your risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes as much as running can. Researchers analysed 33,060 runners in the National Runners’ Health Study and 15,045 walkers in the National Walkers’ Health Study. They found that the same energy used for moderate intensity walking and vigorous intensity running resulted in similar reductions in risk for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and possibly coronary heart disease over the study’s six years. “Walking and running provide an ideal test of the health benefits of moderate-intensity walking and vigorous-intensity running because they involve the same muscle groups and the same activities performed at different intensities,” said Paul T. Williams, Ph.D. “People are always looking for an excuse not to exercise, but now they have a straightforward choice to run or to walk and invest in their future health,” Williams said. Read more
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The federal workers' compensation insurance scheme Comcare is under the spotlight after a government review urged reform to combat dubious psychological injury claims, doctor shopping, payouts for questionable therapies and outright fraud, The Age reports. Comcare lost over half a billion dollars in the 2011-12 financial year, with some long-term claims now exceeding $2 million. The reports do not call for cuts to benefits for injured workers, but urge transition to a scheme that emphasises rehabilitation and return to work. "It is an unfair burden on employers to make them liable to pay compensation for a psychological injury that is caused by an employee's fantasising rather than by any aspect of employment," said co-author, Melbourne barrister Peter Hanks, QC. He also calls for greater scrutiny over doctors who sign off on compensation payments, and "that health practitioners are held accountable for their conduct, and that they do not exploit what is, in effect, a publicly funded scheme by overcharging, overservicing or providing services that do not meet basic professional standards." Read more
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Researchers from the UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies say that despite the expansion in smoking cessation services in recent years, GPs are missing opportunities to offer this support to patients with mental health problems. Although smoking prevalence has declined in the United Kingdom over recent decades, it has changed little among people with mental health disorders, remaining substantially higher than the national average. This is bad news for a group that is particularly vulnerable to poor health. People with severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia have some of the worst physical health of any section of the population. The research published in Addiction, of over 2 million patients, shows that people with mental illness are around twice as likely to smoke as those without and nears 50% in those with more severe illness. Smoking-related illnesses contribute significantly to high sickness and death rates in these groups, with mortality rates up to three times those of the rest of the population. Read more
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"In the past three decades, the number of Americans who are on disability has skyrocketed," reports Chana Joffe-Walt for NPR. "The rise has come even as medical advances have allowed many more people to remain on the job, and new laws have banned workplace discrimination against the disabled. Every month, 14 million people now get a disability check from the government." Back pain and mental illness are among the fastest growing causes of disability in the United States the developed world. Joffe-Walt investigates the growth of federal disability programs, and the social and economic impacts of increasing disability rates. Read more
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Job burnout saw Lisa M. Gerry go from an enthusiastic young worker to someone who lost interest in her health, family and friends, Forbes reports. The American Psychological Association’s David Ballard describes job burnout as “an extended period of time where someone experiences exhaustion and a lack of interest in things, resulting in a decline in their job performance." Dr. Ballard explains the signs of burnout: 1) Exhaustion; 2) Lack of motivation; 3) Frustration, cynicism and other negative emotions; 4) Cognitive problems; 5) Slipping job performance; 6) Interpersonal problems at home and at work. 7) Not taking care of yourself. 8) Being preoccupied with work…When you’re not at work. 9) Generally decreased satisfaction. 10) Health problems. The article also offers strategies for dealing with burnout. Read more
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Depression may inhibit the anti-inflammatory effects typically associated with physical activity and light-to-moderate alcohol consumption, according to researchers at Duke Medicine. The finding points to another potential danger of depression, which afflicts an estimated one in 10 adults in the United States. “Our findings suggest depression not only directly affects an individual’s mental and physical health; it might also diminish the health benefits of physical activities and moderate alcohol consumption,” said lead author Edward C. Suarez, PhD. “This appears to be specific to inflammation, which we know increases the risk for heart disease, so our findings suggest that depression could be a complicating risk factor.” Read more
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Do cash rewards for healthier habits work? Maybe, says a new study, if you add on one more condition – peer pressure. A growing number of companies are offering employees an opportunity to boost earning power at work via cash incentives to stay healthy. Group-based financial incentives led to nearly three times more weight loss than cash awards based on an individual’s weight loss success alone, according to the findings that appear in the Annals of Internal Medicine. “Despite the health and economic consequences of obesity, the problem isn’t getting any better, and there is great interest in identifying new approaches to combating this major health issue in our country,” says Jeffrey T. Kullgren. Read more
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Heart disease patients who have anxiety have twice the risk of dying from any cause compared to those without anxiety, according to new research in the Journal of the American Heart Association. Patients with both anxiety and depression have triple the risk of dying, researchers said. “Many studies have linked depression to an increased risk of death in heart disease patients,” said Lana Watkins, Ph.D., lead author of the study and an associate professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C. “However, anxiety hasn’t received as much attention.” Studies show that depression is about three times more common in heart attack patients. The American Heart Association recommends that heart patients be screened for depression and treated if necessary. Anxiety and depression each influence risk of death in unique ways. Read more
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When it comes to posting on social media sites, there are few areas of our lives that are off limits. Just about everything is up for public consumption...except our health. A new study from BYU finds that while most of us go online regularly for help in diagnosing health issues, very few of us actually post information, questions or experiences on health topics. “Less than 15 percent of us are posting the health information that most of us are consuming,” said Rosemary Thackeray, BYU professor of health science and lead author of the study appearing online in the Journal of Medical Internet Research. According to the study data, more than 60 percent of Internet users go online for health help, looking for advice, digging up user experiences on social media and consulting online reviews in hunt of health providers and health care facilities. Read more
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Research commissioned by Mind UK has found that work is the most stressful factor in people’s lives, with one in three people (34 per cent) saying their work life was either very or quite stressful, more so than debt or financial problems (30 per cent) or health (17 per cent). The survey of over 2,000 people found that workplace stress has resulted in 7 per cent (rising to 10 per cent amongst 18 to 24 year olds) having suicidal thoughts and one in five people (18 per cent) developing anxiety. Read more
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Long distance commercial drivers who consume caffeinated substances such as coffee or energy drinks, to stay awake while driving, are significantly less likely to crash than those who do not, even though they drive longer distances and sleep less, finds a study published today on bmj.com. Lisa Sharwood, lead author of the paper, says that this suggests drivers are making behavioural adaptation in order to manage their fatigue. “This may seem effective in enhancing their alertness, but it should be considered carefully in the context of a safe and healthy fatigue management strategy; energy drinks and coffee certainly don’t replace the need for sleep”. Read more
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For those with irritable bowel syndrome who wonder if stress aggravates their intestinal disorder, a new University of Michigan Health System study shows it’s not all in their head. While stress does not cause IBS, the study revealed it does alter brain-gut interactions and induces the intestinal inflammation that often leads to severe or chronic belly pain, loss of appetite and diarrhoea. “This study reveals an important mechanism for explaining why treating IBS patients with probiotics makes sense," says senior study author and gastroenterologist John Y. Kao, M.D. Read more
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Millions of people could be mislabeled as mentally ill when psychiatry's bible of diagnoses is updated in May, warns a senior doctor in this week’s BMJ. The next edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) – used around the world to classify mental disorders – will include a new category of somatic symptom disorder. But Allen Frances, Chair of the current (DSM-IV) task force warns that the DSM-5 definition of somatic symptom disorder “may result in inappropriate diagnoses of mental disorder and inappropriate medical decision making...Clinicians are best advised to ignore this new category. When a psychiatric diagnosis is needed for someone who is overly worried about medical problems the more benign and accurate diagnosis is adjustment disorder.” Read more
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News stories about mass shootings involving a shooter with mental illness heighten readers' negative attitudes toward persons with serious mental illness, according to a new report by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. "The public's negative attitudes toward persons with serious mental illness are exacerbated by news media accounts of mass shootings involving a shooter with mental illness," said lead study author Emma (Beth) E. McGinty, MS. Research shows most persons with serious mental illness are not violent. The stigmatisation of people with mental illness may lead to a reluctance to seek treatment or raise other barriers to care. Read more
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Though we all desire relief — from stress, work, or pain — little is known about the specific emotions underlying relief. New research from the Association for Psychological Science shows that healthy individuals and individuals with a history of self-harm display similar levels of relief when pain is removed, which suggests that pain offset relief may be a natural mechanism that helps us to regulate our emotions. Research shows that feeling pain leads to negative emotions, but less is known about the relief that occurs when pain is removed. Is pain offset associated with positive emotions, or simply the alleviation of negative emotions? Read more
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Sleeping just five hours a night over a workweek and having unlimited access to food caused participants in a new study led by the University of Colorado Boulder to gain nearly two pounds of weight. The study, performed in collaboration with the CU Anschutz Medical Campus, suggests that sufficient sleep could help battle the obesity epidemic. “I don’t think extra sleep by itself is going to lead to weight loss,” said Kenneth Wright, director of CU-Boulder’s Sleep and Chronobiology Laboratory, which led the study. “Problems with weight gain and obesity are much more complex than that. But I think it could help. If we can incorporate healthy sleep into weight-loss and weight-maintenance programs, our findings suggest that it may assist people to obtain a healthier weight.” Previous research has shown that a lack of sleep can lead to weight gain, but the reasons for extra pounds were unclear. While staying awake longer requires more energy, the amount of food study participants ate more than offset the extra calories burned. “Just getting less sleep, by itself, is not going to lead to weight gain,” Wright said. “But when people get insufficient sleep, it leads them to eat more than they actually need.” On average, the participants who slept for up to five hours a night burned 5 percent more energy than those who slept up to nine hours a night, but they consumed 6 percent more calories. Those getting less sleep also tended to eat smaller breakfasts but binge on after-dinner snacks.
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The improvement in cardiovascular health that results from quitting smoking far outweighs the limited risks to cardiovascular health from the modest amount of weight gained after quitting, reports a National Institutes of Health-funded community study. The study found that former smokers without diabetes had about half as much risk of developing cardiovascular disease as current smokers, and this risk level did not change when post-cessation weight gain was accounted for in the analysis. This study is the first epidemiological effort to directly address the health impact of the weight gain that many people experience following smoking cessation. The findings will be published in the March 13 Journal of the American Medical Association. “Our findings suggest that a modest weight gain, around 5-10 pounds, has a negligible effect on the net benefit of quitting smoking,” said study co-author Caroline Fox, M.D., M.P.H. “Being able to quantify to some degree the relationship between the benefits and side effects of smoking cessation can help in counselling those who have quit or are thinking about quitting.”
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Patients with neck injuries incur increased health and social costs—which also affect their spouses and may begin years before the initial injury, reports a study in the March 1 issue of Spine. Some individuals and families seem more susceptible to experiencing socioeconomic consequences of neck injury, according to the new research by Dr Poul Jennum of University of Copenhagen and colleagues. Particularly for patients who develop chronic neck pain, the health and social costs may start to increase a decade or more before neck injury occurs. In addition to direct health care costs and prescription drugs, the study addressed indirect costs such as work disability and social security payments. "Neck injury patients had significantly higher rates of health-related contacts, medication use and higher socioeconomic costs than controls," Dr Jennum and coauthors write. The spouses of patients with neck injuries also had increased costs for doctor visits, hospital services, and medications. "Neck injuries are associated with major socioeconomic consequences for patients, their spouses and society," the researchers conclude. The new findings suggest that some individuals and families may be predisposed to chronic neck pain and its adverse health and social impact. Dr Jennum and coauthors call for further research to "identify high-risk groups for chronic disease development and disease management, so that the costs and consequences for patients and society can be reduced."
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Dwelling on negative events can increase levels of inflammation in the body, a new Ohio University study finds. Researchers discovered that when study participants were asked to ruminate on a stressful incident, their levels of C-reactive protein, a marker of tissue inflammation, rose. “Researchers have asked people to report their tendency to ruminate, and then looked to see if it connected to physiological issues,” said Peggy Zoccola, an assistant professor of psychology at Ohio University. The research team recruited 34 healthy young women to participate in the project. Each woman was asked to give a speech about her candidacy for a job to two interviewers in white laboratory coats, who listened with stone-faced expressions, Zoccola said. Half of the group was asked to contemplate their performance in the public speaking task, while the other half was asked to think about neutral images and activities, such as sailing ships or grocery store trips. The researchers drew blood samples that showed that the levels of C-reactive protein were significantly higher in the subjects who were asked to dwell on the speech. For these participants, the levels of the inflammatory marker continued to rise for at least one hour after the speech. During the same time period, the marker returned to starting levels in the subjects who had been asked to focus on other thoughts. “More and more, chronic inflammation is being associated with various disorders and conditions,” Zoccola said. “The immune system plays an important role in various cardiovascular disorders such as heart disease, as well as cancer, dementia and autoimmune diseases.”
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Americans work longer hours, take fewer vacation days, and retire later than employees in other industrialised countries around the globe. With such demanding careers, it's no surprise that many experience job burnout — physical, cognitive, and emotional exhaustion that results from stress at work. Researchers have found that burnout is also associated with obesity, insomnia, and anxiety. Now Dr. Sharon Toker of Tel Aviv University's Faculty of Management and her fellow researchers — Profs. Samuel Melamed, Shlomo Berliner, David Zeltser and Itzhak Shpira of TAU's Sackler Faculty of Medicine — have found a link between job burnout and coronary heart disease (CHD), the buildup of plaque in the coronary arteries that leads to angina or heart attacks. Those who were identified as being in the top 20 percent of the burnout scale were found to have a 79 percent increased risk of coronary disease, the researchers reported in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine. Calling the results "alarming," Dr. Toker says that these findings were more extreme than the researchers had expected — and make burnout a stronger predictor of CHD than many other classical risk factors, including smoking, blood lipid levels, and physical activity. Workers can contribute to prevention by making healthy lifestyle choices, such as exercising more regularly, getting seven to eight hours sleep per night, and seeking psychological therapy if required.
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Mindfulness — paying attention to one’s current experience in a non-judgmental way — might help us to learn more about our own personalities, according to a new article published in the March 2013 issue of Perspectives on Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. Recent research has highlighted the fact that we have many blind spots when it comes to understanding our patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving. Despite our intuition that we know ourselves the best, other people have a more accurate view of some traits (e.g., intellect) than we do. In some cases, blind spots in self-knowledge can have negative consequences, such as poor decision-making, poor academic achievement, emotional and interpersonal problems, and lower life satisfaction. In this new article, psychological scientist Erika Carlson of Washington University in St. Louis explores one potential strategy for improving self-knowledge: mindfulness. Mindfulness — a technique often recognised for its positive effects on mental health — involves paying attention to your current experience (e.g., thoughts, feelings) and observing it in a non-judgmental manner. According to Carlson, these two components of mindfulness, attention and nonjudgmental observation, can overcome the major barriers to knowing ourselves. She argues that the motivation to see ourselves in a desirable way is one of the main obstacles to self-knowledge. For instance, people may overestimate their virtuous qualities to ward off negative feelings or boost self-esteem. However, non-judgmental observation of one’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviour, might reduce emotional reactivity — such as feelings of inadequacy or low self-esteem — that typically interferes with people seeing the truth about themselves. Lack of information is another barrier to self-knowledge — in some situations, people might not have the information they would need to accurately assess themselves. For instance, we have a hard time observing much of our nonverbal behaviour, so we may not know that we’re grimacing or fidgeting during a serious conversation. Mindfulness could also help in this domain, as research has shown that mindfulness training is associated with greater bodily awareness. Drawing from cognitive, clinical, and social psychology, Carlson outlines a theoretical link between mindfulness and self-knowledge that suggests focusing our attention on our current experiences in a nonjudgmental way could be an effective tool for getting to know ourselves better.
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People with mental disorders have a highly increased risk of being victims of homicide, a large study published today on bmj.com suggests. The perpetration of homicide by people with mental disorders has received much attention, but their risk of being victims of homicide has rarely been examined. So a team of researchers from Sweden and the USA assessed mental disorders and homicides across the entire population of Swedish adults between 2001 and 2008. After adjusting for several factors, the results show that people with any mental disorder were at a five-fold increased risk of homicidal death, relative to people without mental disorders. The risk was highest among those with substance use disorders (approximately nine-fold), but was also increased among those with personality disorders (3.2-fold), depression (2.6-fold), anxiety disorders (2.2-fold), or schizophrenia (1.8-fold) and did not seem to be explained by substance use. One explanation for the findings may be that those with mental disorders are more likely to live in high deprivation neighbourhoods, which have higher homicide rates, say the authors. They may also be in closer contact with other mentally ill people and be less aware of their safety risks owing to symptoms of the underlying illness. A key implication of these new findings is that clinicians should assess risk for the full array of adverse outcomes that may befall people with mental health problems, say Roger Webb and colleagues at the University of Manchester, in an accompanying editorial.
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The results of the National Sleep Foundation’s 2013 Sleep in America® poll show a compelling association between exercise and better sleep. “Exercise is great for sleep. For the millions of people who want better sleep, exercise may help,” says David Cloud, CEO of the National Sleep Foundation (NSF). Self-described exercisers report better sleep than self-described non-exercisers even though they say they sleep the same amount each night (6 hours and 51 minutes, average on weeknights). Vigorous, moderate and light exercisers are significantly more likely to say “I had a good night’s sleep” every night or almost every night on work nights than non-exercisers (67%-56% vs. 39%). Also, more than three-fourths of exercisers (76%-83%) say their sleep quality was very good or fairly good in the past two weeks, compared to slightly more than one-half of non-exercisers (56%). “If you are inactive, adding a 10 minute walk every day could improve your likelihood of a good night’s sleep,” says Max Hirshkowitz, PhD, poll task force chair. “Making this small change and gradually working your way up to more intense activities like running or swimming could help you sleep better.” Non-exercisers tend toward being more excessively sleepy than exercisers. Nearly one-fourth of non-exercisers (24%) qualify as “sleepy” using a standard excessive sleepiness clinical screening measure. “The poll data suggest that the risk of sleep apnea in exercisers is half that of non-exercisers,” says Christopher Kline, PhD, poll task force member. “People with sleep apnea are often overweight. Exercise can be part of the treatment.”
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New findings about how the brain functions to suppress pain have been published in the leading journal in the field Pain, by National University of Ireland Galway (NUI Galway) researchers. For the first time, it has been shown that suppression of pain during times of fear involves complex interplay between marijuana-like chemicals and other neurotransmitters in a brain region called the amygdala. The research builds on previous breakthrough findings from Dr David Finn's research group on the role of marijuana-like chemicals in the brain's hippocampus in pain suppression during fear. Pain is both a sensory and an emotional experience and is subject to modulation by a number of factors including fear and stress. During exposure to a high-stress environment or stimulus, pain transmission and perception can be potently suppressed. This important survival response can help us cope with or escape from potentially life-threatening situations. Dr David Finn says: "The body can suppress pain when under extreme stress, in part through the action of marijuana-like substances produced in the brain. This research provides information on the complex interactions between multiple neurotransmitter systems including endocannabinoids, GABA and glutamate in times of stress and pain. This research which was funded by a grant from Science Foundation Ireland, advances our fundamental understanding of the neurobiology of pain and may facilitate the identification of new therapeutic targets for the treatment of pain and anxiety disorders."
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Positive emotions are known to play a role in physical well-being, and stress is strongly linked to poor health, but is this strictly a “First World” phenomenon? In developing nations, is the fulfilment of basic needs more critical to health than how one feels? A UC Irvine researcher has found that emotions do affect health around the world and may, in fact, be more important to wellness in low-income countries. “We wondered whether the fact that emotions make a difference in our health is simply because we have the luxury of letting them,” said Sarah Pressman, assistant professor of psychology & social behaviour and the study’s lead author. “We wanted to assess the impact of emotions on health in places where people face famine, homelessness and serious safety concerns that might be more critical correlates of wellness.” Against expectations, researchers found that the link between positive emotions (enjoyment, love, happiness) and health is stronger in countries with a weaker gross domestic product.“A hostile American with hypertension can take blood pressure-lowering medication. A Malawian cannot,” Pressman said. “Medical interventions might lower the impact of emotions on health.” Using data from the Gallup World Poll, researchers noted whether participants had reported experiencing enjoyment, love, happiness, worry, sadness, stress, boredom, depression or anger during the previous day. They also measured physical health and the degree to which subjects’ basic needs were met. Security was assessed by asking if participants felt safe walking alone at night or whether they had been robbed, assaulted or mugged. “We hope that by showing that this phenomenon is prevalent and stronger than some factors considered critical to wellness, more attention will be drawn to the importance of studying both positive and negative emotions,” Pressman said.
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Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators have described what may be a newly identified disease that appears to explain some cases of widespread chronic pain and other symptoms in children and young adults. Their report finds that most of a group of young patients seen at the MGH for chronic, unexplained pain had test results indicating small-fiber polyneuropathy, a condition not previously reported in children. The MGH investigators call this new syndrome juvenile-onset small-fiber polyneuropathy or JOSeFINE. "We've found the beginnings of a way to better evaluate young patients with otherwise unexplained widespread body pain," says Anne Louise Oaklander, MD, PhD, director of the Nerve Injury Unit in the MGH Department of Neurology and corresponding author of the Pediatrics paper. "By identifying the tests that are useful for diagnosing this condition, we hope to reduce the use of unnecessary, expensive, sometimes painful and potentially harmful testing that many of these children have undergone. The importance that families placed on finding an accurate diagnosis and effective treatment for their sick children is illustrated by how many of them travelled thousands of miles, including some from other countries, in a desperate search for answers," Oaklander says. "Because everyone wanted to help these children, they had undergone myriad tests, two thirds had been hospitalised, and some had tried many medications, usually without benefit."
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Carpenter Co. and Sleepbetter.org asked a team of economists to estimate the total burden of the lost hour of sleep due to daylight saving time (DST) on the U.S. economy and today launched a multichannel messaging campaign to share its surprising results. According to the SleepBetter.org Lost-Hour Economic Index, made public today, moving the clock ahead one hour each spring (March 10 this year) inflicts nearly half a billion dollars ($434 million) in total losses on the U.S. economy. In addition to quantifying the national impact of DST, the index was broken down into more than 360 metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) in order to localise its impact — from the top market, New York, NY, down to the smallest MSA, Carson City, NV. “Every year most of the U.S. voluntarily foregoes an hour of sleep as we spring forward into daylight saving time, and the surprising findings of the Lost-Hour Economic Index reinforce the key message of our multiyear campaign to educate Americans about the importance of sleeping better — lost sleep has a cost,” said Dan Schecter, senior vice president of consumer products at Carpenter Co. and creator of SleepBetter.org. “As various academic studies have shown, that missing hour of sleep has both physiological and psychological effects – effects that can lead to an increase in workplace injury, cyberloafing and even heart attacks, and a relatively small investment sleep can pay huge dividends in health, productivity and well-being.”
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While both Yahoo and Google have this week criticised teleworking (working from home) as unproductive, experts say otherwise, Sydney Morning Herald reports. Jackie Reses, head of HR at Yahoo, told remote staff that they must be back working in the office by June, or quit. Google's CFO Patrick Pichette said "as few as possible" of his Google staff worked from home because he believes they have less opportunity for collaboration and fewer "magical moments." Yvette Blount, research co-ordinator at Macquarie University's Australia Anywhere Working Research Network, rebuts the two companies' by saying teleworking in Australia is taking off. The latest Bureau of Statistics, from late 2008, show that around a quarter of Australians worked some hours from home, of which 32 per cent worked mainly or only at home. The Australian Government has set a target of at least 12 per cent of Australians teleworking at least one day per week by 2020. A recent Melbourne University study published in the Telecommunications Journal of Australia found people who work from home get started earlier, work longer hours, are more productive, and feel less stressed and more energised, and have fewer distractions. Dr Blount advised that telecommuting is not a one-size-fits-all solution, and that a business case must be made in each arrangement. Dr Blount warned that in some cases, managers and colleagues felt reluctant to "bother" teleworkers at home, while some teleworkers felt socially or professionally isolated.
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The perennial stress-buster – a deep breath – could become stress-detector, claims a team of researchers from the UK, Institute of Physics reports. According to a new pilot study, published today, 28 February, in IOP Publishing’s Journal of Breath Research, there are six markers in the breath that could be candidates for use as indicators of stress. The researchers hope that findings such as these could lead to a quick, simple and non-invasive test for measuring stress. Lead-author of the study, Professor Paul Thomas, said: “If we can measure stress objectively in a non-invasive way, then it may benefit patients and vulnerable people in long-term care who find it difficult to disclose stress responses to their carers, such as those suffering from Alzheimer’s.” The breath samples were examined using a technique known as gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and then statistically analysed and compared to a library of compounds. “What is clear from this study is that we were not able to discount stress. It seems sensible and prudent to test this work with more people over a range of ages in more normal settings." Breath profiling has become an attractive diagnostic method for clinicians, and recently researchers have found biomarkers associated with tuberculosis, multiple cancers, pulmonary disease and asthma. It is still unclear how to best manage external factors, such as diet, environment and exercise, which can affect a person’s breath sample. “It is possible that stress markers in the breath could mask or confound other key compounds that are used to diagnose a certain disease or condition, so it is important that these are accounted for,” said Professor Thomas.
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In today's technology-thirsty society, it's common to see someone with their head down texting on their cell phone or reading the latest status updates on Facebook. However, too much texting and tilting your head down can become a pain in the neck for some people, reports the University of Nebraska Medical Center. "People get so focused on these devices that they end up holding their neck and upper back in abnormal positions for a long period of time; enough that other people coined the phrase 'text neck,' which is essentially referring to postural pain," said Chris Cornett, M.D., orthopaedic surgeon and spine specialist at UNMC's Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation. The term, text neck, is defined as overuse syndrome involving the head, neck and shoulders, usually resulting from excessive strain on the spine from looking in a downward position at hand held devices such as cell phones, mp3 players, e-readers and computer tablets. "When you hold your body in an abnormal position, it can increase stress on the muscles, cause fatigue, muscle spasms and even stress headaches," Dr. Cornett said. "With every degree of motion to the front or side that you move your head, the stress on your neck is magnified beyond just the weight of the head." Dr. Cornett suggested a few ways to help alleviate or avoid text neck: "Modify the position of the device - Instead of having the device in your lap or causing you to lean your head down, find a way to hold the device at a neutral, eye level"; "Take breaks - Be aware that you're using these technology devices throughout the day and force yourself to take a break and to change or alter your position"; "Physical fitness - Having a strong, flexible back and neck will help you deal with abnormal stresses and reduce musculoskeletal issues."
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Workplace accidents must be treated like any other source of knowledge if companies and their employees are to learn from such incidents and prevent future accidents from occurring, Inderscience reports via Alpha Galileo. That is the take home message from research to be published in the International Journal of Human Factors and Ergonomics in March. Hernâni Veloso Neto of the Institute of Sociology at the University of Porto, Portugal, explains that industrial and workplace accidents rarely have a positive effect within an organisation, but they do represent a potential opportunity to learn about risks and so effect behavioural and procedural changes to preclude similar events from taking place again. Neto has undertaken a review of the specialist research literature in this field as well as focusing on a case study in the metal-working industry. From the information thus obtained he has highlighted three obstacles that stand in the way of treating workplace accidents as a source of useable knowledge. "To learn from accident experiences, organisations must create mechanisms to foster knowledge from the onset and to elicit changes based on that information," Neto explains. He points out that if these "resources" are not fully exploited, then the barriers cannot be circumvented and accidents will be repeated. He concludes that the adoption of a knowledge system that would allow organisations to focus on internal and external case studies and encourage reporting of accidents, causes and outcomes across the whole organisation would improve understanding of workplace accidents and elicit changes more efficiently.
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For chronic pain sufferers, such as people who develop back pain after a car accident, avoiding the harmful effects of stress may be key to managing their condition, Alpha Galileo reports. This is particularly important for people with a smaller-than-average hippocampus, as these individuals seem to be particularly vulnerable to stress. “Cortisol, a hormone produced by the adrenal glands, is sometimes called the 'stress hormone' as it is activated in reaction to stress. Our study shows that a small hippocampal volume is associated with higher cortisol levels, which lead to increased vulnerability to pain and could increase the risk of developing pain chronicity,” explained Étienne Vachon-Presseau. As Dr. Pierre Rainville described, “Our research sheds more light on the neurobiological mechanisms of this important relationship between stress and pain. Whether the result of an accident, illness or surgery, pain is often associated with high levels of stress Our findings are useful in that they open up avenues for people who suffer from pain to find treatments that may decrease its impact and perhaps even prevent chronicity. To complement their medical treatment, pain sufferers can also work on their stress management and fear of pain by getting help from a psychologist and trying relaxation or meditation techniques.”
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The first large, population-based study to follow children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder into adulthood shows that ADHD often doesn't go away and that children with ADHD are more likely to have other psychiatric disorders as adults, Mayo Clinic reports. They also appear more likely to commit suicide and to be incarcerated as adults. The findings appear in the March 4 online issue of Pediatrics. "Only 37.5 percent of the children we contacted as adults were free of these really worrisome outcomes," says lead investigator William Barbaresi, M.D., of Boston Children's Hospital, who started the study when he was at Mayo. "That's a sobering statistic that speaks to the need to greatly improve the long-term treatment of children with ADHD and provide a mechanism for treating them as adults." At follow-up, the researchers found: 29 percent of children with ADHD still had ADHD as adults. 57 percent of children with ADHD had at least one other psychiatric disorder as adults, as compared with 35 percent of those studied who didn't have childhood ADHD. The most common were substance abuse/dependence, antisocial personality disorder, hypomanic episodeshypomanic episodes, generalised anxiety and major depression. "We suffer from the misconception that ADHD is just an annoying childhood disorder that's overtreated," Dr. Barbaresi says. "This couldn't be further from the truth. We need to have a chronic disease approach to ADHD as we do for diabetes. The system of care has to be designed for the long haul."
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Bullied children grow into adults who are at increased risk of developing anxiety disorders, depression and suicidal thoughts, according to a study led by researchers at Duke Medicine, Eureka Alert reports. The findings, based on more than 20 years of data from a large group of participants initially enrolled as adolescents, are the most definitive to date in establishing the long-term psychological effects of bullying. Published online Feb. 20, 2013, in JAMA Psychiatry, the study belies a common perception that bullying, while hurtful, inflicts a fleeting injury that victims outgrow. "We were surprised at how profoundly bullying affects a person's long-term functioning," said William E. Copeland, PhD, assistant clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University and lead author of the study. "This psychological damage doesn't just go away because a person grew up and is no longer bullied. This is something that stays with them. If we can address this now, we can prevent a whole host of problems down the road." As adults, those who said they had been bullied, plus those who were both victims and aggressors, were at higher risk for psychiatric disorders compared with those with no history of being bullied. The young people who were only victims had higher levels of depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, generalised anxiety, panic disorder and agoraphobia. Those who were both bullies and victims had higher levels of all anxiety and depressive disorders, plus the highest levels of suicidal thoughts, depressive disorders, generalised anxiety and panic disorder. Bullies were also at increased risk for antisocial personality disorder.
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Would you prefer $120 today or $154 in one year? Your answer may depend on how powerful you feel, according to new research in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, Psych Central reports. Many people tend to forego the larger reward and opt for the $120 now, a phenomenon known as temporal discounting. But research conducted by Priyanka Joshi and Nathanael Fast of the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business suggests that people who feel powerful are more likely to wait for the bigger reward, in part because they feel a stronger connection with their future selves. In the first of four experiments, the researchers randomly assigned participants to be a team manager (high-power role) or a team worker (low-power role) in a group activity. Afterwards, the participants were asked to make a series of choices between receiving $120 now or increasing amounts of money ($137, $154, $171, $189, $206, $223, and $240) in one year. On average, low-power team workers were only willing to take the future reward if it was at least $88 more than the immediate one. High-power team managers, on the other hand, were willing to wait for future rewards that were only $52 more than the immediate one. While powerful people may feel more connected with their future selves and are therefore more likely to save money, they also tend to be overconfident decision-makers. “It is important to foster awareness of all of power’s effects,” the researchers conclude, “otherwise, the power holder may make overly risky — albeit well-intentioned — decisions on behalf of their future self.”
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During the darker days of winter, more people report feeling depressed and tired. For many, it’s a normal response to less sunlight, but for others, it can be a clinical form of depression called seasonal affective disorder, American Psychological Society reports. "Seasonal affective disorder is a regular seasonal pattern of major depressive episodes during the fall and winter months with periods of full improvement in the spring and summer," said Kelly Rohan, PhD, associate professor of psychology at the University of Vermont. "The symptoms of SAD are exactly the same as non-seasonal depression symptoms, which can include a loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyed activities, excessive fatigue, difficulty concentrating, a significant change in sleep length and thoughts about death or suicide...I strongly recommend against self-diagnosis and self-treatment because depression, including SAD, is a serious mental health problem. If you struggle with the changing seasons, experience some of the symptoms mentioned above, have difficulty functioning at school or work or if your symptoms interfere with your ability to interact with your family or others during the winter months, you should talk to your doctor about a referral to a psychologist or find a psychologist yourself."
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While Millennials (ages 18 to 33) and Gen Xers (ages 34 to 47) report the highest average stress levels, Boomers (48 to 66) and Matures (67 years and older) join them in reporting levels that are higher than they consider healthy, American Psychological Society reports. Stress has also increased for a considerable number of Americans, regardless of age. Across generations, Stress in America survey findings show that our ability to manage stress and achieve healthy lifestyles varies by age. Younger Americans report experiencing the most stress and the least relief —they report higher stress levels than older generations and say they are not managing it well. All generations say they experience stress at levels higher than they believe is healthy, but Matures are closest to bringing their stress levels in line with their definition of a healthy stress level. Millennials and Gen Xers are most likely to say that they are stressed by work, money and job stability, while Boomers and Matures are more likely to be concerned with health issues affecting their families and themselves. While the generations agree that managing stress is extremely or very important (Millennials: 61 percent; Gen Xers: 69 percent; Boomers: 63 percent; Matures: 65 percent), the ability to meet stress management goals seems to come with age. Only 29 percent of Millennials, 35 percent of Gen Xers and 38 percent of Boomers say they are doing an excellent or very good job of managing their stress, compared with 50 percent of Matures. In fact, since 2010, the percentage of Millennials who have said they are doing a good job at stress management has decreased (2010: 33 percent; 2011: 32 percent; 2012: 29 percent).
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Employers who create healthy workplaces can reduce employee absence and boost productivity, according to a new TUC report ‘Work and well-being’, that aims to promote healthier working, Private Healthcare UK reports. Every year 170 million working days are lost because people are too poorly to go into work - 23 million of these are down to work-related ill health and 4 million as a result of injuries suffered at work. The best way of tackling ill health is to stop workers from getting ill in the first place. Running exercise classes during lunch hours may prove popular with some employees but employers need to ensure that workers have a proper lunch break in order to benefit. Employers might try to encourage a healthier attitude amongst employees by: Providing an on-site gym or subsidised membership of a local fitness centre; Encouraging employees to cycle to work by providing a secure storage place for bikes, introducing schemes where staff can get discounted bikes and cycling accessories and having workplace shower facilities; Offering healthy options in the canteen, encouraging staff not to eat lunch at their desks, or by providing a regular supply of free fruit to encourage employees to pick the occasional apple over their regular chocolate bar; and Giving staff the chance to access employee assistance programmes which can help them cope with personal problems that could have an impact on their performance at work, or offer advice with financial concerns, or on problems they may be having with colleagues.
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People living with diabetes who also have untreated depression are at increased risk of death, according to a new evidence review in General Hospital Psychiatry, reports Health Behavior News Service, part of the Center for Advancing Health. More than 42,000 patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes and depression were analysed in the review. The reviewers discovered that depression was associated with a 1.5 fold increase in the risk of dying. In four of the studies reviewed, co-morbid depression was linked to about a 20 percent higher risk of cardiovascular death for people with diabetes. “Depression consistently increased the risk of mortality across virtually all studies,” said Mijung Park, Ph.D., lead author and assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing. “We can now postulate that the harmful effect of depression is universal to individuals with diabetes.” Todd Brown, M.D., associate professor of medicine and epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, said it is very common to see a patient go into a downward spiral when obesity-related co-morbidities, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity and depression converge. “Obesity can lead to worsening metabolic status that can lead to hopelessness and decreased physical activity, which in turns worsens obesity, and the cycle continues,” he explained. The encouraging news is that depression is a highly treatable condition, said Park. Because depression can make diabetes self-care more difficult and lessen quality of life, she suggested that depression treatment should be included in overall diabetes care strategies.
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People with a more resilient personality profile are more likely to have greater energy levels. That’s one of the conclusions from a four-year research project led by Antonio Terracciano, associate professor of geriatrics at the Florida State University College of Medicine. His findings are outlined in “Personality, Metabolic Rate and Aerobic Capacity,” published in PLOS ONE, a peer-reviewed, open access journal. Past studies have demonstrated that personality traits and cardiorespiratory fitness in older adults are reliable predictors of health and longevity. But Terracciano wanted to know more about the link between psychological traits and cardiorespiratory fitness. Could it be that certain personality traits predict the extent of a person’s cardiorespiratory fitness? Or, to take it a step further, are certain personality traits more desirable when it comes to leading a longer, healthier life? “We tested implicit assumptions that individuals with certain personality dispositions have different metabolic and energetic profiles,” Terracciano said. “For example, do those who are assertive and bold expend more energy? Do those who are depressed or emotionally vulnerable have a lower aerobic capacity and less energy? And do conscientious individuals with an active and healthy lifestyle have more energy?” The answer, on all counts, appears to be yes. Terracciano said the results highlight the links between personality traits and cardiorespiratory fitness in older adults. “Both are powerful predictors of disability and mortality,” he said. “I believe this study is informative on the role of psychological traits in lifestyles that are associated with successful aging.”
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Adults undergoing bariatric surgery who are more physically active are less likely to have depressive symptoms and to have recently received medication or counselling for depression or anxiety than their less active counterparts, according to new research led by the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. “Typically, clinical professionals manage their patients’ depression and anxiety with counselling and/or antidepressant or anti-anxiety medication,” said Wendy C. King, Ph.D., epidemiologist at Pitt Public Health and lead author of the research, which is reported in this month’s issue of the Journal of Psychosomatic Research. “Recent research has focused on physical activity as an alternative or adjunct treatment.” Adults with severe obesity are nearly twice as likely to have a major depressive disorder (13.3 percent) or anxiety disorder (19.6 percent) when compared to the general population (7.2 and 10.2 percent, respectively). Dr. King noted the importance of treating these conditions prior to surgery, as preoperative depression and anxiety increase the risk of these conditions occurring after surgery and have been shown to have a negative impact on long-term surgically induced weight loss. “Another goal of this study was to determine physical activity thresholds that best differentiated mental health status,” said Dr. King. “We were surprised that the thresholds were really low.” Just one hour of moderate-intensity physical activity a week—or eight minutes a day—was associated with 92 percent lower odds of treatment for depression or anxiety among adults with severe obesity. Similarly, just 4,750 steps a day—less than half the 10,000 steps recommended for a healthy adult—reduced odds of depression or anxiety treatment by 81 percent. “It could be that, in this population, important mental health benefits can be gained by simply not being sedentary,” said Dr. King.
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When people lose hope that they will ever get another good night's sleep, they become at high risk for suicide, researchers report. Insomnia and nightmares, which are often confused and may go hand-in-hand, are known risk factors for suicide but just how they contribute was unknown, said Dr. W. Vaughn McCall, Chair of the Medical College of Georgia Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior at Georgia Regents University. The new study reaffirms that link and adds the element of hopelessness about sleep that is independent of other types of hopelessness, such as those regarding personal relationships and careers, said McCall, corresponding author of the study in Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, the journal of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. "It turns out insomnia can lead to a very specific type of hopelessness and hopelessness by itself is a powerful predictor of suicide," he said. "It's fascinating because what it tells you is we have discovered a new predictor for suicidal thinking." If the findings hold true in larger studies, they wave a red flag about suicide risk and point toward prevention that targets the negative thoughts with pharmaceuticals and psychological intervention. The finding also is a reminder to physicians that depressed patients who report increased sleep problems should be asked if they are having suicidal thoughts, McCall said. The likelihood of being suicidal at least doubles with insomnia as a symptom, McCall noted.
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Australia's largest mental health charity, SANE, reports that executives are ignoring or denying their employees' mental illnesses, The Age reports. ''People in the boardrooms of major Australian companies, who are often a bit older, are more reluctant to acknowledge mental health as an issue that needs to be addressed,'' said SANE executive director Jack Heath. ''We've got a growing awareness - but it's coming from the bottom up, with lower-level employees and middle managers discriminating against the mentally unwell less.'' A SANE survey found that 95 per cent of workers felt their employers were uneducated about mental health and needed better training. ''A couple of very high-profile, corporate executives have in the past week told me how they didn't think mental health was an issue and had a very dismissive view of mental illness,'' said Heath. ''One of them went through depression and it was only then that he understood how debilitating it could be.'' He explained that bosses need to understand how getting on board with mental health is a small investment for a potentially large bottom-line saving.
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Mental health experts are increasing calls for government and society to prioritise mental health, HealthLine reports. “Just as joggers check their pulse rate, we should encourage individuals to regularly keep an eye on the state of their mental health,” said Barbara Sahakian, professor of neuroscience at the University of Cambridge. “Often, people wait too long to seek help, making their condition more difficult to treat. We need to educate the public about what to look for and make them aware of the importance of early detection and intervention.” Sahakian spoke at this year's annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, which in part looked at the link between aerobic exercise and brain function. Art Kramer, University of Illinois psychology professor, also spoke at the meeting. “Populations throughout the industrialised world are becoming increasing sedentary as a result of the changing nature of work and leisure activities,” Kramer said “Increased physical activity also has direct, and relatively rapid effects on cognition and brain health. Such results have now been reported, over the course of several decades, in animal studies of physical activity.”
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Research supports swimming as a way to deal with lower-back pain. The New York Times helps a reader answer the question: What are the best swimming strokes to alleviate lower back pain? "An advantage to exercising in a pool is that the buoyancy of the water takes stress off the joints," says Dr Scott A. Rodeo, a team physician for U.S.A. Olympic Swimming. "At the same time, swimming and other aquatic exercises can strengthen back and core muscles. That said, it does not mean that everyone with a case of back pain should jump in a pool." Dr Rodeo recommends obtaining a look-over by a doctor before jumping in the pool, then beginning a swimming routine gradually, paying close attention to getting technique right. He recommends swimming twice a week at first, then increasing the number of sessions over a four to six-week period. As for the best stroke for painful backs, Dr Rodeo recommends starting with breaststroke or backstroke. “With all the other strokes, you have the potential for some spine hyperextension,” Dr Rodeo said. “With the backstroke, being on your back, you don’t have as much hyperextension.”
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Adults with some form of mental illness have a smoking rate 70 percent higher than adults with no mental illness, according to a Vital Signs report released today by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in collaboration with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The report finds that 36 percent of adults with a mental illness are cigarette smokers, compared with only 21 percent of adults who do not have a mental illness. According to the report, nearly 1 in 5 adults in the United States – about 45.7 million Americans—have some type of mental illness. Combined data from SAMHSA’s 2009–2011 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) were used to calculate national and state estimates of cigarette smoking among adults aged 18 years and older who reported having any mental illness. Mental illness was defined as having a diagnosable mental, behavioural, or emotional disorder, excluding developmental and substance use disorders, in the past 12 months. “Smokers with mental illness, like other smokers, want to quit and can quit,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “Stop-smoking treatments work-and it’s important to make them more available to all people who want to quit.” The report confirms that on average adult smokers with mental illness smoke more cigarettes per month than those without mental illness (331 vs. 310 cigarettes). Adult smokers with mental illness are also less likely to quit smoking cigarettes than adult smokers without mental illness. “Special efforts are needed to raise awareness about the burden of smoking among people with mental illness and to monitor progress in addressing this disparity,” said SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde.
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Detaching from work -- mentally, physically and electronically -- is the key to recovery from job stress during nonwork hours, according to a Kansas State University researcher. YoungAh Park, assistant professor of psychology and former businesswoman in the competitive South Korean workforce, has researched the stress crossover phenomenon between working couples, work-family boundary management and processes of work stress and recovery from stress. She says staying connected to work through smartphones, tablets or laptops has become the norm, although being plugged in allows work-related issues to spill over to the family domain and disrupts recovery from job stress. "Competition in the workplace is getting fierce," Park said. "People may worry about job security, want to increase their salary or advance in their career, so they feel they have to be more dedicated to their work. They show that by being available outside of normal work hours through communication and information technologies." People who are able to unplug from work activities when off the job experience lower levels of fatigue and job burnout, Park says. They also have higher levels of positive emotions and life satisfaction than those who remain connected to work-related tasks and matters outside of normal work hours. "If you have a strong technological boundary and self-restricted rules for using email, laptops or cellphones for work during off-work times, then you are more likely to experience psychological detachment from work," Park said.
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Study says binge drinking, smoking, and illegal drug use may be used to cope with depression and anxiety Poor mental health leads to unhealthy behaviours in low-income adults - not the other way around, according to a new study by Dr. Jennifer Walsh and colleagues from the Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine at The Miriam Hospital in the US. In this study, stress and anxiety predicted subsequent health-compromising behaviours, such as smoking, binge drinking, illegal drug use, unprotected sex and unhealthy diets. One possible explanation for these findings is that health compromising behaviours may be used as coping mechanisms to manage the effects of stress and anxiety. The study is published online in the Springer journal, Translational Behavioral Medicine, and is part of an issue focusing on multiple health behaviour change. Dr. Walsh and her team explored the relationship between health-compromising behaviours and mental health in the context of socioeconomic disadvantage to determine whether mental health problems lead to subsequent unhealthy behaviours, or whether these behaviours lead to mental health problems. Participants with very low incomes reported a higher number of health-compromising behaviours, as well as more symptoms of depression and anxiety and higher levels of stress, compared to those participants with higher incomes. The authors found that symptoms of depression and anxiety, as well as perceived stress, predicted later levels of unhealthy behaviours, when both socioeconomic status and earlier behaviours were taken into account. In contrast, unhealthy behaviours did not predict later mental health. These results show that unhealthy behaviours follow depression, anxiety and stress, rather than giving rise to them. "Clinicians and practitioners should recognise that there may be high rates of depression, anxiety and stress, as well as health-compromising behaviours, in low-income populations, and they should assess mental health as well as these behaviours."
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Nearly 30% of adult workers suffer from work-related stress, and it is commonly acknowledged that stress has damaging effects on individual’s health. Recently published prospective cohort study by Dr. Jenni Kulmala and co-workers from the Gerontology Research Center (GEREC) at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, provides strong evidence that perceived work-related stress in midlife predicts functional limitations and disability later in old age. Previously stress has been described as a rather uniform entity in all individuals, with more or less consistent symptoms, but this study shows that dominant stress symptoms in middle age may vary between persons. The study involved more than 5,000 persons who were followed up for almost thirty years from working age to old age. “We were able to identify four different stress profiles among occupationally active persons aged from 44 to 58 years: negative reactions to work and depressiveness; perceived decrease in cognition; sleep disturbances; and somatic symptoms. Some people suffered from occasional symptoms, but in some cases these symptoms were observed in several time points and thus were considered as continuous,” says Dr. Jenni Kulmala. All kinds of stress symptoms in midlife correlated with disability 28 years later. Persons who had reported long-term stress symptoms in midlife had more difficulties in the basic activities of daily living, such as bathing and dressing, and also in more demanding instrumental daily activities, such as shopping, coping with light housework, handling financial matters, taking medication and using the telephone at the mean age of 78 years. Additionally, the risk for inability to walk two kilometres was 2–3 times higher for those with constant stress symptoms in midlife. Occasional stress symptoms in midlife also increased the severity of disability, but less than constant symptoms. “Stress symptoms are associated with chronic conditions and a maladaptive lifestyle, which may partly explain the found association. However, in our study, the association was not completely explained by such mediators. Therefore, it is also possible that the chronic activation of stress responses may result in the “wear and tear” of the human body and thus increase the risk of old age disability,” says Dr. Kulmala. The results obtained in this study offer targets for interventions aimed at preventing the decline of physical functioning, and promoting healthy ageing.
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Men who reported permanent stress have a significantly higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes than men who reported no stress. This is the finding of a 35-year prospective follow-up study of 7,500 men in Gothenburg, by the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Since the 1970s, a large population based cohort study has been undertaken at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg to monitor the health of men born in Gothenburg between 1915 and 1925. Using this unique material, researchers are now able to show that permanent stress significantly increases the risk of type 2 diabetes. The results show that men who have reported permanent stress had a 45 percent higher risk of developing diabetes, compared with men who reported to have no or periodic stress. The link between stress and diabetes has been statistically significant, even after adjusting for age, socioeconomic status, physical inactivity, BMI, systolic blood pressure and use of blood pressure-lowering medication. “Today, stress is not recognised as a preventable cause of diabetes” says researcher Masuma Novak, who led the study. “As our study shows that there is an independent link between permanent stress and the risk of developing diabetes, which underlines the importance of preventive measure.” The article Perceived Stress and Incidence of Type 2 Diabetes: A 35-Year Follow-Up Study of Middle-Aged Swedish Men was published in the journal Diabetic Medicine in December 2012.
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Work-related stress is not linked to the development of colorectal, lung, breast or prostate cancers, a study published today on bmj.com suggests. Around 90% of cancers are linked to environmental exposures and whilst some exposures are well recognised (such as UV radiation and tobacco smoke), others are not (psychological factors such as stress). Stress can cause chronic inflammation which has been shown to have various roles in the development of cancer, plus stressed individuals are more likely to smoke, consume excessive amounts of alcohol and be obese – all of which are cancer risk factors. So far, only a few studies have examined the associations between work-related stress and cancer risk. These also had unclear conclusions. Researchers from the IPD-Work Consortium, led by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health and University College London therefore carried out a meta-analysis of 12 studies involving 116,000 participants aged 17 to 70, from Finland, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, and the UK. Psychological stress at work was assessed using a validated measure, job strain. Job strain was categorised into: high strain job (high demands and low control), active job (high demands and high control), passive job (low demands and low control) and low strain job (low demands and high control). Researchers conclude that the meta-analysis provided “no evidence for an association between job strain and overall cancer risk” suggesting that work-related psychological stress is unlikely to be an important factor for cancer. And although reducing work stress would improve the well-being of the general population, it is unlikely to have a marked impact on cancer burden at population-level.
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"Workplace mental health is a crucial factor to consider when building and maintaining a successful business," reports Forbes. Many companies are realising that not addressing mental health issues in the workplace is a huge cost to business. A recent study examined the financial impact of 25 chronic physical and mental illnesses, and found depression to be the single most expensive condition for employers. Anxiety ranked fifth in the study. The indirect costs of untreated mental health problems often exceed a company's direct spending on health insurance and pharmacy coverage (in the US). Treatment rates for mental illness remain low due to perceived expense and time, and also largely due to stigma. A white paper released by the American Psychiatric Foundation found that employers who implemented proactive mental health programs saw considerable financial benefit. One simple depression screening program saw a return on investment of 1.7:1. Further, 80 per cent of employees treated for various mental health problems reported significantly higher rates of efficacy and job satisfaction.
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UK mental health charity, MIND, has released a guide to managing stress. It details what stress is, what causes stress, and how stress is harmful. The guide has advice on how to tell if you're under too much stress, as well as information on how to handle pressure and manage stress appropriately. Several techniques for managing stress are explained, as well as tips for people having trouble with relaxing. We all sometimes talk about stress, and feeling stressed," explains the guide, "usually when we feel we have too much to do and too much on our minds, or other
people are making unreasonable demands on us, or we are dealing with situations that we do not have control over. Stress is not a medical diagnosis, but severe stress that continues for a long time may lead to a diagnosis of depression or anxiety, or more severe mental health problems.
You can reduce the effects of stress by being more conscious of the things that cause it, and learning to handle them better, using relaxation
techniques as well as other life-style changes." Follow the link for the complete free booklet.
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Stress has been found to be the root of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, infectious disease and mental health disorders. Huffington Post reports on readers' favourite ways of reducing stress. "When you 'feel' stress reduce, you are feeling your heart rate calm, your brainwaves organise, your vessels dilating, and your physiology and emotional state return to neutral" after the body's ramped up response to a stressor, said Dr. Cynthia Ackrill of the American Institute of Stress and WellSpark, a leadership development firm. "A number of activities have stress reducing effects for multiple reasons." Here are some of the top readers' suggestions for stress-relief. 1) Take a bath. 2) Eating chocolate. 3) Snuggling with puppies. 4) Listening to music. 5) Getting a hug. 6) Knitting. 7) Listening to audiobooks. 8) Walking the dog. 9) Drinking water. 10) Eating ice cream. 11) Deep breathing. 12) Spending time with family. 13) Dancing. Some stress management activities can increase DHEA, a hormone that regulates inflammation. "DHEA has the opposite effect of cortisol and the ratio of cortisol to DHEA is important to balance," said Dr. Ackrill. She says it's very important to address the sources of stress in your life, as opposed to simply treating the stress with stress reduction techniques after it has occurred.
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Think throwing a little pressure into the mix can help things get done? Think again, reports Huffington Post. The US Centre for Disease Control warns that high-stress workplaces are more likely to see absenteeism, lateness, and an increase in the number of employees planning on quitting. Stress easily leads to physical symptoms including more frequent colds and headaches, difficulty focusing and concentrating, and stomach troubles. As many as 75 per cent of workers report that work is a somewhat or very significant source of stress in their lives. Interestingly, employees also tend to attribute their stress to their manager - regardless of whether the manager is the source. Huffington Post has some warning signs of a stressful workplace. 1) Piling on responsibility: "An employer who assigns additional work, especially late in the day or too close to deadline, can create worried and overwhelmed employees." Monitor employees' workloads to keep track of their stress levels. 2) Decision-making: "Yes, you're the boss -- you're allowed to assign work and delegate tasks. But assignments are more stressful if you don't give employees at least the opportunity to voice how much is already on their plate and what they think they can handle." 3) Feedback: Keep the conversation going. "Show your support by asking employees these two simple questions: Are you getting enough support from me? What could I do to help you get your job done?" 4) Be clear. "Confusion about work duties, company goals or priorities can add to an employee's stress level." 5) Underutilising talent: "Underutilising talent by assigning tasks outside of a worker's skill set or with little meaning can lead to frustration and stress on the job." 6) Office comfort: "Maybe it's noisy, or your employees can't all sit near each other, or the desk chairs are giving everyone back pain. Unpleasant office conditions should not be underestimated as stressors -- especially if the person in charge is ignoring them." 7) Be nice: "Take some time to reflect upon whether your behaviour could be perceived as hostile." 8) Deal with stress. "You might be rubbing off on subordinates if you're not dealing with your own stress levels well."
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A new study of over 75,000 adults found that empathy peaks in late middle-age, Medical News Today reports. "Overall, late middle-aged adults were higher in both of the aspects of empathy that we measured," said Sara Konrath. "They reported that they were more likely to react emotionally to the experiences of others, and they were also more likely to try to understand how things looked from the perspective of others." Researchers found evidence of an inverted U-shaped pattern of empathy across the human life span. Both younger and older reported less empathy, while middle-aged adults reported more empathy-based behaviours. Researchers hypothesised that this occur because increasing levels of cognitive abilities improve emotional functioning during the first portion of the adult life span, while the decline in these cognitive abilities later in life adversely affect emotional functioning. "Americans born in the 1950s and '60s - the middle-aged people in our samples - were raised during historic social movements, from civil rights to various antiwar countercultures," reported the authors. "It may be that today's middle-aged adults report higher empathy than other cohorts because they grew up during periods of important societal changes that emphasized the feelings and perspectives of other groups." Earlier research by this study's authors found that levels of narcissism in young people are higher today compared with previous generations.
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Stressed-out Brits spend over five years of their life worrying, a study by the UK healthcare provider Benenden Health revealed yesterday. Researchers found that the typical adult scratches their head in despair for nearly two hours each day, with the high cost of living, feeling out of shape and mounting debt the most common triggers. Worries about getting old, job security and relationships also leave a dark cloud hanging over millions of Brits. The study also found that extreme anxiety has left adults unable to concentrate at work, endure sleepless nights and caused rifts with their partners. The research, which was commissioned by leading health and wellbeing mutual benenden health, found the average person endures 14 hours each week weighed down with worry. Indeed, 45 per cent of those studied admitted the amount they worried had directly affected their health. Paul Keenan, Head of Communications at benenden health said yesterday: "It is a sad reality that stress is dominating our lives and having a severe impact – on our work life, our quality of sleep and our personal relationships. The crunch comes when it begins to have a detrimental impact on our health – and 45% admit stress is already doing this. 32 per cent of people have even gone to the doctors because of worry or stress." The average person experiences six nights every month where their sleep is disturbed or the quality reduced as a result of worrying. And one in four Brits feel they have a major worry they aren’t dealing with properly or are deliberately avoiding. Paul Keenan added: ‘It’s a small positive that 32% of people are taking stress issues to their doctor and seeking professional assistance."
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There’s no need to panic if you didn’t get a solid eight hours of beauty sleep last night. According to new University of Sydney research, sleep duration naturally waxes and wanes over a period of days regardless of individual lifestyle, timing of sleep or waking, and social and environmental influences. With further research, the discovery could have important implications for predicting work performance, managing fatigue-related accidents after shift work, and treatment recovery in clinical populations. “Sleep requirements vary in a cyclical fashion and between individuals. If you incur a sleep debt, your body will signal a need to catch up on extra sleep,” says Dr Chin Moi Chow, principal investigator of the article published in Nature and Science of Sleep. “As you increase your sleep duration to recover from the debt, your ability to prolong wakefulness increases. Then, as prior wakefulness increases, sleepiness is inevitable, and a need for further sleep develops again.” Dr Chow and colleagues Shi Wong and Dr Mark Halaki, from the University’s Faculty of Health Sciences, monitored a group of healthy young males over a fortnight using an actigraph - a small activity recording device worn like a wristwatch on the non-dominant arm - designed to measure sleep patterns. To the researchers’ fascination, the actigraph data showed participants’ sleep duration oscillated in a sine wave pattern – a phenomenon that had not previously been observed. Clear periodic patterns were found in the majority of the participants, varying from periods of between two and 18 days. The cyclic pattern observed in the research suggests that the sleep balance mechanism operates on an ongoing basis in daily life, with changes in sleep duration constantly accompanied by compensatory adjustments. Interestingly, despite the fact that participants in the study habitually slept below the recommended seven to eight hours a night, they still maintained a cyclic sleep duration pattern. “Our sleep quantity and quality vary according to a range of factors,” Dr Chow says. “Some individuals have a slower accumulation or faster dissipation of sleep pressure, which may define their pattern of total sleep time.” Variations in daily sleep duration may also arise from differences such as slight variations in the body clock or external factors like temperature, daylight, exercise, or eating and drinking patterns. “Changing your sleep patterns on weekends, or resetting the pattern through shift work, could alter your sleep duration cycle and could put the body under significant strain,” says Dr Chow. This research is part of Dr Chow’s broader interest in the lifestyle factors influencing sleep. The team hopes to follow the research by examining the cyclical phenomenon in special groups such as long or short sleepers and people with insomnia.
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Can mobile phone technology help improve health outcomes? Two systematic reviews published in PLoS Medicine have found that while mobile technology can improve health care delivery, disease self-management and health behaviours, not all of the outcomes are beneficial, Medical News Today reports. The researchers also noted that there is still not enough research on the study for a definitive answer. In the first article, researchers identified 75 trials of mobile technology interventions aimed at improving consumers' health behaviour or disease management. Several trials were successful at improving health outcomes, including an intervention to help smokers quit, and one intervention designed to assist Kenyan HIV-positive patients to take their medications accurately. The second article investigated the effectiveness of mobile technology-based interventions for health care providers or services. This included the evaluation of 32 trials of interventions designed to facilitate communication among health care providers, and 10 trials of interventions targeting communication between health services and health care consumers. Examples of specific apps or programs included appointment reminders and information on test results. The researchers found that mobile technology aimed at supporting diagnostic and management by health care providers mostly improved health outcomes for consumers. However, the use of photo-based diagnosis via mobile devices resulted in incorrect diagnoses compared with face-to-face consultations. SMS-based appointment reminders were more effective than no reminders, but still not better than phone or mail reminders.
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Mindfulness meditation may help to reduce conditions of chronic inflammation, a University of Wisconsin-Madison study reports. Stress plays a major role in chronic inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and asthma. Mindfulness meditation involves constant attention to the breath, bodily sensations and mental state of the practitioner; the aim is not to "not think," but to acknowledge the thoughts that arise and not engage with them at that moment. "While interest in meditation as a means of reducing stress has grown over the years, there has been little evidence to support benefits specific to mindfulness meditation practice," said the researchers. "This was the first study designed to control for other therapeutic mechanisms, such as supportive social interaction, expert instruction, or learning new skills." The study compared two methods of reducing stress: a mindfulness meditation approach, and a program for improving health with non-meditation techniques including nutritional education, physical activity, and music therapy."While both techniques were proven effective in reducing stress, the mindfulness-based stress reduction approach was more effective at reducing stress-induced inflammation," the researchers reported. “The mindfulness-based approach to stress reduction may offer a lower-cost alternative or complement to standard treatment, and it can be practiced easily by patients in their own homes, whenever they need,” said lead author Melissa Rosenkranz.
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Previous research has suggested that personality can influence the perception and reporting of physical symptoms, such as pain. To assess the relationship between the course of nonorganic neck pain and the individual’s personality, researchers studied the association between two indicators of neck pain prognosis, such as the duration of sick leave associated with neck pain and sick leave recurrence, and 15 personality traits in a sample of 64 workers suffering from disabling neck pain without any signs of physical abnormalities in the neck area. The TEA Personality Test (TPT), a selfreport instrument designed to evaluate personality traits related to organisational behaviours, was used. Compared to the normative data, the study sample obtained high scores in the Depression, Anxiety and Emotional Instability scales, thus suggesting a personality profile primarily characterised by high neuroticism-related scores. Controlling for age, gender, and any rehabilitation undergone, researchers found a positive relationship between Depression and the duration of sick leave (in weeks). Moreover, lower scores on the TPT personality trait Dynamism and activeness were associated with higher likelihood of sick leave recurrence. These findings highlight the need for further research into the role played by personality at the onset and in the maintenance of nonorganic neck pain. Furthermore, they suggest that a complementary psychological approach may be useful to nonorganic neck pain management.
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A new study finds that working overtime can lead to "severe depression," Harborough Mail reports. The research, published in PLoS ONE, found that people who worked 11 hours or more per day were 2.5 times more likely to suffer a severe bout of depression than those working eight hours per day. "This research has found a link between working overtime and the risk of subsequent major depressive episodes," reported Harborough Mail. "However, the relationship is complicated and this research cannot concretely tell whether or not overtime actually causes depression." Researchers went on to explain that the study "found strong links between financial status, seniority and a reduced risk of major depression, making the influence of working hours harder to judge. Overall, it is likely that several factors work together to cause depression and the role working hours play in this is unclear."
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As most people's holidays draw to a close, feelings of sluggishness, lackluster and depression are common, reports Medical News Today. Being physically active is the key to beating these blues, says Jean-Ann Marnoch, Registrar for the Register of Exercise Professionals (REPs)."Everybody knows that exercise is good for our physical health, but it is really just as important for our mental wellbeing. If you're feeling depressed it may be the last thing you feel like doing, but invest a little effort, and I promise you it will pay off. This is because exercise is scientifically proven to stimulate the production of endorphins in the brain which make you feel happier. GPs may actually refer patients suffering from mild or moderate depression for exercise." Even very small amounts of activity can have noticeable effects, says Marnoch. "Studies show that even ten minutes of aerobic exercise can have a positive effect, so even a brief walk at low intensity can improve your mood and increase your energy. However, to gain the maximum benefit, you need to be a regular exerciser, as regular exercisers gain a far greater benefit from a single exercise session compared to people who are otherwise inactive. For longer-term benefits and to reduce symptoms of depression, it is more beneficial to exercise three times a week for 30 minutes per session at a moderate intensity."
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A new study has found strong evidence for a link between cleaning jobs and risk of developing asthma. Researchers at Imperial College London tracked the occurrence of asthma in a group of 9,488 people born in Britain in 1958. Not including those who had asthma as children, nine per cent developed asthma by age 42. Risks in the workplace were responsible for one in six cases of adult onset asthma – even more than the one in nine cases attributed to smoking, according to the analysis. There are many occupations that are thought to cause asthma. In this study, 18 occupations were clearly linked with asthma risk, four of which were cleaning jobs and a further three of which were likely to involve exposure to cleaning products. Farmers, hairdressers, and printing workers were also found to have increased risk, as previous studies have reported. Farmers were approximately four times more likely to develop asthma as an adult than office workers. Besides cleaning products, flour, enzymes, metals, and textiles were among materials in the workplace identified in the study as being linked to asthma risk. Malayka Rahman, Research Analysis and Communications Officer at Asthma UK, said: "This research has highlighted a new group of people, specifically those working in occupations related to cleaning, such as cleaners or home-based personal care workers, who may have developed adult onset asthma due to exposure to chemicals they work with on a daily basis."
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You can lose weight at work simply by standing for three hours per day and changing nothing else, Medical News Today reports. Dr John Buckley from Chester University, England, has calculated that standing at work - as did the famous author Ernest Hemingway - for three hours burns an extra 144 calories per day. Buckley reports that over a year - comprised of a five-day working week, with five weeks' holidays - this equates to a loss of eight pounds (3.6kg), without any change in leisure time or work duties. "This is the perfect way for any office-bound worker to achieve the typical New Year's resolution of wanting to lose seven pounds without changing anything else - how easy is that?" said Dr Buckley. He argues that over the last five decades, people's levels of physical activity and exercise haven't changed much. What has changed are an increase in sedentary behaviours and eating habits, which are the leading contributors to a widespread increase in obesity levels. Instead of feeling overwhelmed, it's the small changes to our routines we make that help us keep weight off, says Buckley. Standing at our desks, using the stairs instead of a lift, and walking for short trips instead of driving all increase our physical activity levels and improve our health. An unrelated study from 2007 found that office workers who used a slow-walking treadmill for a few hours per working day lost between 20-30 kilograms (44 to 64 pounds) in a twelve-month period.
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Thirty-nine percent of employees say losing weight is their top health concern while 26 percent say stress has them most worried, according to a ComPsych Tell It Now poll released today. ComPsych is the world’s largest provider of employee assistance programs. “Weight loss is, not surprisingly, the number one health concern this year,” said Dr. Richard A. Chaifetz, Chairman and CEO of ComPsych. “What is significant is that many more employees are aware of stress as a major contributor to health problems. Corporate wellness programs that address both physical and emotional health are uniquely suited to help employees make lasting lifestyle changes, which will ultimately reduce health and disability costs while improving productivity.” Employees were asked: Which health issue are you most trying to stay ahead of this year? 39 percent said “weight loss”; 26 percent said “stress”; 17 percent said “exercise”; 9 percent said “diet improvement”; 6 percent said “quitting smoking”; 3 percent said “other”.
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Many people fear listening in the workplace. "I don't think my colleagues listen. Any time they're silent, I just think they're loading their guns," said a banking executive to CBS News. The executive was suspicious of quiet moments during a conversation, describing them as the period during which you are combatively figuring out how to "take out" your colleagues. Margaret Heffernan from CBS News explains that listening is "at least as important as speaking." Despite the "endless coaching in presentation skills," Heffernan says few executives work on their listening skills - which explains how miscommunication at work develops. She offers several tips for developing listening skills. 1) Make a promise you won't speak. "This is hard for some people who feel that silence makes them invisible [however] the less you speak, the more impact you make when you do." 2) Try to check for assumptions. "What is the speaker taking for granted that might or might not be true? Are those assumptions valid, fair or have they even been checked?" 3) Listen to the tone and pace of their voice. "If you listen to conversations as though they were music, their aural qualities will tell you a great deal about the underlying emotions. Who is tense and who is confident? Is the anger real?" 4) Read between the lines. "Many people are poor at articulating their needs. They talk about what they think they need but not why. Try to hear the needs in a conversation, rather than the demands. When you understand needs, you are in a better position to deliver effectively."
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Women suffering from stress-related exhaustion exhibit hypersensitivity to sounds when exposed to stress. In some cases, a sound level corresponding to a normal conversation can be perceived as painful. This according to a study from Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University's Stress Research Institute which tested sensitivity to sounds immediately after a few minutes' artificially induced stress. The results show that women with a high level of emotional exhaustion exhibit higher sound sensitivity after an experimentally induced stress exposure than those who were not exhausted. Some even experienced sound levels as low as 60 decibels, the level of normal conversation, as uncomfortably loud. People with a low level of exhaustion, on the other hand, became less sensitive to sound immediately after being exposed to five minutes' stress, a phenomenon that the researchers describe as 'shutting their ears' - a normal stress reaction. The same trends could be observed in men, but the differences were not statistically significant. The researchers also point out that, interestingly, there was no difference in sensitivity to sounds between the groups prior to the stress exposure. "When you are hypersensitive to sound, some normal sounds, such as the rattle of cutlery or the sound of a car engine, can feel ear-piercing," says Dan Hasson, Associate Professor at Karolinska Institutet's Department of Physiology and Pharmacology and affiliated to Stockholm University's Stress Research Institute. "Serious forms of sound hypersensitivity can force people to isolate themselves and avoid potentially distressing situations and environments," says Hasson. "Our study indicates that exhaustion level and stress are additional factors that might have to be taken into account when diagnosing and treating hearing problems."
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One of the mechanisms involved in the onset of stress-induced depression has been highlighted in mice by researchers from CNRS, Inserm and UPMC. They have determined the role of the corticosterone (stress hormone) receptor, in the long-term behavioural change triggered by chronic stress. In mice subject to repeated aggressions, this receptor participates in the development of social aversion by controlling the release of dopamine, a key chemical messenger. If this receptor is blocked, the animals become “resilient”: although anxious, they overcome the trauma and no longer avoid contact with their fellow creatures. Understanding the mechanisms involved is an important challenge in the treatment of stress-related psychiatric illnesses.The researchers subjected a group of mice to repeated attacks by stronger, aggressive congeners. After about ten days, the mice showed signs of anxiety and strong social aversion. In fact, when faced with a new congener, the aggressed mice preferred to avoid any contact. This social aversion is considered as a marker of depression. This study shows the important role of the stress hormone in the onset of social aversion induced by repeated traumas. More generally, it partially reveals the neurobiological mechanisms and the cascade of reactions that underlie the onset of depression. These results could lead to new therapeutic prospects for treating depression by revealing alternative targets for medicines, particularly with regard to the dopaminergic system.
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Emotional exhaustion and physical and cognitive fatigue are signs of burnout, often caused by prolonged exposure to stress. Burnout can cause negative health effects including poor sleep, depression, anxiety, and cardiovascular and immune disorders. The findings of a 9-year study of burnout in middle-aged working women are reported in an article in Journal of Women’s Health. In the article, "Development of Burnout in Middle-Aged Working Women: A Longitudinal Study," the authors found that in contrast to previous research findings that showed burnout to be stable over time, they were able to cluster the women in the study into groups characterised by different developmental patterns of burnout. Some middle-aged women had high levels of burnout followed by recovery, whereas others had increasing, decreasing, or stable levels over a 9-year period. The authors explored how these patterns related to changes in work-related and other types of stress in the women's lives and individual personality factors.“This important study expands our understanding of burnout in working women, in terms of both patterns of development and relation to various stressors and individual factors,” says Susan G. Kornstein, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Women’s Health, Executive Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women’s Health, Richmond, VA, and President of the Academy of Women’s Health.
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For the first time, Comcare - the Federal Government's workers' compensation insurer - has recorded a $564m loss for 2011-2012, News.com.au reports. Comcare reportedly attributes its first-ever loss to an increase in claims, as well as public servants' slow recovery. Lower interest rates and their effect on earnings, as well as forecasts for higher inflation, were also cited as reasons for the loss. The cost of ongoing compensation claims for Comcare has rocketed from $459 million in 2011, to $994 million in 2012, which includes the estimated future costs of claims and liabilities. At the same time, Comcare has seen an increase in the number of claims for bullying and "adjustment disorder" - a psychological injury caused by work-related stress. As a result of the losses, Comcare will increase premiums by 25 per cent this year. "These increased due to economic factors and because some injured workers are taking longer to get back to work," said Comcare's acting chief executive Cathy Skippington. "As a result, we've had to increase our scheme premium rates substantially to return the scheme, over time, to a fully funded position." Ms Skippington said Comcare saw a "modest increase" in mental health claims in 2012, which made up 8 per cent of Comcare claims during 2011-12. Nearly half of these were bullying cases.
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Only half of Australia's working population believe they are in the right job, The Age reports. Research by SEEK Learning also found that close to a half of people are in their present career simply due to "falling into" it. Of the 1257 people surveyed, 51 per cent believed they were in the right job. On the other hand, 22 per cent said they were not in the right career and 27 per cent said they were unsure. Five per cent of people reported being in their current career because of following their parents' advice, while just over 5 per cent chose their career because they thought it would earn them a lot of money. The research also found that around a quarter of people were planning a career change in 2013. Almost half of these people cited bad remuneration for their current role as their reason for wanting to find another job, though bad managers and long hours were other motivators. ''This really reflects that people are now willing to make changes and ask the question 'Am I happy in this job?'," said SEEK Learning general manager Tony Barrett. "You spend a third to half your waking hours in your job, and that's a lot of time to spend doing something you're not that excited about.''
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The Australian Psychological Society has conducted its second annual review of Australians' stress and mental wellbeing. The report found that Australians had lower levels of wellbeing in 2012 compared with 2011, with nearly a quarter of respondents reporting moderate to severe levels of distress. One in five Australians reported that stress was having a strong to very strong impact on their mental health, and one in five Australians reported stress was having a strong to very strong impact on their physical health. Causes of stress included financial issues (almost 50 per cent of respondents), family issues (45 per cent), trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle (40 per cent) and issues in the workplace (32 per cent). People also tried to manage their stress in unhelpful ways. Forty per cent reported drinking alcohol, 69 per cent reported eating, while 57 per cent reported shopping. Despite this, respondents also had some successful strategies for dealing with stress, including relaxing, doing physical activity, and spending time with family and friends. Twenty per cent of people reported seeking professional help from their doctor or other medical practitioner, while 15 per cent saw a mental health professional. More people, however, sought help from a family member (27 per cent) or from a friend (25 per cent.)
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While many smokers believe that their habit reduces stress, research shows that quitting is really the best way to lower anxiety levels, BBC News reports. The British Journal of Psychiatry study followed almost 500 smokers attending stop-smoking clinics and found a "significant" decrease in anxiety in workers who had quit for six months. This effect was found to be greater in those who had mood and anxiety disorders, compared with people who smoked for pleasure. While the study did find that a failed attempt at quitting smoking appeared to increase anxiety levels by a small amount, researchers said that ultimately quitting would remove anxiety in the long-term. For example, smokers - especially those who "smoked to cope" - were more likely to have a cigarette soon after waking in an attempt to deal with withdrawal affects such as anxiety. By quitting smoking, these repeated episodes of anxiety receded and people felt less anxious.
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A new poll finds that few people understand the risks of obesity beyond well-publicised problems such as heart disease and diabetes, ABC reports. The poll, conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, found that only 7 per cent of respondents correctly identified cancer as an effect of obesity. Only 15 per cent of people recognised that obesity contributed to arthritis, while as few as 5 per cent understood the link between obesity and respiratory problems, including sleep apnea and asthma. Among those rated very low on the list of understood obesity-caused conditions were high cholesterol, high blood pressure, strokes and infertility. "People are often shocked to hear how far-reaching the effects of obesity are," said Jennifer Dimitriou, a bariatric dietitian at New York's Montefiore Medical Center. Half of people believed their weight was about right, despite government figures showing that two-thirds of US adults are overweight or obese. Only 12 per cent of parents believed their child was overweight, despite the same US data showing that one-third of children and teenagers are either overweight or obese. "Most people want to become healthier. It's the know-how, and understanding what the consequences are," said Dimitriou.
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Making sure you take one whole day off per week may be the key to avoiding mental and physical health problems, CNN reports. Dr. Matthew Sleeth, former emergency room physician and author of, "24/6: A Prescription for a Healthier, Happier Life," says it's only in the last 30 years we have lost sight of taking a break. "For almost 2,000 years, Western culture stopped - primarily on Sunday - for about 24 hours," he said. "Even when I was a child, you couldn't buy gasoline, you couldn't buy milk. The drugstores weren't open. The only thing that was open was a hospital. Even in dairy farming country, we would milk cows, but we wouldn't bring in hay. And so society just had a day where they put it in park. (That) was Sunday... until the last 30 years or so." Sleeth says that being on-the-go 24/7 is having unwanted health effects. "I think more and more, there's a consensus that it leads to depression and anxiety [and] diabetes and being obese," says Sleeth. "When we're constantly going, we pour out chemicals to try to meet those stresses. We have short-term stress hormones like adrenaline, and longer-term hormones like the steroids that we pour out. Those chemicals constantly being 'on' are bad for us." Sleeth stresses the importance of scheduling a rest day at the end of every week to work towards. "Even if on Monday I'm very, very busy - and that proceeds throughout the week - if you know you have a habit of a weekly day of rest, of stopping, then you always know that's out in front of you. A lot of people "go" and never know when it is that they're going to come to rest."
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It's good for management to share the festive spirit with employees at end of year functions, just as long as they draw the line, reports The Age. “You can get away with being a bit outrageous as long you're not sloshed,” said Tim Roche at Right Management. The boss sets the tone of an organisation. “People really watch the behaviour of the boss to see what they do,” said Peter Wilson, national president of the Australian Human Resource Institute. “If the top boss behaves badly, lots of others will too.” Management needs to be especially mindful of their behaviour when alcohol is involved. “The traditional example is where someone makes advances on a junior employee or says something inappropriate," said Lisa Berton, employment law specialist at Kemp Strang. "When alcohol is thrown into the mix, people sometimes let their standards slip." And there is even more reason to stay vigilant at work functions, thanks to the ever-present connection with social media. “Relaxation levels are lower in the smartphone era because of the risk there will be physical evidence of you letting your hair down a bit too much." Three pieces of advice for bosses include staying under the legal alcohol limit, keeping an eye on others, and, if things go wrong, immediately making amends with an apology and explanation.
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While people around the world are living longer, they are doing so in poorer health in their later years, Medical News Today reports. The Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 is a large collaboration between almost 500 researchers from 50 countries. This report reveals trends in health and illness worldwide. While a smaller proportion of people are dying early, a greater number of people now suffer from chronic diseases, pain and disability. An increasing percentage of the world's population are able to "avoid premature death, but live longer and sicker," say the report's authors. In the past, the primary cause of death was infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and measles, as well as childhood illnesses caused by malnutrition. In 1990, life expectancy was 62.8 for men and 68.1 for women. In 2010, life expectancy was 67.5 for men and 73.3 for women. A greater number of people are now suffering from chronic diseases such as cancer, Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. "We're finding that very few people are walking around with perfect health and that, as people age, they accumulate health conditions," said Director of IHME, Dr. Christopher Murray. "At an individual level, this means we should recalibrate what life will be like for us in our 70s and 80s. It also has profound implications for health systems as they set priorities."
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The number of years of healthy life lost by people as a result of overeating has eclipsed the number of years of healthy life lost by people not eating enough, SBS reports. The Global Burden of Disease report reveals that for the first time, being overweight is a greater health problem than lack of proper nutrition. Undernutrition was the leading cause of disease burden in 1990 (the number of years of healthy life an average person could potentially lose as a result of illness or early death), while having a high body-mass index (BMI) was ranked tenth. Undernutrition has now fallen to eighth place, while a high BMI is the sixth leading cause of disease burden. "A greater amount of disease burden has occurred because people are fat and have too much to eat, as opposed to having too little to eat," says study contributor Alan Lopez at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. Being overweight increases a person's blood pressure and can cause stroke and heart disease, which combined are responsible for a quarter of all deaths.
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Fly-in, fly-out workers need better access to mental health services, WA Today reports. A study of nearly 250 FIFO workers and their partners found that half of employees are unaware of what mental health support resources they are entitled to access. Anthony Ward, a counsellor who has worked on 13 mining sites across Australia, says a "false bravado" culture is causing FIFO workers to hide their emotional and mental states. "Even though there's the bravado, I think underneath there are still the mental health issues," Ward said. He said that if more workers used the support services available to them, it would help them address common issues that arise from the isolation from family and friends. Research from Murdoch University shows that of 245 workers and 314 partners, over half were not aware of support available to them. "Virtually all organisations are providing some support and some guidance, employee assistance programs and so on," said Murdoch University's Graeme Ditchburn. "So the organisations are providing them, but what is evident is that a lot of participants aren't aware that they are available." He said companies should be working harder to promote mental health services. "So that's a big concern and certainly something that is fairly easy for organisations to address, in terms of promoting and advertising the resources and supports that are available," said Mr Ditchburn. "And this is the other critical issue, it's not just to the employee - who's working on site and working remotely - but also that some of those supports are available to partners...Certainly, for those who do know that those supports are available, it seems to have a large positive effect on their stress levels."
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Research published in BMJ Open shows that witnessing or being on the receiving end of workplace bullying heightens the risk of employees being prescribed antidepressants, sleeping pills and tranquillisers, Science Daily reports. Researchers in Finland asked 6606 aged between 40-60 about their experiences with workplace bullying, over a two-year period. National registry data on prescribed "psychoactive drugs" - antidepressants, sleeping pills, sedatives and tranquillisers - was tracked for three years prior to the survey and five years following. One in 20 employees reported being currently bullied. One in five women and one in eight men reported having been bullied previously. Around 50 per cent of respondents had witnessed bullying at least occasionally, while one in 10 had witnessed it often. The study found that workplace bullying was associated with an increase in prescriptions for psychoactive drugs. For those workers who had been bullied at work, women were about 50 per cent more likely to have a prescription for psychoactive medications, while men were around twice as likely. Witnessing workplace bullying resulted in a similar effect, with women 53 per cent more likely to receive a prescription, and men twice as likely. "Workplace bullying needs to be tackled proactively in an effective way to prevent its adverse consequences for mental health," said the authors.
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The holiday period can be a stressful time for some people. Financial pressures and the need to get work done before the break can lead to anxiety and stress, reports US News. Mitzi Dulan has five tips for coping with holiday stress. 1: Make a to-do list to get on top of the increased business of the holiday period. "As your list gets smaller, you'll feel better," writes Mitzi Dulan. 2: Decline some invitations to functions to give yourself a break from the many obligations at this time of the year. "Respectfully decline some of the invitations this year to make your time more manageable and enjoyable," writes Dulan. 3: Schedule regular exercise. It's easy to skip on this step during busy periods, but physical activity will help to keep physical stress levels in check. "Consider some high-intensity exercises such as burpees or jump squats. These can be done easily in your home, and they are great metabolism boosters for people on a tight schedule." 4: Donate to charities. The impact your donation can have will benefit the recipients and you too. "This year, consider matching the amount that you spend on holiday gifts with a check for those in need," says Dulan. 5: Share the jobs around the house - get children and relatives involved in the holiday chores. "Create a chore chart, and allow your kids to pick a few chores each from the list," Dulan suggests.
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Problems caused by bullying do not necessarily cease when the abuse stops. Recent research at the University of Stavanger (UiS) and Bergen’s Center for Crisis Psychology in Norway shows that victims may need long-term support. This study of 963 children aged 14 and 15 in Norwegian schools found a high incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms among bullied pupils. These signs were seen in roughly 33 per cent of respondents who said they had been victims of bullying. "This is noteworthy, but nevertheless unsurprising," says psychologist Thormod Idsøe. Bullying is defined as long-term physical or mental violence by an individual or group. It’s directed at a person who’s not able to defend themselves at the relevant time. Recent research on working life has found that 40-60 per cent of adult victims of bullying reveal high levels of these three defining signs. "Traumatic experiences or strains imposed on us by others can often hurt more than accidents," says Idsøe. That could be why so many pupils report such symptoms. They can cause great difficulties concentrating, have a disruptive effect and prevent sufferers from functioning normally in daily life.
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UK researchers have found a link between childhood intelligence and experiences of chronic widespread pain (CWP) later in adult life, Medical News Today reports. CWP is a common musculoskeletal disorder that affects from 10 to 15 per cent of adults - occurring more frequently in women and people of lower socioeconomic status. CWP is the main symptom of fibromyalgia, a chronic condition that involves pain and fatigue. Researchers observed nearly 7,000 males and females, aged from 11 to 45. "One psychological factor that could potentially be a risk factor for CWP in adult life is lower cognitive ability in youth," said leading researcher Dr. Catharine R. Gale. "Our hypotheses were that men and women who scored lower on the test of intelligence in childhood would have an increased risk of CWP in midlife and that some of this association would be mediated through socioeconomic status, mental health, or lifestyle factors in adulthood." Sufferers of CWP were also more likely to be a current or ex-smoker, have a manual job, report higher levels of psychological distress and have a higher BMI (body mass index). Researchers concluded that people with a lower intelligence have more likelihood of developing CWP.
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As health care goes high tech, the widespread adoption of electronic medical records and related digital technologies is predicted to reduce errors and lower costs – but it is also likely to significantly boost musculoskeletal injuries among doctors and nurses, concludes a Cornell University ergonomics professor in two new papers. The repetitive strain injuries, he said, will stem from poor office layouts and improper use of computer devices. "Many hospitals are investing heavily in new technology with almost no consideration for principles of ergonomics design for computer workplaces," said Alan Hedge, professor of human factors and ergonomics in Cornell’s College of Human Ecology's Department of Design and Environmental Analysis. "We saw a similar pattern starting in the 1980s when commercial workplaces computerized, and there was an explosion of musculoskeletal injuries for more than a decade afterward." The most commonly reported repetitive strain injuries were neck, shoulder and upper and lower back pain - with a majority of female doctors and more than 40 percent of male doctors reporting such ailments on at least a weekly basis. About 40 percent of women and 30 percent of men reported right wrist injuries at a similar frequency. "These rates are alarming. When more than 40 percent of employees are complaining about regular problems, that's a sign something needs to be done to address it," said Hedge. "In a lot of hospitals and medical offices, workplace safety focuses on preventing slips, trips and falls and on patient handling, but the effects of computer use on the human body are neglected."
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It's easy to ignore the familiar signs of stress: headache, tightened chest or a queasy stomach - but overlook them at your peril, Washington Post reports. Yet another study has linked stress to a heightened risk of having a heart attack. This research of 22,086 women over 10 years found that women in high-stress jobs were 67 per cent more likely to have a heart attack then women in less-stressful jobs. Stress impacts on multiple organ systems, including the heart, and is linked with Type 2 diabetes, immunity deficiencies, depression and gastrointestinal troubles. The way we try to cope with stress can cause further harm too, if we do the wrong things like eat junk food or lie awake at night worrying. Stress can increase the incidence and severity of colds, is linked with the onset of dementia and is associated with the risk of dying from stroke. The good news is that it is possible to reduce stress levels. Getting help from a professional is critical. Meditation can help, as can biofeedback and massage. Exercise is crucial to breaking the stress cycle, as it releases endorphins to counteract the negative effects of adrenaline from stress. Finally, implement an email hiatus. A recent study found that people who didn't have access to their work email for five days were less stressed than their colleagues who hadn't taken a break.
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Thinking of throwing a Christmas party to show your employees you appreciate them? You might want to think again, Huffington Post reports. Glassdoor's Employee Holiday Survey found 73 per cent of workers wanted a cash bonus above anything else. A salary increase or time off also rated high on the list of employee wishes. Employees under the age of 34 were more likely to list getting a raise as their top preference, while workers between the ages of 45-54 were more interested in a new job. Kare Anderson writes that despite the widely-held notion that employees are satisfied with implicit rewards like recognition for hard work, "this survey shows that a majority of us feel that, in a company, money is the most concrete form of recognition." This could be driven by the fact that the United States has the largest pay gap in the world between employees and CEOs. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that, "CEOs are making 380 times the salary of the average worker." An analysis by 24/7 Wall Street of America's worst companies to work for found the main driver of employee dissatisfaction was lack of connection with management. Another survey by Glassdoor found that above all, job-seekers most want to know about the salary, company culture and paid leave.
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New research casts doubt on the increasing trend of telecommuting, according to a new study from the University of Texas. The study suggests that while people try telecommuting in an attempt to circumvent commute times and costs, and improve work-life balance, most employees working remotely end up working longer hours. Of the 30 percent of respondents who work from home, most have a working week five-to-seven hours longer than that of their office-bound counterparts. Telecommuters are also significantly less likely to work a standard 40-hour week, and are more likely to work overtime. Furthermore, most telecommuting was found to occur additionally, i.e. after an employee had already put in 40 hours in the office. “Careful monitoring of this blurred boundary between work and home time and the erosion of ‘normal working hours’ in many professions can help us understand the expansion of work hours overall among salaried workers,” said Jennifer Glass, professor in the Department of Sociology and the Population Research Center. The authors conclude that telecommuting has in fact not permeated the American workplace, and where it has been implemented, it has not been shown to reduce work/family conflicts. Instead, telecommuting was found to facilitate employers imposing a longer working week.
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For years, research has shown a link between smoking and an increased risk for low back pain, intervertebral (spine) disc disease, and inferior patient outcomes following surgery. A new study, published in the December 2012 Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS), also found that smokers suffering from spinal disorders and related back pain, reported greater discomfort than spinal disorder patients who stopped smoking during an eight-month treatment period. Nearly all adults will be seen at some time by a physician for back pain or other painful spinal disorders. As smoking has been identified as a modifiable risk factor for chronic pain disorders, researchers reviewed the smoking history and monitored the reported pain of more than 5,300 patients with axial (back) or radicular (leg) pain from a spinal disorder. Those who quit smoking during the course of care reported greater improvement in reported back pain than those who continued to smoke. The group that continued smoking during treatment had no clinically significant improvement in reported pain. “We know that nicotine increases pain,” said study author Glenn R. Rechtine, MD, University of Rochester Department of Orthopaedics. “In this study, if you quit smoking during treatment, you got better. If you continued to smoke, there was statistically no improvement, regardless of the treatment you had. Smoking is bad for you. Basically, the likelihood to improve your care ? surgical or non-surgical ? was dramatically decreased if you are a smoker. “This study supports the need for smoking cessation programs for patients with a painful spinal disorder given a strong association between improved patient reported pain and smoking cessation,” said Dr. Rechtine.
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One in five adults in the United States (and Australia) have suffered from mental illness during the past year, reports Medical News Today. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has reported on figures from The 2011 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). The survey, conducted by the US Government since 1971, collected in-person data from an estimated 65,750 people aged 12 or older. People aged 18-25 were more than twice as likely to have a mental illness compared with those aged 50 and over. Women were also more likely to have a mental illness, at 23 per cent likely, compared with men at 15.9 per cent. In the past year, five per cent of adults had serious mental illness involving severe functional impairment. "Although mental illness remains a serious public health issue, increasingly we know that people who experience it can be successfully treated and can live full, productive lives," said SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde. "Like other medical conditions, such as cardiovascular disease or diabetes, the key to recovery is identifying the problem and taking active measures to treat it as soon as possible." Despite this, only around 4 in 10 adults with mental illness received help from a mental health professional in the past year.
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Twenty per cent of the population suffers from chronic pain caused by dysfunctions in the neck, resulting in impaired quality of life and lost work time, Science Daily reports. A German study published in the Journal of Pain finds yoga to be an effective treatment for neck pain, which improves psychological wellbeing and quality of life. Neck pain is commonly treated using anti-inflammatory medication - the evidence if its effectiveness "contradictory, while side effects, such as nausea and dizziness, are well known," according to The American Pain Society. The researchers focused on one type of yoga, Iyengar yoga, which has also been shown to be effective in low-back pain. Iyengar yoga uses supportive props and the sequences of postures can be tailored to address an individual's medical problem. Participants of the study were assigned either to a yoga group or an exercise group, and answered questionnaires at the study's onset, after four weeks, and after ten weeks. Researchers found a "significant and clinically important reduction in pain intensity in the yoga group." They reasoned that this might be caused by yoga simultaneously enhancing muscle toning and releasing muscle tension. This could reduce stress-related muscle tension and modify neurobiological pain perception. The researchers concluded that Iyengar yoga is a safe and effective treatment for chronic neck pain.
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After the human sleep cycle being tied to the setting and rising of the sun for past millennia, we now enjoy being able to flick a light switch and stay awake late into the night. New research from Johns Hopkins, however, shows that this luxury may come at a significant cost, Science Daily reports. The study suggests that when people routinely stay awake into the night, they risk suffering from depression and learning difficulties. The cause? Exposure to bright light at night from lamps, and especially from computers and tablet screens. "Basically, what we found is that chronic exposure to bright light - even the kind of light you experience in your own living room at home or in the workplace at night if you are a shift worker - elevates levels of a certain stress hormone in the body, which results in depression and lowers cognitive function," said Samer Hattar, a biology professor in the Johns Hopkins University's Krieger School of Arts and Sciences. The study, published in Nature demonstrates how cells in the eye (called intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells, or ipRGCs) affect mood, memory and learning, and are activated by bright light. "I'm not saying we have to sit in complete darkness at night," said Hattar, "but I do recommend that we should switch on fewer lamps, and stick to less-intense light bulbs: Basically, only use what you need to see. That won't likely be enough to activate those ipRGCs that affect mood."
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Physical exercise is just as important as cognitive exercise when it comes to maintaining a healthy brain, according to a new University of Queensland study. A study conducted by scientists in the Bartlett laboratory at UQ's Queensland Brain Institute found the mechanism by which exercise increases the number of stem cells that are actively generating new nerve cells in the brain and reverses the decline normally observed as animals age. “We have found that Growth Hormone (GH) originally discovered as a potent stimulator of animal growth is increased in the brain of running animals and this stimulates the activation of new neural stem cells,” says QBI scientist Dr Daniel Blackmore. The study was carried out in older mice, which show the same cognitive decline as humans. “In this model of ageing we found that the number of active neural stem cells dramatically declines with age, but exercise dramatically reversed this, increasing stem cell numbers," Professor Perry Bartlett, the Director of QBI, and team leader, said. "If we blocked the action of GH in the brains of these running animals, however, no such increase occurred, indicating GH was the primary regulator of this process. "We are currently determining whether this grow GH–dependent increase in stem cell activity is able to reverse the cognitive decline seen in old animals by increasing production of new nerve cells."
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Smokers are reporting that their plain-packaged tobacco "tastes worse" - despite the product itself not changing, Sydney Morning Herald reports. Thanks to this, smoking rates in Australia could drop from 15 to 10 per cent over the next six years says federal health minister Tanya Pilbersek. The worse-tasting tobacco phenomenon is an indication of how tobacco companies rely on branding to recruit new smokers. "When you look at what we've achieved in Australia - after the second world war 50 per cent of Australians smoked, now 15 per cent of Australians smoke," said Ms Pilbersek. "We're keen to get that number down to ten per cent by 2018. So we’re going to keep pushing down the rates of smokers." Ms Pilbersek believes the plain-packaging changes will make a significant impact to the health of Australians. "If we can prevent young people from taking it up, that’s a lifetime gift to them. And if we can help people who’ve been addicted for sometime ... then I think we’ll see a big difference in our smoking rates over coming years." The laws require cigarettes to be sold in drab brown packaging, and must include graphic health warnings on 75 per cent of the pack.
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Opioids used to be regarded as a last-resort against severe pain, but their increasing use in chronic pain cases is resulting in growing widespread global painkiller addition, Guardian reports. Prescription pill overdoses are killing 15,000 Americans every year, and this figure is rising, writes Ed Pilkington. "A public expectation has taken hold that we should all be entitled to lead pain-free lives, in rather the same way that we have come to expect to be able to own a car or to holiday abroad; but the pursuit of painlessness has come at a high price," writes Pilkington. "The level of prescribing of opioid painkillers...has soared, and with it the incidence of addiction, and addiction's grim best friend: fatal overdoses." Initiatives in the late 1990s promoted aggressive opioid pain treatment, while drug companies pushed massive marketing campaigns, accompanied by claims that the incidence of addiction was less than 1 per cent. Americans comprise five per cent of the world's population, yet consume 80 per cent of the world's supply of opiates. Opioid sales have increased fourfold in the past decade, grossing $11b annually. Dr David Caraway realised the crisis was growing after seeing a patient who had been prescribed a daily dose of 540mg of OxyContin by another doctor, for what was described as aches and pains similar to those from the flu or after exercise. "OxyContin is up to two times more potent than morphine. So this is the equivalent of about 1,000mg of oral morphine. That's a whopping dose that is every bit as potent as heroin, every bit as addictive. I was stunned that someone would prescribe this level of medicine to someone who wasn't suffering from end-of-life cancer."
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New research says that young people who display more positive emotions have higher incomes by the time they are 29, Baltimore Sun reports. A proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences study found that irrespective of whether money can actually buy happiness, being happy can help you make more money. Researchers found a pronounced difference: when measuring life satisfaction on a 5-point scale, a 1-point jump at age 22 increased income by $2,000 later on. This amounts to an $8,000 difference between the most gloomy, and happiest, ratings. The study followed 10,000 people as they aged: from 16, 18, 22; and then measured their income at age 29. Researchers controlled for other factors that are known to influence income, including education level, IQ, height and self-esteem. The study found that "deeply unhappy" teens' incomes later in life were 30 per cent lower than the average, while "very happy" teens earned 10 per cent above average come age 29. "Early happiness probably changes so many things about your life that even if later in life you're not as happy as you were, those formative experiences continue to play themselves out," said Michael Norton, a behavioural scientist at Harvard Business School who was not involved in the study. Lead author Jan-Emmanuel De Neve's previous research concluded that low unemployment makes people happier than low inflation, which means if governments focused on improving job growth, the population would experience increased happiness - despite inflation - and there would be an increase in prosperity overall. "Even the fiscal cliff could be averted that way," said, De Neve. "Who knows? Maybe."
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One third of people or their partners admit to checking emails or browsing the web in bed, and it's changing the way we work, Daily Mail reports. A UK survey of 1,000 people revealed the statistic, as well as news that five per cent of people report spending an average of two hours per day online in bed. Another study from New York found that eight out of 10 young professionals reported working from bed. Paula Hall, relationship counsellor, suggests this new trend may be harmful to work-life balance. 'It encroaches on couple time," said Hall. "Couples need to establish where the boundaries for work are going to be before it becomes a problem. And some people need a bit of self-honesty." There are also health and safety implications of taking technology to bed. 'It sounds nice and cosy propping yourself up on the pillow but it's not a good posture for working," said Richard Jones, head of policy at the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health. Musculoskeletal disorders are the number one cause of lost-time and cost business and government millions per year. Further, working in bed can cause people to find it difficult to "switch off" when it comes time to sleep. "Research has shown exposure to electronic devices with self-luminous displays such as from a laptop or iPad causes suppression of melatonin, a hormone that regulates the body's sleep and wake cycles," reports Daily Mail.
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Stress may be a factor in 60-80 per cent of all visits to primary care physicians, yet only three per cent of cases are referred to stress management counselling, Medical News Today reports. A new study appearing in Archives of Internal Medicine investigated 34,000 visits to a total of 1,263 physicians. Researchers were looking for evidence that doctors had provided help with stress management, including counselling during the visit, and "information intended to help patients reduces stress through exercise, biofeedback, yoga, etc.," or referrals "to other health professionals for the purpose of coping with stress." Researchers found that physicians rarely provide stress management counselling. "Almost half of Americans report an increase in psychological stress over the past five years. Stress is the elephant in the room. Everyone knows it's there, but physicians rarely talk to patients about it," says lead author, Aditi Nerurkar, MD, MPH. "In fact, stress management counseling is the least common type of physician counseling, falling behind counseling for nutrition, exercise, weight loss and smoking." The researchers said that physicians appeared to be providing stress management support as a "downstream intervention" for their sickest patients, rather than as a preventative measure. "Our findings make us wonder whether stress management counseling, if offered earlier to more patients as prevention, could lead to better health outcomes," said the researchers.
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The American Psychological Association reports that 44 per cent of women and 31 per cent of men say the Christmas period is the most stressful of the year, but the internet may be able to help, Sydney Morning Herald reports. The Herald suggests that while sounding counter-intuitive, turning to the internet for help relaxing and de-stressing may help. The first tip is to swap the holiday-themed music in the car and go for a podcast explaining Buddhist teachings. "A Dharma talk is when a Buddhist teacher speaks on a certain topic, such as 'Compassion,' or 'Loving Kindness,' or 'Right Speech,'" reports SMH. "You'll find hundreds of options at AudioDharma.org, which is an archive of free talks." Taking an online yoga class can save you time and money, and still yield great results. Downloading a guided meditation is another option. "Even just five minutes of sitting still and paying attention to your breath can help you to calm down. You'll find free, short mindfulness meditations on UCLA's Mindfulness Awareness Meditation Centre website. Insight LA also offers free Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction meditations on its website." Do nothing for two minutes: Take a look at www.donothingfor2minutes.com. This seems simple but strangely can be a real challenge! Finally, downloading a meditation timer app can make it easier to get into a good meditation practice. The Insight Timer app is relatively cheap, and "meditating is always easier when you let someone else, or something else, mind the time."
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WorkCover Board Chair Mr Philip Bentley is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Greg McCarthy as the new Chief Executive Officer of WorkCoverSA. Mr Bentley said Greg brings 25 years’ experience in insurance and for the last 16 years specifically workers compensation and rehabilitation of injured workers. “McCarthy will lead the significant changes to the WorkCover Scheme we announced this year,” Bentley said. “He has established and managed large businesses driving major transformation which is exactly what is needed to continue with these reforms.” McCarthy is the Chair of the NSW Home Owners Warranty Insurance Scheme Board and NSW Home Building Advisory Council. He is also on the Board of StateCover Mutual – a specialised local government workers compensation insurer. McCarthy has extensive experience in injury management establishing and managing rehabilitation businesses including one of Australia’s largest. He has extensive experience working with actuaries on scheme valuations, pricing and insurance monitoring systems for public and private sector insurers. McCarthy has been involved in reviews of workers compensation, Compulsory Third Party and Home Owners Warranty scheme structures in New South Wales, as well as working in Victoria, South Australia, West Australia, Tasmania and Northern Territory jurisdictions for both Government run schemes and private insurers. “Greg has a good understanding of schemes across the country including the South Australian scheme,” Bentley said. “He also comes with a very good reputation within the industry of working with stakeholders including employer associations, unions and Governments.” McCarthy was the Chair of NSW WorkCover Authority for eight years and the NSW OH&S and Workers Compensation Advisory Council for 12 years. “Greg is excited by the challenge of improving the WorkCover Scheme, " Mr Bentley said. “The experience and knowledge I bring of schemes across Australia provides me with a good foundation to work effectively with all the stakeholders in the Scheme to turn the performance around,” McCarthy said. “I look forward to working together with the Board, the Government, the WorkCover team and all the stakeholders so we can achieve better return to work outcomes for South Australian workers and employers,” he said. Mr McCarthy commences his appointment on 3 December 2012.
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Having a job with poor working conditions can be just as bad for a person’s mental health as being unemployed, according to new research published in Psychological Medicine today. The study, led by Associate Professor Peter Butterworth from the ANU College of Medicine, Biology and Environment, is the first to use nationally representative data from England to compare the mental health of those who are unemployed with those in jobs of differing psychosocial quality. Poor psychosocial job quality is measured by factors such as high job demands, low job control, poor job security and low job esteem. Associate Professor Butterworth said the study’s findings support the hypothesis that the mental health benefits of work are restricted to good quality jobs, and that the poorest quality work is comparable to unemployment as a risk factor for poor mental health. “Our analysis clearly established that there was no difference in the rates of common mental disorders, such as anxiety and depression, between those who were unemployed and those who were in the poorest quality jobs,” Associate Professor Butterworth said. “Both of these groups of individuals were more likely to experience a common mental disorder than those who were in high quality work. “Importantly, the results from this analysis of UK data confirm previous findings from analysis of Australian data. “They add to a growing body of research highlighting the need to address the psychosocial aspects of the work environment as part of national government plans to reduce mental illness in the community. “Policy efforts to improve community mental health should consider psychosocial job quality in conjunction with efforts to increase employment rates. “The improvement of psychosocial work conditions, such as reducing job demands, and increasing job control, security, and esteem can flow on to improvements in employees’ mental health and reduce the burden of illness on public health systems.” The study draws on data from the 2007 English Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey. The final sample size for the analysis was 2603 respondents.
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Stereotypes about men and women may cause us to miss signs of depression, Mental Health Hub reports. A new study published in the journal PLoS ONE found that both men and women are less likely to view men as depressed and in need of professional treatment, even if their symptoms are identical to women's. “A lot of attention has been paid to depression in women, and with good reason,” said Dr. James B. Potash, editor of the study. He said, however, that “there has been relatively little focus on education about depression in men. This [study] emphasizes the importance of figuring out how to get through to men that depression can be disabling and treatment is important.” UK researchers asked around 600 people to read a hypothetical situation matching that of a clinically depressed person: "For the past two weeks, Kate has been feeling really down. She wakes up in the morning with a flat, heavy feeling that sticks with her all day. She isn’t enjoying things the way she normally would. In fact, nothing gives her pleasure. Even when good things happen, they don’t seem to make Kate happy." Fifty-seven per cent of participants correctly identified Kate as having symptoms of depression, but when the name "Kate" was replaced with "Jack," only 52 per cent identified Jack as possibly suffering from depression. More importantly, while 10 per cent of respondents believed Kate did not have a problem, more than twice as many participants (21 per cent) believed Jack did not have a problem. “Men are expected to be strong, deny pain and vulnerability, and conceal any emotional fragility,” said study author Viren Swami. “Because of these societal expectations, men appear to have poorer understanding of mental health and aren’t as good at detecting symptoms of depression compared with women.”
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Around 50 per cent of women experience some form of harassment in the workplace, and to make matters worse, many of these women are doubly victimised by judgemental reactions from their coworkers, Health Canal reports. A new study found that women who don't respond to harassment "aggressively" or "directly," or report the harassment, can be unfairly condemned by coworkers, to the extent of coworkers not wanting to collaborate with the victims or recommend them for promotions. The study offers some solutions to the problem by looking at case studies that suggest people judge victims based on how they themselves believe they would react to a similar situation. “The problem with this is that people’s predictions and forecasts of what they would do are often wrong,” said Professor Kristina A. Diekmann. “While most people predict they would take immediate action against a harasser—report them, walk out, tell them to stop—most victims of s-xual harassment don’t take any action and remain passive...As a consequence, because people mis-predict that they would take action against the harasser, they condemn the victim who remains passive and socially distance themselves from that victim. So, s-xual harassment victims are double-victimized, once by their harasser, and twice by their colleagues who condemn them for remaining passive.” The authors recommend that workplaces not only focus on ways of reducing harassment, but to also address the psychological factors affecting the response to victims by HR, administrators and management.
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Increasing physical activity in the workplace is the most important step in improving workplace health since smoking at work was banned, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. ''We talk a lot about absenteeism, but more work performance is lost from presenteeism - it's estimated to cost $26 billion a year in lost productivity. Three of the four major causes of presenteeism are depression, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes." says Chris Tzar, of Exercise is Medicine Australia. "Physical activity can help treat all three," Tzar said. The Healthy Workplace Guide, by the Cancer Council NSW, recommends employers offer flexible hours so that employees can fit exercise into their work day. The Council also recommends supporting physical breaks such as stretching or short walks, and providing secure bicycle storage for workers wanting to commute to work by bike. Exercise is Medicine Australia has released a new guide called Physical Activity in the Workplace. The guide is based on evidence that shows long periods of sitting increase the risk of heart disease and diabetes. To combat this, the guide recommends workers stand for up to two minutes every half hour. Tzar suggests employees build standing or walking breaks into work, such as discussing something with a colleague in person, having a walking meeting, or making a phone call while walking around. ''We've had some people in human resources say, 'We can't have people standing up all the time because it interrupts productivity.' That's when I say, 'Your employees are entitled to a smoking break, but you're saying they can't get up and do something healthy.' The irony is, they have a policy that actually promotes unhealthy behaviour.''
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Karen Fabian once lived in the corporate world but now works for herself teaching yoga. She has ten tips for decreasing stress and improving productivity at work, Back Bay reports. "After I started teaching part-time, going to work seemed more and more unhealthy," recalls Fabian. "The florescent lights, the constant stream of emails, the unpredictability of the flow of the day and dealing with stressful co-workers all made my blood pressure rise." Fabian says that while exercise is an important stress-buster, her tips are more to do with mindset, physical environment, nutrition and attitude. 1) "If you can work in natural light, do it," says Fabian. 2) "Bring a lunch, bring snacks from home, get healthy take-out or go out and eat healthy but whatever you do, stay away from the cafeteria...While you get the convenience, you’ll pay for it in increased weight, blood pressure and cholesterol and decreased energy levels after lunch." 3) "Take a walking break every hour. There are more and more articles out there about the detrimental affects of prolonged sitting." 4) "Park your ego and focus on getting stuff done." 5) "Talk less. Listen more." 6) "Type less and have more personal contact...Although sending email can feel productive, you’ll forge stronger partnerships by taking a moment to chat in person." 7) "Judge less; do more....'Today I will judge nothing that occurs.' I said this phrase repeatedly when I worked in a job where there were lots of changes in staff, job responsibilities and the actual physical environment where I worked. Instead of focusing on right or wrong (since I had no power to change the decision), I tried to focus on taking action on my projects and day-to-day tasks. At least in that way, I felt a bit more in control. 8) "Stay away from gossip and negative people....your energy is a valuable resource." 9) "Lobby to bring in on-site wellness professionals to your workplace. It’s short money for improvements in both physical health and morale." 10) "Do your best. At the end of the day, if you do your best and give your all, you can go to bed at night with peace in your heart."
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The use of antidepressants doubled in Australia between 2000 and 2011 and they now account for two out of every three psychotropic medications prescribed, a new study by the University of Sydney reveals. It also shows that over the last decade there has been a dramatic 58 percent increase in the use of psychotropic medications by the Australian population, which has only increased by 13 percent over that time. "Australians are increasingly relying on the use of psychotropic meds to treat their mental health problems," said Professor Iain McGregor, from the University's School of Psychology and senior author of the study published this week in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. "These results are surprising, somewhat worrying, and raise the question of why so many of us need drugs to be able to cope with modern life. "The heavy use of antidepressants may reflect their increasing use in conditions other than depression: everything from anxiety disorders to treating pain. "These drugs have been relentlessly promoted by the pharmaceutical industry but meds are not the only answer, and anyone with emotional problems should consider diet, exercise, lifestyle changes and psychological therapy," Professor McGregor said. Psychotropic medications act on the brain and are used to control behaviour and mood. They are among the most widely prescribed drugs in Australia and worldwide. They include antidepressants, sedatives, antipsychotics, mood stabilisers and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder medications. The use of antipsychotic drugs, commonly used to treat schizophrenia, has also doubled between 2000 and 2011. "Use of atypical antipsychotics in conditions other than schizophrenia, for example in bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, ADHD and dementia, may be driving this increase," said Professor McGregor. "While a godsend in many difficult cases, some of the antipsychotic drugs can have major side effects including obesity, diabetes and loss of interest in life." The use of benzodiazapine drugs such as Valium has remained fairly static over the decade, although there has been a marked increase in the use of a drug called alprazolam or Xanax. "This is of concern because Xanax can be highly addictive and is frequently overused," said Professor McGregor. There has been a 73 percent increase in the distribution of medications used for ADHD, particularly the long-acting form of methylphenidate. "The issue here is that there are concerns about the long-term effectiveness of these medications," said Professor McGregor. Professor McGregor and his team are soon to publish a book, Meds for Heads, an exploration of psychotropic drug use in Australia.
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We're all aware that being overweight can increase our risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes, yet 30 per cent of the population deemed overweight have healthy hearts and normal blood glucose levels, The Age reports. The 'fit and fat' theory suggests that physical activity can outweigh extra kilograms. For example, physical exercise causes muscles use more blood glucose as fuel, helping to keep Type 2 diabetes at bay. Researchers say that even some inactive overweight people can appear healthy. "Studies also show that some obese people who aren't physically active are also unexpectedly free of problems like high blood pressure and high blood fats," said Dr Daniel Chen, endocrinologist from Sydney's Garvan Institute of Medical Research. These people are "insulin sensitive," which means their insulin is keeping blood glucose under control, thus avoiding developing type 2 diabetes. "One of the differences that sets these healthier overweight people apart is whereabouts on the body they store their excess fat. In people whose insulin is working well fat is more likely to be carried around the hips and thighs rather than around the waist," said Chen. The type of fat that sits on the hips and thighs is called subcutaneous fat, and is different to the fat on the waist, called visceral fat. Visceral fat "secretes inflammatory chemicals that contribute to heart disease and diabetes," says Chen, and "it releases fatty acids which can be harmful too – they end up being stored in the liver and muscles and this makes it harder for the body to keep blood glucose levels down." But overweight people whose insulin is functioning properly tend to have less fat around their waist, despite having a lot of far around their arms, legs and hips. "Whether there's less risk of cancer with healthier obese people isn't clear. So far we only know there's less diabetes and fewer deaths from heart disease – but we also know there's an increased risk of cancer from diabetes," cautioned Chen.
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The way people react to stressful situations has a ripple effect on their health many years later, reports Huffington Post. Researchers from Penn State University suggest that it's not simply stressful situations that cause a host of health problems, including anxiety and fatigue, but it's out reactions to these situations that matter the most. "Our research shows that how you react to what happens in your life today predicts your chronic health conditions and 10 years in the future, independent of your current health and your future stress," said David Almeida, professor of human development and family studies at Penn State. "For example, if you have a lot of work to do today and you are really grumpy because of it, then you are more likely to suffer negative health consequences 10 years from now than someone who also has a lot of work to do today, but doesn't let it bother her." Researchers spoke with 2,000 participants by phone every day for eight days, recording their reactions to stressful events each day as well as their physiological responses to stress. "Most social-science surveys are based on long retrospective accounts of your life in the past month or maybe the past week," said Almeida. "By asking people to focus just on the past 24 hours, we were able to capture a particular day in someone's life. Then, by studying consecutive days, we were able to see the ebb and flow of their daily experiences." Researchers found that people aged 65 and over tend to be "more reactive" to stress than younger people, and this has to do with the fact that younger people are forced to deal with stress more frequently.
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Shifts of 12 hours or longer are more likely to lead to burnout, job dissatisfaction, and dissatisfied patients, Science Daily reports. New research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing shows that nurses working shifts of ten hours or longer were up to 2.5 times more likely than nurses working shorter shifts to experience burnout and job dissatisfaction. The nurses weren't the only ones affected by long shifts: seven out of 10 patients were adversely affected by the longest shifts. "Traditional eight-hour shifts for hospital nurses are becoming a thing of the past. Bedside nurses increasingly work twelve-hour shifts. This schedule gives nurses a three-day work week, potentially providing better work-life balance and flexibility," said Amy Witkoski Stimpfel, PhD, RN. "When long shifts are combined with overtime, shifts that rotate between day and night duty, and consecutive shifts, nurses are at risk for fatigue and burnout, which may compromise patient care." Dr. Witkoski Stimpfel, lead author, said "...policies that facilitate manageable work hours can contribute to the development of a healthier nursing workforce, prepared to manage the complex care needs of patients and their families."
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Researchers have discovered that people use a different part of the brain to learn about social hierarchies than for other information, Psych Central reports. Humans are exceptionally skilled at ranking each other within social hierarchies, say researchers, which is a survival technique allowing us to avoid conflict as well as select useful allies. Little is known, however, about how the brain determines "top dog," so researchers used fMRI brain imaging technology to find out more. Twenty-six volunteers were asked to play a computer game that required them to act as investors, ranking a combination of social and non-social information. The findings indicated a big distinction between the neural circuits used to learn social and non-social hierarchies. Researchers observed increased neural activity in both the amygdala and the hippocampus when participants were learning about the hierarchy of fictitious company executives, while only the hippocampus was activated when participants were learning non-social information. “These findings are telling us that the amygdala is specifically involved in learning information about social rank based on experience and suggest that separate neural circuits are involved than for learning hierarchy information of a non-social nature,” said study leader Dr. Dharshan Kumaran. The research also shined light on how we build and retain information on social rank, a key ability in today's highly social world.
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Japanese researchers have found proof that people perform tasks better while receiving compliments, Science Daily reports. A group of 48 adults were taught a specific finger pattern, which consisted of pushing keys on a keyboard in a particular sequence as fast as possible in 30 seconds. The participants were separated into three groups: one with an 'evaluator' who would compliment participants individually; one group whose participants would watch each other receive compliments; and another group whose participants evaluated their own performance on a graph. The next day, researchers tested participants' ability to perform the finger exercise. Participants who had received compliments the previous day performed better than participants from the other groups. The research team previously discovered that an area of the brain called the striatum is activated when someone is rewarded with either a compliment or cash. It appears that activation of the striatum encourages a person to perform tasks better. "To the brain, receiving a compliment is as much a social reward as being rewarded money," said study leader Associate Professor Satoshi Tanaka. "We've been able to find scientific proof that a person performs better when they receive a social reward after completing an exercise. There seems to be scientific validity behind the message 'praise to encourage improvement'. Complimenting someone could become an easy and effective strategy to use in the classroom and during rehabilitation."
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Exercising for 30 minutes a day may buy you an extra 3.5 years of life, says a study published in PLoS Medicine, LA Times reports. Stepping up the intensity of that exercise or taking an hour-long walk every day could add 4.2 years to your life. Researchers say their study is a wake up call to "healthy weight" couch potatoes who mistakenly believe their good Body Mass Index ratings (BMIs) will ensure longevity. People with a BMI between 20-25 are in the 'healthy' weight range, yet those who were physically inactive were found to be far more likely to die in the next decade or so than overweight or even obese exercisers. Of the 431,479 study participants over the age of 40, the sedentary were almost twice as likely to die than those who were active. "This finding may convince currently inactive persons that a modest level of physical activity is 'worth it' for health benefits, even if it may not result in weight control," wrote the authors. The study also showed that people with a history of tobacco use, heart disease or cancer can benefit from exercise. Establishing a "modest" amount of physical activity was found to restore 2.5 years of lost life expectancy for smokers, and 5.3 years for cancer patients. "We have to get people to understand that it's not all about weight," said Dr. Robert Sallis, a sports medicine specialist with Kaiser Permanente in Fontana who has spearheaded the Exercise Is Medicine initiative under the auspices of the American College of Sports Medicine. "Not everyone can lose weight. But everyone can get fit."
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Unemployed workers who continue to identify with their former employer report higher wellbeing even after being fired or laid-off from the company, according to a study published in the Journal of Managerial Psychology. The study, conducted by San Francisco State University Assistant Professor of Management Jennifer Tosti-Kharas, is among the first to explore how 'organisational identification' relates to job loss. "These unemployed people have something to cling to by having had very positive associations with their employer in the past," Tosti-Kharas said. "If you never had a positive association with your employer, now you're out of a job and you don't have something positive in your past to make you feel better." Tosti-Kharas surveyed 1,191 workers in June and December of 2008. Unemployed professionals answered questions designed to measure their psychological wellbeing, self-esteem, continued identification with the company and their judgement of the reason for their job loss. Those who strongly identified with their former employer reported feeling more confident and having a greater sense of purpose and belonging during their unemployment. "It's well known that when an employee strongly identifies with the organisation they work for, they're more likely to go above and beyond and be engaged in their work, which is great for the well-being of individuals and organisations," Tosti-Kharas said. "But that sense of individual well-being had never been assumed to extend to former employees." Tosti-Kharas noted that the mental benefits the unemployed workers enjoyed were a result of their own perceptions about themselves, not necessarily a continued social connection or interaction with former co-workers. Their positivity and self-esteem extended to their job search as well, further showing links between well-being and success in finding a new job. The sample of participants was highly educated, and nearly half had worked in the financial industry prior to their job loss.
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The Australian Government wants to double the number of teleworkers (people working from home) by 2020, Sydney Morning Herald reports. Around 6 per cent of Australian workers currently have an arrangement with their employer that lets them work outside of the office on some weekdays, yet this figure is decreasing. Australian Institute of Management public policy manager Robyn Clough said this is because Australia has been slow to jump on the telework bandwagon and was missing out on increased productivity, cost savings and reduced traffic congestion. ''In Australia, telework is just not accepted from a cultural perspective,'' said Ms Clough. ''There does seem to be a block at a management level.'' Catherine Raffaele, senior research analyst from Sydney University's Workplace Research Centre, explained our cultural hesitation towards teleworking. ''There is a perception that if you are working from home you are not really working and that's not true,'' she said. ''There is plenty of research to suggest that people working from home are more productive. Also, they feel more in control … so they have higher satisfaction levels and are more engaged.'' Research by Cisco in 2010 revealed that 69 per cent of people were more productive when working remotely. A Bell Atlantic Corporation study found that 25 hours working from home was the equivalent of 40 hours in the office.
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The economic impact of a heart attack goes beyond the sufferer and the health system, and can be felt in the workplace, Science Daily reports. Research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012 shows that people with acute coronary syndrome (ACS - an umbrella term including conditions such as heart attach and angina) face burdens in lost time and income from work, and potential inability to return to work. Researchers analysed medical, pharmacy and disability claims data of over 37,000 employees (and dependents) from 2007 to 2010. They found that workers with ACS lost 60.2 days of work in the short term, and 397 days in the long term. For employers, direct costs of an employee's ACS were outweighed by the disability costs, with the per claim productivity loss for short-term disability at $7,943 and $52,473 for long-term disability. "ACS can have devastating effects from an economic standpoint on employers in terms of lost productivity, but more importantly on costs to the employee reflected in the average lost time per incident," said Robert L. Page II, the study's lead author. "About 47 percent of all ACS patients are younger than 65, so we were looking at a working class population," said Page. "We want to target individuals early on in terms of risk factor modification for ACS, including smoking cessation, weight loss, appropriate diet, pharmacotherapy for high cholesterol and high blood pressure."
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New research emphasises that it's not stressors that cause health problems, it's people's reactions to stressors that cause the harm, Science Daily reports. Penn State researchers investigated the relationships between stressful life events, people's reactions to those events, and people's health and wellbeing 10 years later. "Our research shows that how you react to what happens in your life today predicts your chronic health conditions and 10 years in the future, independent of your current health and your future stress," said David Almeida, professor of human development and family studies. "For example, if you have a lot of work to do today and you are really grumpy because of it, then you are more likely to suffer negative health consequences 10 years from now than someone who also has a lot of work to do today, but doesn't let it bother her." Over 2,000 study participants were surveyed by phone, every night for eight consecutive nights, and were asked what had happened to them over the previous 24 hours. Researchers asked participants about their own use of time, moods, physical health symptoms, productivity, and stressful events they'd experienced. This was accompanied by saliva samples being taken at four different times throughout the eight-day period - to measure levels of cortisone, the stress hormone. "Our research shows that people age 65 and up tend to be more reactive to stress than younger people, likely because they aren't exposed to a lot of stress at this stage in their lives, and they are out of practice in dealing with it. Younger people are better at dealing with it because they cope with it so frequently. Likewise, our research shows that people with lower cognitive abilities and education levels are more reactive to stress than people with higher cognitive abilities and education levels, likely because they have less control over the stressors in their lives." Almeida suggested that reducing exposure to stressors isn't the answer. "We just need to figure out how to manage them better," she said.
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Generation X is on track to being more obese than the Baby Boomer generation, with severe health effects to follow, Science Daily reports. The University of Adelaide says that while Baby Boomers still currently hold the title for most obese generation, comparisons between Gen X in 2008 with Boomers at the same age in 1989 reveal that Gen X may eclipse current Boomer obesity. "This does not bode well for the future health of Generation X," says Shannon Pilkington, University of Adelaide Ph.D student. "At the same age, Gen X males have nearly double the prevalence of obesity: 18.3% compared with 9.4% for boomers. There is a smaller but still significant difference in females, with 12.7% of Gen X women being obese in 2008 and 10.4% of boomer females obese in 1989." Pilkington warned of the heath consequences for this trend. "This comparison paints a very poor picture of Generation X. It gives rise to major concerns for the future health of Gen X and Australia's ability to cope with that burden." Ms Pilkington warned workplaces to better promote health or suffer the consequences. "Boomers and Gen X together make up more than 75% of Australia's workforce. Their health and the role of the workplace in promoting a healthy, or unhealthy, environment is of critical importance to the Australian economy, to society and to people's quality of life," she said. "Obesity has become the new smoking -- it's a major driver of ill health, with coronary heart disease and type 2 diabetes highest on the list of preventable illnesses. Obesity also costs billions of dollars to our economy each year. Anything we can do to mitigate the damage being done to both generations of Australians by obesity will be hugely important for the future of our nation."
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Firefighters in South Australia will be automatically covered by WorkCover for job-related cancers from July 1 next year, Adelaide Now reports. The State Government says SA is the first state to change laws to cover firies for a range of cancers, including primary brain, bladder, kidney, breast and prostate cancers. "The onus of proof should no longer be on those who risk their lives for our safety every day," said Workers' Rehabilitation Minister Jack Snelling. Dozens of firefighters are currently diagnosed with or recovering from job-related cancer, said United Firefighters industrial officer Joe Szakacs. He cited research that shows a professional firefighter with five years' experience has five times the risk of contracting 12 different types of cancer compared with other members of the community. Premier Jay Weatherall said the changes would ensure it is "easier for those firefighters to get the compensation they deserve for putting themselves in harm's way."
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Family members appear to share similar work and lifestyle factors that affect whether they will suffer from disability due to lower-back disorders, Science Daily reports. New research published in the November Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine investigated several work-related factors that are linked with an increased risk of disability pension, including: monotonous work, lifting and carrying, physically heavy work, and previous unemployment. A healthy lifestyle was found to be linked with a lower risk of back-related disability. The study was based on a large sample of Finnish twins - using twins allows researchers to evaluate familial factors that can impact on disability risk. Researchers found that when disability risk was compared between twin pairs, low-back disability risk factors were "all "due to family background or other factors shared by co-twins." The work-related and lifestyle factors that increase risk of disability were mostly explained by familial factors, i.e.. related to genetics, environment, or both. "The effect of familial confounding highlights the importance of some early childhood factors or habits shared among family members," said Dr Annina Ropponen, Ph.D.. These factors include exercise, smoking and body weight - all influenced by family background. "This may suggest that adopting a healthy lifestyle early in life is important if one wishes to avoid disability pension."
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Changes to rules governing the NSW workers' compensation scheme will act as a disincentive to injured workers seeking to pursue a claim, Lawyers Weekly reports. The Nile Amendment, passed earlier this month, will oblige all injured workers making a claim to pay their own legal costs. Clifton Baker, lawyer and chair of the Australian Lawyers Alliance NSW Branch Regional Sub Committee, explains that in the beginning, workers' comp in NSW was set up as a "low-cost and accessible dispute resolution system." If an injured worker succeeded, the costs were met by the insurer - as it is in common law (the loser pays). "The justice in this is evident: if a party brings or defends an unmeritorious claim, then they should be responsible for the other party’s costs. As the workers’ compensation jurisdiction was designed to be remedial and beneficial to the worker, the common law rule was modified so that the worker only had to pay the employer’s costs if the claim was fraudulent or entirely without foundation." This system protected both injured workers and insurers. "Yet those sensible and rational principles were erased from the New South Wales workers’ compensation system after 25 minutes of debate in the Legislative Council," says Baker. "The implications of this, entirely ignored by the proponents of the Nile Amendment in debate, are than an injured worker will have to think long and hard about pursuing a disputed claim because of the cost implications. In the case of success, legal costs have to be paid and that will impair the effective monetary benefit of the compensation recovered. This could be a powerful deterrent to a claimant, and could be a particular issue for vulnerable claimants whose claim for psychological injury resulting from workplace bullying has been denied. It also has the potential for abuse by an insurer acting unscrupulously. If these factors arising out of the Nile Amendment deter one meritorious claim, then there has been a denial of justice."
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WorkSafe deputy chairman Paul Barker has resigned, criticising the state government for disregarding corporate governance after it intervened to appoint a new chief executive tarred by a privacy scandal, The Age reports. Mr Barker had recommended acting chief Ian Forsyth as the new WorkSafe head, however, Assistant Treasurer Gordon Rich-Phillips overruled and ordered the appointment of Denise Cosgrove. Ms Cosgrove is a general manager at New Zealand's Accident Compensation Corporation, which earlier this year was involved in a controversy involving the inadvertent emailing of over 6700 claimants' details to an unintended recipient. The ACC then offered to pay victims in return for keeping quiet on the matter. Upon investigation, Ms Cosgrove was caught providing misleading information. A joint selection committee tasked with appointing WorkSafe's new chief was split in its decision, so three additional members of the WorkSafe board interviewed Ms Cosgrove and endorsed her appointment. Mr Rich-Phillips defended the appointment, saying: "It is an appointment by the Governor in Council … and it followed a conventional process." Opposition WorkCover spokesman Robin Scott said there was a crisis at WorkCover. ''The minister … ought to come clean on why this appointment can be described in Parliament as 'an appropriate process."
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John Walsh, Managing Partner of Donaldson Walsh Lawyers has written a special report on the health of WorkCover titled: WorkCover Update 2012 - I Can Smell Smoke. Is There A Fire Or Is It Just A Slow Burn? Walsh explains WorkCover's current financial position, diminishing return to work results, and its numerous board resignations - culminating in the recent sudden resignation of Chief Executive Officer, Rob Thomson. "The sudden departure of so many senior executives in a relatively short period of time after Rob Thomson commenced at WorkCover must raise questions about the culture of the organisation," says Walsh. "To lose one senior executive in 18 months is bad luck, but to lose six is plain negligent." Walsh says this raises questions about the culture within WorkCover, and he cites a PriceWaterhouseCoopers report detailing widespread allegations of bullying and harassment. Walsh outlines deteriorating return to work rates, asking what "value" WorkCover sees in its rehabilitation contracts in light of these figures. "It is rumoured that changes are going to be introduced to promote an “outcome focused” incentive scheme for rehabilitation providers and that these changes will be based upon the Victorian system," says Walsh. WorkCover will also transition to two claims agents on 1 January, 2013. "This will all be occurring at the same time as the rumoured changes to the approach to rehabilitation are unfolding and it is the injured workers who will largely feel the brunt of any shortcomings in the process." The results of the procurement process for legal providers have also been announced, with new contracts having built-in performance based initiatives around faster dispute resolution. "It remains to be seen whether those “incentives” will have a positive impact upon Scheme performance but, based upon previous claims made by WorkCover SA when new initiatives have been introduced to “improve” scheme performance, we have reason to be sceptical!" warns Walsh. "All of these changes need to be faced by a new executive management team," says Walsh, but "There is no guarantee that the requisite talent will be attracted to South Australia."
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While WorkCover declares its financial position as "robust," former director of WorkCover, Dr Kevin Purse, quips that "nothing could be further from the truth", Adelaide Now reports. "The scheme's unfunded liability has in fact blown out to just under $1.4 billion, up from $952 million last year," says Dr Purse. "It is beyond credulity that WorkCover could describe this result as 'robust.'" Purse says WorkCover defends its poor financial results by maintaining that the figures only look bad because of a change in the way its future liabilities are calculated. Even allowing for this, Dr Purse says their unfunded liability would still exceed $1 billion. "The reality is that the draconian changes to the WorkCover legislation...have not delivered on the self-serving rhetoric that slashing workers' entitlements was the solution to the scheme's chronic underperformance," says Purse. "While many thousands of workers have suffered from compensation payment cuts of 10 per cent, 20 per cent, or more, there has been no discernible improvement in WorkCover's return-to-work rates." Indeed, in 2011-12, WorkCover's return-to-work rate fell to 77 per cent from 80 per cent in 2008-09. "At the same time as WorkCover's return-to-work performance has deteriorated, its payments to its claims agent have soared," says Purse. In the past year, agent payments rose by 36 per cent. Dr Purse also reveals that last year 20 executives received an annual remuneration of $144,000 or more, while this year that number jumped to 32. "WorkCover seems to think its recent decision to appoint an additional claims agent is a "major reform" that will improve the scheme's finances...This overlooks the dismal track record it has had with outsourcing its claims management responsibilities." WorkCover's other initiative is a new experience rating scheme. "The basic idea is that experience rating provides financial incentives, in the form of increases or decreases in premiums, which encourage employers to improve workplace health and safety and their return-to-work rates." However, Dr Purse says there's no evidence to suggest that experience rating actually works. "What is urgently needed is a new WorkCover board, one with imagination, a new sense of commitment and a clear sense of direction."
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Several former WorkSafe staff have lodged bullying claims against WorkSafe with Fair Work Australia, an ABC 7:30 story reveals. "There are pockets in WorkSafe that have got what you would describe as threatening, intimidating environments," says Clarke Martin, former middle manager at WorkSafe. "The intimidation I felt was at first subtle and unspoken, but presented itself in things like managers being moved without much discussion, senior managers starting to resign," he said. "Our direct manager, we were told, had just packed up and left the night before. So these kind of things I'd never seen before." Clarke said that he came to the point where he felt he could no longer express his opinion without expecting retribution. "He [the manager] certainly provided me with a very frank discussion on his expectations, which involved me not challenging any direction he was taking," said Clarke. "If he felt I was not following that, he would take me down." Maurice Blackburn lawyer Josh Bornstein commented on the cases: "I'm aware there's a large number of very unhappy employees and former employees of WorkSafe who have alleged there's a serious bullying problem within the organisation." He noted that WorkSafe employees has particular difficulties if they have concerns regarding bullying. "Employees of WorkSafe are in even greater difficulty because who is going to investigate the OH&S regulator?...It can hardly investigate itself."
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Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer, prompting research on the many possible forms of treatment and prevention. New research shows that one such method, Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique, has enough evidence behind its success that it should be included in private and government-sponsored health programs, Medical News Today reports. The research, paper, "Prevention and Treatment of Cardiovascular Disease in Adolescents and Adults through the Transcendental Meditation® Program: A Research Review Update" reports that TM reduced stress hormones, decreased blood pressure, cleared the arteries, reduced anxiety and depression, and reduced medical care usage and expenditures. Transcendental Meditation also decreased the risk of death from heart disease, cancer, and all causes. "These findings have important implications for inclusion of the Transcendental Meditation program in medical efforts to prevent and treat cardiovascular disease," says Dr. Vernon Barnes, lead author and research scientist at Georgia Health Sciences University, in Augusta, Georgia. "Adding Transcendental Meditation at a young age could prevent future cardiovascular disease and save many lives, not to mention reduce the national medical bill by billions of dollars."
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"Depression tops the list of health-related productivity costs in the workplace," reports Forbes. Depression can severely impact on a person's ability to function, which has obvious implications for the workplace. “Some companies will only tune into the effects of these strains when they experience negative outcomes like losing a customer or losing key talent,” says Clare Miller, Director of the Partnership for Workplace Mental Health, a program of the American Psychiatric Foundation. Miller suggests companies that learn to measure engagement and morale will be better equipped to deal with and recover from depressed employees. “Many employers understand the tremendous human and financial burden of depression, but the big challenge is getting people to reach out for help,” she added. Fran Melmed of Context Communication Consulting says the first step is telling employees that help is available, such as confidential professional counselling. “If you look at the stressors employees face, downsizings, job insecurity, economic insecurity, doing more with less, doing jobs we’re not fully trained for, etc.; emotional well-being doesn’t get the necessary attention it needs,” says Melmed. “Building employees’ capability to make smart, healthy choices about their health and healthcare can only be accomplished by committing to on-going health communications."
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A University of Michigan poll found that one-third of parents of young children report being concerned over losing their jobs or pay if they are forced to stay home to look after their ill children, Science Daily reports. Common child care centre policy prevents sick children from attending, which means working parents are often required to stay home to care for them. Almost two-thirds of survey respondents said their children could not attend child care in the last year due to sickness. Nearly half of parents said they've missed work in the last year to care for their sick kids, while one-quarter of parents missed work three or more times in a year. Almost one-third of parents reported not having enough paid leave to cover them looking after their sick children. "Improving employee benefits related to paid sick leave appears to be important for many parents," says Andrew Hashikawa, M.D., clinical lecturer in paediatric emergency medicine. "More supportive sick leave policies would allow parents to care for their sick children at home or give parents the opportunity to go to their child's usual health care provider instead of the emergency room." Matthew M. Davis M.D., M.A.P.P., director of the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health responded to the research: "We hope these latest poll results will spur national discussion about the importance of providing workers with the tools they need to be productive, but also care for their little ones when they are not feeling well."
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Recently, we've all been made aware that brain activities are important for keeping the mind active into the older years. New research, however, shows that exercise is still the best option for keeping cognitive functions intact, Time reports. Over 600 people aged 70 were surveyed on their daily exercise habits, and the frequency of mentally and socially stimulating activities. When these people turned 73, the were given an MRI, and had their brain sizes measured, with researchers noting any changes on the volume of white matter - responsible for connecting various brain regions. The study found that participants with the largest brains and least shrinkage of white matter were also the people who exercised the most. Those who reported being involved in predominantly intellectual activities didn't show the same positive results. “People in their seventies who participated in more physical exercise, including walking several times a week, had less brain shrinkage and other signs of aging in the brain than those who were less physically active,” said study author Alan J. Gow from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland in a statement. “On the other hand, our study showed no real benefit to participating in mentally and socially stimulating activities on brain size, as seen on MRI scans, over the three-year time frame.” The research supports several previous studies.
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Many people don't understand what bipolar disorder is, how it affects people and what can be done to treat it, says the American Psychological Society. Their Q&A with Dr Eric A. Youngstrom, PhD., sheds some light on this common mental health disorder. "Bipolar disorder is a condition that leads to extreme changes in mood, energy and sleep," says Dr Youngstrom, professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of North Carolina. "With all of these things, people will experience ups and downs in everyday life. What sets bipolar disorder apart is that the swings happen with more frequency and intensity than developmentally appropriate and they last much longer." These extremes can cause severe problems for sufferers. "There is no sharp dividing line that separates bipolar disorder from ordinary changes in energy and mood," says Youngstrom. "It is the combination of extremity and impairment that signals when it has become a problem." Dr Youngstrom says that while genetics plays a role in the causes of bipolar disorder, environmental factors such as stress and trauma increase the risk of developing the condition. Youngstrom says that treatment is possible and can be highly successful. "Therapy has a lot of promise as a way of preventing progression of bipolar disorder, delaying relapse and improving functioning in between episodes. Many incredibly talented and productive people have successfully dealt with bipolar disorder, so a goal of treatment should not just be symptom reduction, but helping the person to make the most of their gifts and abilities."
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A key figure linked with one of New Zealand's biggest privacy breeches has been appointed as Chief Executive of WorkSafe Victoria, The Age reports. Denise Cosgrove, a general manager at New Zealand’s Accident Compensation Corporation, will take up her position at WorkSafe next month after being appointed by the Baillieu Government. The ACC, responsible for administering New Zealand's injury compensation scheme, recently came under fire for emailing the details of 6700 claimants - including those on the sensitive clients list - to an individual who should not have received them. The ACC offered to pay victims if they agreed to keep quiet, and Ms Cosgrove was accused of providing misleading information. Cosgrove was also criticised for suggesting cutting long-term clients from the books, describing them as "low-hanging fruit." New Zealand Greens MP Kevin Hague warned Australians about the appointment. ‘‘The way she has gone about her task is cutting entitlements and reducing costs," he said. Opposition WorkCover spokesman Robin Scott also voiced concern. ‘‘The opposition is very concerned that someone linked to a major privacy breach in New Zealand has been appointed to head a major government body," he said.
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Rejection by the boss may have a direct impact on a worker's immune system, leading to serious health problems, Medical News Today reports. In a new study published in Clinical Psychological Science, researchers found that stressors that threaten our social standing, such as 'targeted rejection' appear to be particularly bad for our health. Targeted rejection can include malicious behaviour such as bullying or ostracism, but can also include normal aspects of life including being fired from a job or experiencing a relationship breakup. "Targeted rejection is central to some of life's most distressing experiences - things like getting broken up with, getting fired, and being excluded from your peer group at school," said researcher Michael Murphy. The study followed 147 healthy adolescent women for 2.5 years and found that exposure to targeted rejection increased expression of inflammatory signalling molecules. This effect was especially pronounced in individuals who perceived their social status as higher. "Murphy and colleagues speculate that this inflammatory response might be adaptive for individuals at the top of a social hierarchy, giving them a survival advantage," reported Medical News Today. "The researchers note, however, that an overly productive immune response can be harmful to mental and physical health in the long run."
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Over three-quarters of people suffering from depression report experiencing discrimination, Psych Central reports. Researchers at King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry interviewed over 1,000 people being treated for depression in 35 different countries, to gauge their experiences of discrimination. Over one-third of respondents said they'd been 'avoided' or 'shunned' by other people because of their condition. Seventy-nine per cent reported experiencing discrimination in at least one area of their life. A quarter of people surveyed said they did not apply for work because of an expectation they would experience discrimination, and almost half reported anticipating discrimination in finding or keeping a job. Yet, researchers found that peoples' experiences did not necessarily confirm this. Because 71 per cent of depression sufferers said they actively wished to keep their depression a secret from others, researchers said they were less likely to receive proper treatment and their condition could become chronic. “Previous work in this area has tended to focus on public attitudes towards stigma based on questions about hypothetical situations, but ours is the first study to investigate the actual experiences of discrimination in a large, global sample of people with depression,” said Dr. Graham Thornicroft. “Our findings show that discrimination related to depression is widespread, and almost certainly acts as a barrier to an active social life and having a fair chance to get and keep a job for people with depression.”
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People working in creative industries are more frequently diagnosed and treated for mental illness compared with the general population, Medical News Today reports. New research from Sweden found that bipolar disorder and schizophrenia are more prevalent in families consisting of artists and scientists. The research is the most extensive on the subject to date, examining nearly 1.2 million patients and family members. Bipolar disorder was found to be more common in people with artistic or scientific jobs, including researchers, dancers, photographers and authors. Other mental health conditions including depression, anxiety, schizophrenia and substance abuse were more prevalent among authors in particular, who also had a 50% higher chance of committing suicide compared to the general public. "If one takes the view that certain phenomena associated with the patient's illness are beneficial, it opens the way for a new approach to treatment," said researchers. "In that case, the doctor and patient must come to an agreement on what is to be treated, and at what cost. In psychiatry and medicine generally there has been a tradition to see the disease in black-and-white terms and to endeavour to treat the patient by removing everything regarded as morbid." There has long been a link between mental illness and creativity: Charles Dickens and Winston Churchill both suffered from clinical depression, as does contemporary author and actor Stephen Fry.
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Sports psychologist Michael Gervais trains elite athletes to perform optimally during high-stress situations, CNN reports. Gervais told CNN writer Amanda Enayati that while working with athletes from the NFL, NBA, Olympians, golfers and others, he incorporates mindfulness, presence, meditation, deep breathing and neurofeedback techniques. In the latter, athletes are hooked up to electrodes and establish their baseline qEEG: a quantitative electroencephalogram. This is then used to create a map of their brain. Psychologists then take athletes through neurofeedback sessions, where athletes are taught to control their stress responses in activities similar to video games, controlled by the mind. "The training is meant to teach athletes how to respond quickly to stressor stimuli, how to focus during stressful situations, how to recover from errors and finally how to shut down and still their minds when it's all over," writes Enayati. "Originally developed as a technique to measure brain activity in NASA pilots during flight simulation exercises, neurofeedback has shown promising initial results for helping retrain the brainwaves of children with ADHD and autism and people suffering from chronic migraines. In one study, student eye surgeons were trained to significantly improve their surgical skills by regulating their own brainwave activity." Enayati writes that technology is an inevitable part of our lives, so we need to use its advances to our advantage.
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Workers are more likely to have success quitting smoking when they are placed in a team with others and given financial incentives to remain abstinent, Science Daily reports. Researchers developed a year-long program that grouped workers who wanted to quit smoking into different teams. When workers remained smoke-free, the team they belonged to received a financial incentive - around $45 for each participant at one week, and then one month. If workers remained abstinent for a longer period of time, their team was given around $90 for each successful participant at 3 months, and again at 6 months. "In terms of efficacy, the abstinence rates were relatively high for a prolonged period in the team-based approach compared with those previously reported," said Sang Haak Lee. "We postulated that team-based intervention not only encouraged participants' motivation to quit smoking within the workplace, but also potentiated maintenance to stay abstinent due to peer pressure and peer support...Many employees spend the majority of their day in a workplace environment, and the workplace has a number of advantages for smoking cessation intervention," he added.
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The novelty of business travel wears off quickly and can lead to serious health conditions, Reuters reports. A study by a travel company examined data from 6,000 travellers and found that frequent business travellers especially suffer from stress, having an average of 'four stress points' greater than infrequent travellers. The main causes of stress for regular business travellers include flight delays, lost time, luggage loss and broken routines. Researchers say that regular business travellers often don't have enough time to recover from their stressful schedule before they're back in the air again. "When people are travelling, it's not just about bags and all the rest of it - it's about the whole process: Separation from your family for a period of time; the hassle of the airport; travelling ‘cattle class'; problems with hotels - it does accumulate up," said Cary L. Cooper. "If I was looking at the impact of travel on my team of marketing people, I would also look at their sickness absence rates in contrast with others in different functions; their turnover rate; their performance appraisal compared to others."
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Safe Work Week, from Monday 22 to Friday 26 October 2012, is the opportunity for South Australians to learn more about improving work health and safety outcomes with more than 80 free information sessions available for people to attend. The free workshops will provide ‘how to’ information across a broad range of workplace health and safety topics. “This year we have more speakers and information sessions due to the continued interest and success of South Australia’s major workplace health and safety event,” said Tom Phillips, Presiding Member of the SafeWork SA Advisory Committee. “There is something for everyone with sessions about workplace bullying, noise protection, the challenges associated with an ageing workforce, conveyor safety to risk management and more. A number of sessions this year will also explain the proposed Work Health and Safety laws, already in place in several other states and currently before the South Australian Parliament. “This week-long event is part of the national focus on work safety encouraging people to get involved, concentrate on safety and take responsibility in their workplace to help reduce injury, death and disease. "Education is key to improving our work safety status,” Mr Phillips said. The week concludes with the presentation of the Safe Work Awards at the Adelaide Convention Centre on Friday, 26 October 2012. Book online at www.safework.sa.gov.au/sw2012
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Researchers at the Wayne State University School of Medicine may have discovered the 'missing link' between people's exposure to war and their increased likelihood of developing chronic problems like heart disease, Science Daily reports. The study followed American immigrants who left Iraq either before of after the beginning of the Gulf War. People who left Iraq after the war began and consequently suffered from mental disorders (post-traumatic stress disorder and depression) and who self-rated their physical health as worse than their actual health, were 43 times more likely than pre-Gulf War immigrants to report obstructive sleep apnea (30.2 per cent vs. 0.7 per cent) and later develop major chronic health issues like cardiovascular disease. "I was surprised, but we had a specific theory we wanted to test. Changes in the stress system would contribute to sleep apnea. What happens? Maybe it's the stress that leads to this fractured sleep," said Bengt Arnetz, the study's lead author. "It's a known fact that the more exposure to violence you have, the more likely you are to report PTSD and depression, and the worse your self-rated health is, the more likely your actual health will suffer in five to 10 years," she said.
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Joseph Mazer, assistant professor from the Department of Communication Studies at Clemson University, is investigating whether too much internet use can cause depression, Medical News Today. His research has found that when someone cannot control the amount of time they spend online, they may develop loneliness, depression and they may spend less time communicating in person with others. The researchers discovered that when an individual was more inclined to share personal information on the internet, especially through 'social connection', they were more likely to be compulsive internet users. "Compulsive Internet use (CIU) is a person's incapability to reduce their time spent online, or to stop all together," reports MNT. "Basically, Mazer and Ledbetter believe that anxiety promotes CIU, whereas efficiency seems to stimulate EIU," - Excessive Internet Use, whereby users lose track of how much time they have spent online. It's reported that CIU results in poorer wellbeing, while EIU does not.
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The Guardian warns that while 'pulling an all-nighter' or 'cramming' is sometimes a part of life, "frequent sleep deprivation over four years can have drastic long-term consequences, unleashing a neurological cycle of degeneration." Susan Redline, professor of sleep medicine, has found links between sleep deprivation and anxiety and depression, as well as heart disease and cancer. In the short-term, sleep deprivation may seem to offer some benefits, but these are soon outweighed. "The higher dopamine levels that result from your sleepless night may mean you enjoy a boost in motivation, positivity, even sex drive," reports The Guardian. "You may think that sounds good; unfortunately you'd be wrong. Not only are these feelings brief, but the dopamine surge also encourages addiction and impulsive behaviour." Researchers also suggest not taking an all-nighter before an exam or important day: "Last-minute cramming refuses to sink in, because the consolidation of memories occurs during deep sleep. Not only that, but all-nighters actually weaken the coupling between the structures responsible for episodic memory, meaning that when you try to recall specific events, the circuitry simply isn't up to it."
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Over 350 million people around the world suffer from depression, Medical News Today reports. According to researchers, it is a myth that depression predominantly affects Western societies. Depression is caused by a complex combination of biological, psychological and social factors, and can be an extremely debilitating illness. Sometimes, depression is triggered by life circumstances such as unemployment, war or the death of a loved one. Depression can lead people to committing suicide; nearly one million people commit suicide annually, many of whom were suffering from depression at the time of their death. Fortunately, depression is a treatable illness. Treatments can involve psychotherapy or medication, or a combination of both. For treatment to be effective, the sufferer has to recognise their depression and begin treatment immediately. "We have some highly effective treatments for depression," said Dr Shekhar Saxena, Director of the Department for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, USA. "Unfortunately, fewer than half of the people who have depression receive the care they need. In fact in many countries this is less than 10%. This is why WHO is supporting countries in fighting stigma as a key activity to increasing access to treatment."
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Allowing employees to work flexible hours improves efficiency, innovation and performance, says the Australian Institute of Management. HR Daily reports on new research that shows only 41 per cent of Australian professionals used more than 75 per cent of their annual leave in 2010. This is due to “feeling pressured, either by their employer or their own work ethic, to get all their work done or feeling guilty about going on holiday and leaving work for someone else to do." However, AIM suggests that the idea of the "perfect worker" no longer fits within current society, so employers should encourage workers to take their leave entitlements and have access to flexible working arrangements. Research also shows that a large percentage of job seekers attribute their need for a new role to seeking a better work/life balance, away from the inflexibility of the typical corporate world.
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The stigma of mental illness can have a greater impact on someone's employment status than having a physical disability or illness, Medical News Today reports. A study by Australian researchers found that the main barrier to employment for the estimated one in five of adults suffering from mental health issues is stigma. Not-for-profit Wise Employment commissioned the study, highlighting the fact that most employers with five or more workers were already likely to have employees with some kind of mental illness. Wise says that these people are often more than capable of doing their jobs well, and may indeed be the best people for the job in some cases. Spokesman Matthew Lambelle reiterated that mental illness is not linked with job performance. In a recent survey, 72 per cent of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) had either a very positive or positive experience after taking on a person with a mental illness. "A critical part of reducing stigma to support those with a mental illness (and their carers); is public awareness and an understanding that mental illness, like mental health, is part of the human condition," said Mental Health Week, Australia.
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BBC News has a video exploring the potential risks of RSI posed by our growing dependence on laptops, tablets and smartphones. "As we're increasingly using tablets and smartphones for, well, pretty much everything, we're spending a lot of time both typing and reading on them using a few very specific actions many times," reports Lara Lewington. The video explains the growing ergonomic risks associated with this extended device use, including "Blackberry thumb" and "iPad shoulder," and offers advice on improving posture, stretches, and ergonomic products that may also help.
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UK GPs are failing to diagnose 75 per cent of people suffering from occupational asthma, Medical News Today reports. A report published in Occupational Medicine found that while up to 3,000 people develop asthma from exposure to certain materials at work, GPs weren't adequately recognising and diagnosing this. A wide range of materials can cause occupational asthma including chemicals, flour, cutting oils, laboratory animals and insects, enzymes and wood dusts. If occupational asthma is diagnosed early, avoidance of trigger materials can lead to a complete recovery. However, failure to diagnose and treat the condition is so common that two-thirds of sufferers never make a complete recovery. "Most workers with new asthma symptoms present to their GPs first, so it is important for health care professionals working in primary care to recognize when these symptoms might be caused by or related to work," said Dr Gareth Walters. "Currently occupational asthma is very costly to the NHS and to society - and an early diagnosis can prevent on-going debilitating symptoms, time off work and financial loss for the worker." Dr Richard Heron, President of the Society of Occupational Medicine, added: "Highlighting the prevalence of occupational asthma is absolutely key, as too often work-related factors are overlooked," he said. "About 70% of the UK workforce does not have access to occupational health care. This makes it vital that general practitioners are assessing asthma patients for potential work-related causes and referring to specialists where appropriate. More importantly, employers need to be aware of those substances that may cause asthma and where possible remove them or minimise exposure."
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ACC’s General Manager of Claims Management, Denise Cosgrove, has been appointed as Chief Executive of WorkSafe Victoria based in Melbourne, Australia. The Chief Executive of ACC, Ralph Stewart, said Ms Cosgrove would leave in November after six and a half years with the Corporation. “This is a fantastic opportunity for Denise. It is a clear testament to the significant contribution she has made during her time here at ACC,” said Mr Stewart. “We are sad to see Denise leave the Corporation but proud that her achievements have been acknowledged by her appointment to the WorkSafe Victoria role.” The Assistant Treasurer and Minister for WorkSafe, Gordon Rich-Phillips, said that Denise Cosgrove’s appointment followed an extensive international search and interview process.
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Cognitive therapy conducted over the phone is just as effective as therapy conducted face-to-face, Medical News Today reports. New research from the University of Cambridge used data from 39,000 patients undergoing talking Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) over the phone. The study found that over the phone therapy increases access to psychological therapies for people with common mental disorders, with the cost per session 36.2 per cent lower (for all except a group with more severe illness) than face-to-face therapy. "Providing therapy over the phone will not only help individuals gain much-needed access to mental health treatment, it will provide a more cost effective way of providing these services at a time when everyone is concerned about cutting costs," said Professor Peter Jones.
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People in top leadership positions may have more responsibility, but they generally have lower stress levels, Wall Street Journal reports. A new report from Harvard University, University of California, San Diego and Stanford University found that people in leadership roles have lower levels of cortisol - commonly known as the 'stress hormone.' Leaders also had lower self-reported levels of anxiety compared with others in non-managerial roles. Perhaps counter-intuitively, this effect becomes more pronounced as we look up the corporate ladder. Staff with even more subordinates and self-reported authority report being even less stressed than their middle-management counterparts. This is due to a higher level of control, or "psychological resources" held by those higher up the corporate ladder. In a study of 216 participants, mostly from government and military sectors, researchers found lower levels of cortisol and anxiety among people in management positions compared with non-leaders. This is even after researchers controlled for gender, age, education, income and job tenure. Researchers explained that those in middle-management may still have heightened stress levels “largely attributable to the fact that managing many people was not associated with a heightened sense of control.”
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Employer-funded workplace health and wellness programs are good for the bottom-line, according to a study by the US National Small Business Association and Humana, Fox News reports. In the survey of over 1,000 small business owners titled Workplace Wellness Programs in Small Business: Impacting the Bottom Line, 75 per cent of small businesses offering workplace wellbeing programs perceived financial benefits of implementing the programs. Ninety-three per cent of businesses believed that the mental and physical wellbeing of their employees' is relevant to financial results, yet only one-third of respondents felt confident they could help employees manage their health. Newer companies were the most likely to have adopted health and wellbeing programs, with over one-third having already done so. Sixty-five per cent of startups believed health and wellbeing programs are worth the investment, while half also said the programs aid in recruitment and retaining staff. Stress is a major concern for smaller businesses, which triples other health worries. Over half of respondents revealed they felt they had insufficient information available to them to implement a wellbeing program at their workplace.
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Despite an increasing body of evidence advising the 'hands off' approach to treating low-back pain, the incidence of costly medical investigations and surgeries continues to rise, Medical News Today reports. Over 25 per cent of the US population reported at least one episode of low-back pain in the last three months, totaling US$100 billion in attributed costs. A study published in the Journal of the American College of Radiology argues that for most patients with low-back pain, high-tech medical images and back surgeries don't improve health outcomes. "For the great majority of patients, you watch them closely for a month, use conservative measures and they tend to do a lot better at significantly less cost," said Dr. Scott E. Forseen, the study's corresponding author. "Studies also show that once you seek imaging, such as a magnetic resonance study, you are more likely to also seek some type of surgical intervention." Researchers compiled a set of guidelines for treating low-back pain that are intended as 'decision support tools' that electronically remind doctors of the best practice for certain cases. "A physician wants to order a lumbar MRI for a patient with low-back pain and the electronic medical record will respond: Please note that for nonspecific low-back pain conservative measures and no image are recommended," said Forseen. "These are expensive exams. It's one thing to do an expensive exam that might change your life, but the data does not show that imaging early affects the outcome for the majority of these patients. However, it does dramatically affect the cost."
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A survey of over 500 hiring managers found that the majority are three times more likely to hire a mature worker than a Millennial (also known as Gen Y), Aging workforce reports. Further, 91 per cent of hiring managers reported viewing mature workers as reliable, while 88 per cent considered them professional. Despite 39 per cent of hiring managers not stating any challenges in hiring mature workers, 39 per cent said the greatest challenge was mature workers' difficulty in learning and adapting to new technology - compared to 27 per cent of Millennials. As for the interview process, 51 per cent of hiring managers reported mature interviewees' biggest mistake as "high salary/compensation demands," and 48 per cent citing "overconfidence in their abilities and experience.” Millennials' greatest mistake was “wearing inappropriate interview attire” (according to 75 per cent of hiring managers) and “posting potentially compromising content on social media channels” (70 per cent).
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We hear it a lot: exercise is good for mental health. But why is it so? Medical News Today investigates. "A new article in Clinical Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, explores whether certain psychosocial factors may help to explain the benefits of daily physical activity for adolescents' mental health," reports MNT. A study of over 7,000 Dutch students suggests that a number of psychosocial factors, including body image and social interaction, may explain the connection between physical activity and mental health - though the physiological effects of exercise are also significant. "We think that these findings are important for policymakers and anyone who works in healthcare or prevention. Our findings indicate that physical activity may be one effective tool for the prevention of mental health problems in adolescence," said Karin Monshouwer of the Trimbos Institute in the Netherlands.
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Juggling work and family life may increase your risk of suffering from musculoskeletal pain, Science Daily reports. In a study of health care workers, The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services found that the higher the level of work-family conflict, the greater the risk that employees will suffer from neck and other types of musculoskeletal pain. "Work-family conflict can be distracting and stressful for hospital employees," said Seung-Sup Kim, lead author of the study. "Hospitals that adopt policies to reduce the juggling act might gain a host of benefits including a more productive workforce, one that is not slowed down by chronic aches and pains." 1,199 health care workers were asked whether they agreed with a range of statements such as: "The amount of time my job takes up makes it difficult to fulfil family or personal responsibilities" and, "My job produces strain that makes it difficult to fulfil my family or personal responsibilities." Nurses and other employees who reported high conflict between their work and home lives had a two times greater chance of suffering from neck or shoulder pain in the last three months. Workers with the highest conflict had almost three times greater risk of reporting arm pain.
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The ACTU alleges that Australian employers are increasingly attending employees' doctor appointments with the intention of altering medical certificates to hasten return to work, The Age reports. "The treatment of ill and injured workers is a growing concern," said ACTU assistant secretary Michael Borowick. "Employers, insurers and employer representatives are increasingly attending actual medical appointments with injured workers and, in some cases, forcing workers to attend company doctors," he said. "We've also had reports of doctors being pressured to change medical certificates and return-to-work plans." AMA president Steve Hambleton said this marked a move towards ''coercion instead of communication'' by employers dealing with work claims. "We are also seeing a disturbing misuse of their personal medical information by employers and third parties,'' he said. ''Individual companies need to know that intruding on patients' privacy is not acceptable," said Dr Hambleton, and there is ''a difference between providing information and manipulating an outcome."
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A recent American Psychological Society poll found that almost a quarter of American workers reported feeling under "extreme stress," Huffington Post reports. While brief periods of tension are credited with heightening physical response in situations like sport or business meetings, it's clear that excessive or chronic stress is bad for us. When stress begins to dominate our lives, "the body's delicate feedback system starts to malfunction," said David Spiegel, director of the Center on Stress and Health at Stanford University. Stress plays a role in so many diseases that it is likely to account for more than half of all healthcare-related expenses, reveals George Chrousos, scientist at the National Institutes of Health. But how to beat the pervasive stress of modern life? "FACE," says Spiegel. Huffington Post explains: "In short: Face or acknowledge stressors rather than running away from them; Alter perceptions to view these challenges in a more positive way, such as through cognitive therapy, hypnosis, or mindfulness training; Cope actively, by proactively heading off future stressors when possible; and Express your emotions rather than holding them in."
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Moving to a neighbourhood with less poverty improves the long-term physical and mental health of low-income adults, Medical News Today reports. Even though the move wouldn't necessarily improve economic self-sufficiency, relocating from a high-poverty neighbourhood to a lower poverty one also increases happiness levels. Research published in Science by researchers at the University of Chicago found that moving from a high-poverty neighbourhood to one with a poverty rate of at least 13 percentage points lower, increased the happiness of low-income adults by an amount equivalent to a $13,000 rise in family income. "These findings suggest the importance of focusing on efforts to improve the well-being of poor families, rather than just the narrower goal of reducing income poverty, and the potential value of community-level interventions for achieving that end," said lead author Jens Ludwig, the McCormick Foundation Professor of Social Service Administration, Law and Public Policy at UChicago and director of the University of Chicago Crime Lab.
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One in 10 European workers have had a work absence due to depression, Belfast Telegraph reports. A survey of over 7,000 people in Europe also found that one in four people don't tell their employer about their condition. The Impact of Depression in the Workplace in Europe Audit also found that one third of employers say they have no formal advice or resources to deal with depressed workers. The survey's authors, the European Depression Association, suggested that managers need better support to help employees. "The results of the survey show that much needs to be done in raising awareness and supporting employees and employers in recognising and managing depression in the workplace," said Dr Vincenzo Costigliola, president of the association. "We ask policymakers to consider the impact of depression on the workforce and charge them with addressing depression and workers and workplace safety."
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Long-distance commuters have a 40 per cent increased risk of separating from their partners, Independent reports. New research from Sweden followed the lives of two million people who were either married or cohabiting. Researcher Erika Sandow found that while those willing to commute were likely to benefit from increased income and career development, this came at the cost of their personal relationships. "Commuting requires physical and mental energy, which may generate stress and reduced quality of health, which can spill over into family life," said Sandow. A long commute was defined in this research as 30km each way. For commuters living in a rural area, the negative outcomes were even more apparent. "For those long-distance commuting and living in a rural area there is a high risk for both women and men that the relationship will end within five years," said Sandow. "It would appear many workers accept jobs that they may have not considered in the past, with their additional demands and sacrifices, due to financial need," said Sandow. "So although the job may seem like the ideal solution at that time, they may not fully appreciate the practical impact of this until they have lived it for a while." She concluded that "we find that the pressures and stress from work life are brought into the home and transferred to the relationships there -- either consciously or unconsciously."
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Rosemary McKenzie-Ferguson has been instrumental in supporting and advocating for South Australia's injured workers. After many years of work, the Work Injured Resource Connection Centre opens this Friday 28th September from 5.30 to 8.30pm at 118 Sampson Road, Elizabeth Grove, SA. "Over many years I have spoken of the need for injured workers to have a Centre, a place that they can gain all the support they need or just have a place to go for a cup of coffee and to sit and read a book as they regain their lives or remain on track or just learn some new skills or re-discover the old skills," said McKenzie-Ferguson. She said the new centre will also help employers engage with injured workers, "to learn that there really is not anything that given the right support that injured workers cannot do or achieve." Please note, the centre is a drug and alcohol dry zone. Please RSVP to (08) 8410 0121 or email: wirc@bold.net.au
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Public service workers are taking an average of a year to recover from mental health problems, Courier Mail reports. A review ordered by Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten found that mental stress comprises 12 per cent of all Comcare compensation claims, but accounts for a third of total costs. The report also found that many of the 20 government agencies and 200 public agencies using Comcare are failing to take appropriate suitable employment for injured workers. "As a result, employees with a capacity to work remain on incapacity benefits for longer than necessary," said the report. "This is especially a problem in the case of employees with mental stress claims." The average cost of a mental stress claim was shown in Comcare's latest performance statistics to be $200,000. "The rehabilitation provisions could be updated to create an environment which emphasises the successful return to work of injured employees," concluded the report. "The focus should be on the wellness of employees, rather than their incapacity."
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September marks the start of spring, with new research revealing this is the month when Australians’ vitamin D levels are at their lowest ebb. The University of Sydney study also shows vitamin D deficiency affects more Australians and lasts longer than previously believed. “Our results suggest that the current guidelines for both vitamin D testing and the use of supplements need to be reviewed,” said Professor Steven Boyages from Sydney Medical School. Professor Boyages and his PhD student Kellie Bilinski recently published their findings in Clinical Endocrinology. “This is the largest ongoing Australian study on vitamin D deficiency ever undertaken,” said. Professor Boyages. “Vitamin D deficiency is implicated in a number of serious diseases including diabetes and cancer so improving our understanding is critical. “The fact that the government-subsidised cost of testing for deficiency was $96.7 million in 2010 and rising is another reason better knowledge is important...Our study indicates that large segments of the Australian population are at risk of deficiency for prolonged periods of the year, particularly during autumn to the end of spring. The prevalence of deficiency was higher and more persistent than previously reported, ranging from 33 percent in summer to 58 percent in spring."
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Managers can set the tone of the workplace throughout the day, Smart Company reports. "The trick is start each day fresh -- no matter what happened the day before. It's to be optimistic, positive and ready to calmly hose down the spot fires that flare up." Here are ten tips (details in the linked article): 1) Greet individual staff. 2) Deal with signs of stress immediately. 3) Communicate well by keeping staff informed. 4) Delegate with consistency. 5) Pay attention when staff communicate with you. 6) Fake your energy. 7) Recharge your batteries. 8) Take time to eat lunch. 9) Tell staff to eat lunch too. 10) Look after yourself and remember to talk to others from outside of the workplace about how you're feeling.
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When workplace bullying isn't dealt with, it can cause low productivity, absenteeism and physical illness, which all malign a company's brand, goodwill and bottom-line, Sydney Morning Herald reports. “If you have 100 employees, and a quarter are exposed to bullying type of behaviour each year, it's going to affect the bottom line. These people don't work productively; they're scared and consumed with thinking how evil the bully is," said conflict resolution consultant Joe Moore of Kimber Moore and Associates. A key reason why more employees don't speak out is because of job insecurity. Psychologist Brad Dolph of RightPeople said employers need to make an effort to not hire bullies. “Everyone puts their best foot forward at an interview, and these individuals can be quite charismatic during the interview process,” he said. “We employ tools such as risk management assessments which have been specifically designed to show up overly aggressive and bullying style attitudes." One such tool can be used during the recruitment process. “Ask them how they would handle a particular work situation and watch their response. Tell them, if I were to ring your ex-workers what would they say about the way you performed under stress and how you worked with your colleagues?" said Dolph.
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The arguments for teleworking (remote working or working from home) include increased productivity, no commute time, and more control and flexibility. Research supports the effectiveness of teleworking, but there are downsides too, reports BBC News. Some people argue that teleworking blurs the line between work and family life in this "always on" digital era, which increases psychological strain. One study found that over a quarter of respondents reported working 15 to 20 hours extra per week largely because technology allowed them to do so. Researchers reported that this is a trend "likely to have significant repercussions for work-life balance and employee well-being." Dr Carolyn Axtell, senior lecturer at Sheffield University's Institute of Work Psychology and Management, said "there is a fine balance between reaping the benefits of greater flexibility and control over when and where a person works versus working longer hours that may encroach detrimentally on personal life...However, when the balance is struck well - mobile workers can achieve a better work-life balance, feel a greater sense of control and well-being, and be more efficient and productive."
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An increasing number of people are having trouble getting to sleep, but there are ways to solve this problem, CNN reports. Not getting enough sleep can lead to depression, high blood pressure, heart disease, weight gain and diabetes. "We now know that many health issues, including sleep disturbance, are related to anxiety," notes Robin Haight, a clinical psychologist in Tyson's Corner, Virginia. For people having trouble falling asleep, researchers suggest fitting-in exercise whenever possible. Limiting the amount of light in the house in the evening can also help people get to sleep; even the lightbulb type can affect sleep. "Cold, harsh white light contains a significant blue component, which is most likely to interfere with sleep onset," says Michael Terman, an expert on light and biological rhythms. Ditch TV and computer screens for the hour before bedtime - or if you can't, at least turn down the screen brightness. Follow the link in this article headline for more tips on getting to sleep and staying asleep.
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Depression is one of the leading causes of missed work, leading to 200 million lost workdays in the U.S. annually, SCOPE reports, costing employers $17-44 billion. But depression isn't the only common mental health disorder that impacts on work absence: a recent six-year study of 13,436 participants found that depression and anxiety were predictors of sick leave. "Anxiety alone is a stronger risk factor for prolonged and frequent sick leave than depression alone. Further, anxiety seems to be a relatively stable risk factor for sick leave, as we found an increased risk of sickness absence up to six years after the anxiety level was assessed,” says Ann Kristin Knudsen, lead author of the study. "Most clinicians are aware of the role depression can play in precipitating and perpetuating sickness absence. However, the results presented in this study suggest anxiety may be even more important… Further work is needed in understanding how health professionals dealing with sickness absence can best identify anxiety and other [depression] symptoms and prevent further prolongations or recurrence of any sickness absence episode."
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Thirty-six per cent of Victorian public servants have witnessed bullying in the past year, according to a new survey, The Age reports. The "highly reliable" state government survey of 62,000 public sector employees also revealed that 20 per cent of respondents had directly experienced bullying, yet only 3 per cent had submitted a formal complaint. While new anti workplace bullying legislation was passed last year, Labour spokesman Martin Pakula said the Government needs to "clean up it's own backyard." Karen Batt, the Community and Public Sector Union's Victorian secretary warned that a bullying culture was emerging in parts of the Victorian public sector under severe stress. ''Couple that with redundancies and the non-replacement of contract staff and the pressure in these areas is immense,'' she said. While a Senate inquiry is currently underway to gauge the extent of workplace bullying in Australian workplaces, the Productivity Commission estimates the annual costs of workplace bullying to the Australian economy as at least $6 billion.
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The annual costs of chronic pain in the United States eclipse those for cancer, heart disease and diabetes, coming in at $635 billion, Science Daily reports. The costs were estimated by assessing incremental costs of health care due to pain, as well as the costs of pain from the lowered productivity of sufferers. The study, conducted by health economists from Johns Hopkins University and published in The Journal of Pain, analysed a sample of 20,214 persons with pain - defined as "those who have pain that limits their ability to work, are diagnosed with joint pain or arthritis, or have a disability that limits capacity for work." People with pain reported missing more work days than people without pain. Pain was found to negatively impact on three components of productivity: work days missed, number of annual hours worked, and hourly wages. Total incremental costs of health care due to pain ranged from $261 to $300 billion (USD), while the value of lost productivity ranged from $299 to $334 billion. Compared with other major diseases, the per-person cost of chronic pain is lower, but the total cost is higher.
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A study of over 7,000 people found that those who believed their life can be changed by their own actions ate healthier food, exercised more, smoked less and avoided binge drinking, Science Alert reports. Conversely, those who had a greater belief in "luck" or "fate" were more likely to be unhealthy. “Our research shows a direct link between the type of personality a person has and a healthy lifestyle,“ said Professor Deborah Cobb-Clark, Director of the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research. “The main policy response to the obesity epidemic has been the provision of better information, but information alone is insufficient to change people’s eating habits,” she said. "Understanding the psychological underpinning of a person’s eating patterns and exercise habits is central to understanding obesity.” The study also identified differences between gender on the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. Men were more likely to want physical results from leading a healthy lifestyle, while women were more open to the everyday enjoyment of leading a healthy lifestyle. “Gender specific policy initiatives which respond to these objectives may be particularly helpful in promoting healthy lifestyles," said Professor Cobb-Clarke.
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The UK has implemented a new "happiness index," aimed at ranking wellbeing as a priority - similar to the index for GDP (gross domestic product), the Telegraph reports. New research, however, suggests that a constant focus on seeking positive emotions can make people more miserable. "There is plenty of work showing that pursuing happiness as a goal is counter-productive because when we fail to achieve our goals we feel disappointed and this serves to push the goal further away," said Dr Brock Bastian from the University of Queensland. "In short, when people perceive that others think they should feel happy, and not sad, this leads them to feel sad more frequently and intensely. Government campaigns focusing on happiness need to acknowledge that true happiness is actually found in a mixture of positive and negative emotion." Dr Bastian said that "experiencing negative emotions is a fundamental aspect of human nature," warning that social pressure to constantly be happy can "ironically aggravate those same emotions that are deemed to be socially undesirable or unacceptable."
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Are some people "naturally" more resilient in the face of adversity than others? Steven M. Southwick has been researching resilience and "the profound negative psychological, social, and neurobiological impact of traumas," wondering why some people seem to "bounce back" more easily, Huffington Post reports. "Resilience" is defined by the American Psychological Society as "the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or even significant sources of threat." When Southwick set out with his research, he assumed resilience was rare, or that resilient people were genetically gifted. What he found is that resilience is common and can be learned by everyone. "The key involves knowing how to harness stress and use it to our advantage," he says. "After all, stress is necessary for growth. Without it the mind and body weaken and atrophy." Southwick cites two examples of his research that indicate people can learn to adapt and respond better to stress. "As scientists learn more about the complex interplay of genetics, development, cognition, environment, and neurobiology, it will be possible to develop behavioral, social and pharmacological interventions and training programs to enhance resilience to stress."
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Cathryn Kemp was prescribed opiate painkillers to help her manage chronic pain caused by pancreatitis and fibromyalgia, but she "gradually descended into full-blown dependency," Kemp writes for the Guardian. Her revelation came after years of taking opiate lozenges - reportedly 100 times stronger than heroin - when her GP told her, "you are a drug addict." Coping with pain levels was was a constant battle, which led Cathryn to consider suicide. "The pain relief I had been prescribed was the only thing keeping me sane and alive – or so I thought," she said. Over a number of years, Cathryn progressed from what was prescribed as a "maximum" of eight lozenges per day, to over 50 "simply to keep [the] withdrawal symptoms at bay." She described her life as a "circle of fear and shame. I would collect my prescription, binge on drugs, go to my doctor and cry, then collect the next prescription. I hid away in my house, too ashamed to tell my boyfriend and family that I needed help." For a while, Kemp was "pleading, manipulating and lying, to get an increased dose." Finally, Kemp went to rehab and weaned herself off the painkillers. Her story is a warning for those using strong painkillers for chronic pain. "These days I balk at taking paracetamol for a cold," says Kemp. "I still live with pain and try to deal with it through tai-chi, breathing exercises – anything but painkillers. And with a new sense of self-respect."
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Having a highly demanding job and little control over it can increase your risk of death from heart-related problems, BBC News reports. Researchers analysed 13 studies of nearly 200,000 people to find that job strain was linked to a 23 per cent raised risk of heart attacks and deaths from heart disease. Workers were asked whether they had excessive workloads or not enough time to get their work done, and whether they believed they had freedom in their role. The study found that by eliminating job strain, 3.4 per cent of people would avoid experiencing a first coronary heart disease event, such as a heart attack. This compares with a possible 36 per cent reduction if people stopped smoking. "We know that being under stress at work, and being unable to change the situation, could increase your risk of developing heart disease," said Professor Peter Weissberg. "Though stresses at work may be unavoidable, how you deal with these pressures is important...Eating a balanced diet, taking regular exercise and quitting smoking will more than offset any risk associated with your job."
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On the eve of the anniversary of the September 11 World Trade Center attacks, the US federal government has added around 50 types of cancer to the list of illnesses that will be compensated for in a program to pay for health coverage, AAP reports. "The publication of this final rule marks an important step in the effort to provide needed treatment and care to 9/11 responders and survivors through the WTC Health Program," said NIOSH director Dr. John Howard. The move comes after years of lobbying by emergency workers, construction workers, cleaners and others reportedly suffering a range of illnesses and cancers due to "toxic dust" created by the destroyed buildings. Scientists' debate over whether the soot and dust can cause cancer initially halted the Government's inclusion of cancer in the list of covered illnesses. "We have urged from the very beginning that the decision whether or not to include cancer be based on science; [the] decision, made after thorough consideration of the latest available research and data, will continue to ensure that those who have become ill due to the heinous attacks on 9/11 get the medical care they need and deserve," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
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Workplace wellbeing programs improve employee health, increase productivity and cut costs for employers, EHS News reports. A study analysed a number of years of medical claim data - including health care spending, workers’ compensation and short-term disability claims - from groups participating and not participating in workplace wellbeing programs. The wellbeing program being studied was found to reduce medical spending by up to $1,332 per member per year, and saved $2,554 per workers’ compensation claimant and $451 per short-term disability claimant. The wellbeing program in focus involved identifying participants at risk of chronic diseases, and e.g.. asthma, coronary heart disease, chronic obstructive lung disease, diabetes and hypertension – and dealing with these conditions through early detection and prescribed therapies. Wellbeing program participants returned to work up to 9 days sooner from workers’ compensation, and returned to work 17 days sooner from short-term disability. Employers experienced a 6 per cent average annual medical cost trend reduction.
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A recent American Psychological Society study found that only 58 per cent of workers feel they have the resources necessary to manage stress, Forbes reports. Another recent study found that only 11 percent of organisations have stress reduction programs. “Work stress is a major problem,” said the American Psychological Society's David Ballard. “Even those organizations that do have stress management programs generally focus on individual-level training and resources to help stressed-out employees...but they neglect preventive and organizational-level approaches that may be more effective in the long run.” The long-term impact this stress has is significant. As ten-thousand studies have shown, when you are chronically stressed, you’re less able to be at your best," said Rick Hanson Ph.D., California-based neuropsychologist. "Particularly when you’re talking about a knowledge economy which really places a high premium on creativity."
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What makes employees want to stay in their current workforce? A recent “Workforce Retention Survey” by the American Psychological Association found that workers know what they want from a workplace, Time Business reports. Two-thirds of employees stay with a particular job because they enjoy what they do. On the whole, women and older workers are more likely to seek job satisfaction and work-life balance in their job, while men appeared more motivated by money. "Top employers create an environment where employees feel connected to the organization and have a positive work experience that’s part of a rich, fulfilling life," said David Ballard, head of the Psychologically Healthy Workplace Program. Other important factors in determining job satisfaction included positive working relationships, good benefits and satisfactory pay.
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Researchers warn that if people don't take measures to get healthy, governments may be increasingly compelled to go to administrative lengths to do it for us, Medical News Today reports. Nola Ries of the Faculty of Law's Health Law and Science Policy Group, University of Alberta, has published a number of articles outlining potential policies that could be implemented by governments to promote healthier behaviour. "Since eating and physical activity behaviour are complex and influenced by many factors, a single policy measure on its own is not going to be the magic bullet," said Ries. "Measures at multiple levels-directed at the food and beverage industry, at individuals, at those who educate and those who restrict-must work together to be effective." She suggested potential policy measures including: zoning restrictions on new fast-food restaurants; mandatory menu labels; levies on unhealthy food; and offering financial incentives for leading a healthier lifestyle. "Instead of spending more money on educational initiatives to tell people what they already know-like eat your greens and get some exercise - I suggest it's better to focus on targeted programs that help people make and sustain behaviour change," said Ries.
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Workers who feel that their employment is not secure are more likely to rate themselves as having poor health, and are more likely to have increased symptoms of anxiety and depression, Science Daily reports. The September Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine reports on a study of 440 working adults living in southeast Michigan - an area hit especially hard during the "Great Recession." Workers with perceived job insecurity were three times more likely to rate their health as "fair" to "poor," compared with workers who perceived their jobs as more secure. Workers with job insecurity were almost four times more likely to report symptoms of anxiety attacks, and were nearly seven times to have symptoms of either minor or major depression. "The study provides some of the first available evidence on the extent and distribution of perceived job insecurity and its association with health in the wake of the Great Recession," wrote Dr. Sarah A. Burgard, Ph.D..
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Ever wondered what happens when you stop using your email? UC Irvine informatics professor Gloria Mark led a study separating 13 people from their email for five days, La Times reports. "Back in 2005, says Mark, "I had this crazy idea that people were addicted to email. So I started thinking, the way you can test that is if you take people away from email cold turkey. You should see symptoms of withdrawal, the same way people are addicted to alcohol or drugs." She found that after 5 days, people became less stressed after being away from email. "A number of studies have talked about the detrimental effects of stress in the workplace," said Mark. Her research found that with email, people switched computer windows on average 37 times per hour. Without email, this dropped to 18 times per hour. The result was that people were more productive and able to focus on tasks longer. "Our study shows that people experience more stress when they have email...Another interesting thing is what people did to communicate without email. Nearly all participants reported getting up out of their office and walking around a lot more. They interacted with people face to face, and they reported it as a benefit. They enjoyed it. That sounds like it's healthier too."
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Increased computer use in the workplace may be negating positive advances in ergonomics, according to new research from the University of Sydney, The Age reports. ''Workstation design has come a long way since the '80s and they are good changes,'' said the lead author of the study, Karin Griffiths. ''But what I also found was the proportion of people reporting symptoms has not changed much despite this … [and] is not enough to keep up with health issues that arise from paperless, IT-dominated offices.'' The study of 1,000 workers found that around 85 per cent of people who spent more than eight hours a day working at a computer experienced neck pain. The study also found that three-quarters of workers reported shoulder pain, while 70 per cent reported lower-back pain. ''I know the amount of money organisations are putting into improved workstations and ergonomics, and it's not that those changes aren't important,'' said Dr Griffiths. ''The problem is nearly everything can be done at the desk now - communication, library research, file retrieval, even meetings. It doesn't matter how good the chair is, it is not going to address the health problem of what some researchers are calling 'chair disease'.'' Her message was for workers to have "environmental opportunities to frequently change posture from sitting to standing and moving in work tasks."
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Treasury will announce that employment rates among mature-aged workers have grown over the past 10 years - especially so over the last three years, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. In the year to July, employment of people aged 55 and over grew 3.9 per cent. During the same period, employment of those aged 54 and under did not grow at all. However, this doesn't mean it's all smooth sailing for older workers, says Australian National University labour market expert Bob Gregory. ''It's still much harder to find a job if you are over 55,'' he said. ''But if you are already employed and you pass 55 you are much more likely to stay employed." Gregory says it's been "moving that way for a decade. Part of it is the ageing of the population. There are more Australians over 55 than there used to be. Also there has been a dramatic growth in the employment of women in the past decade. As those women turn 55 and stay in work they push up the proportion of over-55s in work." In a speech to a Sydney conference, Treasurer Wayne Swan plans to announce that the average duration of unemployment for people 45 and over is 62 weeks, compared with 34 weeks for those aged 25 to 44, and 24 weeks for those aged under 25.
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Electronic cigarettes are perceived by many as a safe alternative to smoking, but new research shows they cause damage to the lungs, Medical News Today reports. Researchers from the University of Athens, Greece, conducted experiments on 32 volunteers - 8 of whom were lifetime non-smokers, 24 who were current regular smokers. Volunteers were asked to use an electronic cigarette for 10 minutes and were tested with a spirometry test, as well as other lung-function diagnostic procedures. The researchers concluded that using an e-cigarette caused an instant increase in airway resistance that lasted for 10 minutes in the majority of participants. Non-smokers "significantly increased" their airway resistance to 206 per cent, from an 182 per cent mean average. Current smokers raised their airway resistance to 220 per cent from 176 per cent. "We do not yet know whether unapproved nicotine delivery products, such as e-cigarettes, are safer than normal cigarettes, despite marketing claims that they are less harmful," said Professor Christina Gratziou. "This research helps us to understand how these products could be potentially harmful...We found an immediate rise in airway resistance in our group of participants, which suggests e-cigarettes can cause immediate harm after smoking the device. More research is needed to understand whether this harm also has lasting effects in the long-term."
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Almost half of surveyed employees recount having worked for an unreasonable boss, Web MD reports. Be they a micro manager or a bully, how can we learn to deal with problem bosses? "At first, you have ‘boss love' and then you have a rude awakening," says work-life expert Tevis Rose Trower, founder of Balance Integration Corp. "This boss held court and psychoanalyzed my life while I was pinned to the chair across her mahogany desk," recounted Trower of a past problematic boss. She learned to deal with it by developing an ability to "hold the boss in compassion." This involves recognising that her boss' need to talk for extended periods of time was her expressing a basic human desire, so Trower learned to accept that and break her own rule about not getting sidetracked. This led to easier interactions at work. Trower suggests dealing with toxic managers by practicing self-care, setting boundaries, and optimising communication.
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Listening to people complain may be bad for your brain, says Trevor Blake, author of Three Simple Steps: A Map to Success in Business and Life, Inc. reports. "The brain works more like a muscle than we thought," says Blake. "So if you're pinned in a corner for too long listening to someone being negative, you're more likely to behave that way as well." Blake asserts that merely listening to too much complaining can actually destroy neurons in the hippocampus. "That's the part of your brain you need for problem solving," he says. "Basically, it turns your brain to mush." In terms of a workplace, Blake says "there's a big difference between bringing your attention to something that's awry and a complaint...Typically, people who are complaining don't want a solution; they just want you to join in the indignity of the whole thing. You can almost hear brains clink when six people get together and start saying, 'Isn't it terrible?' This will damage your brain even if you're just passively listening. And if you try to change their behavior, you'll become the target of the complaint." Blake suggests three ways to defend yourself from negativity, including getting distance from the complainer, asking the complainer to fix the problem, and using mental visualisation techniques to protect yourself from destructive people.
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If you suffer from diabetes or have a risk of developing it, having a steady job may be good for your health, Medical News Today reports. A new study from the University of Michigan found that jobless working-age people with diabetes are less-likely to adhere to their oral anti-diabetic medications than diabetics who are employed. The study also found that people of working age with diabetes are more likely to be unemployed compared with those who don't have diabetes. Researchers stated that the apparent improvement in health of working with diabetes extended beyond the benefits of access to healthcare. "Improved use of medications is more than just a facet of having medical insurance. It is linked to bigger issues such as being employed, periods of joblessness or a personal financial strain," said Rajesh Balkrishnan of the U-M College of Pharmacy and School of Public Health. Diabetes is the seventh-leading cause of death and the eighth-most costly disease to treat, globally. "Workforce participation for adults with diabetes and other chronic conditions command the attention of public policymakers, particularly when prioritizing resource allocation," said Balkrishnan. "As a starting position, health care providers and systems need standard processes to identify individuals facing financial pressure and their vulnerability to lower medication adherence."
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South Australia's return to work and rehabilitation performance has sunk to a four-year low, Adelaide Now reports. The latest Australia and New Zealand Return to Work Monitor results found that SA had the lowest RTW rate of all the states in 2011-12, while injured workers who did return to work took longer compared with their counterparts in other states. Only 77 per cent of injured workers in SA returned to work following an injury, compared with an average of 84 per cent of injured workers nationally. Forty two per cent of claimants said they still remained on some form of compensation six to nine months after submitting a claim. This is almost double the rate of some other states and compares with 25 per cent of injured workers nationally. WorkCover SA chief executive Rob Thompson said he was disappointed by the results, but it was too early to see the effects of legislative reforms in 2008. WorkCover will introduce more competition by having two claims agents next year - Employers Mutual and Gallagher Bassett. "While we are confident these reforms can improve our return to work rates ... this will not occur overnight but we expect to see improvements over the next two years," said Mr Thomson.
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Australian workers are far less likely to make a workers' compensation claim for GP visits for mental health issues - work-related stress, depression or anxiety - compared with for physical injuries, WA Today reports. Researchers from the Institute for Safety, Compensation and Recovery Research and the University of Sydney examined 486,400 GP consultations and found that workers would not make a claim on 22 per cent of GP visits for all work-related health issues. Those seeing a doctor for mental health-related issues would not claim for 45 per cent of doctor visits. "It could be that workers are less willing to claim for psychological conditions compared with physical conditions because of potential for stigma in the workplace," said ISCRR's chief research officer, Dr Alex Collie. "Different jobs might have different cultures." Dr Collie also noted that some workers may still be unaware that they are entitled to make a workers' compensation claim. The research also noted that workers in major cities and regional areas were more likely to make a claim, compared with people in remote or rural areas.
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Almost half of long-distance truck drivers suffer from sleep apnoea, putting other road users' lives at risk, Adelaide Now reports. New research reveals that a mere 12 per cent of drivers with the disorder are detected, due to current medical tests requiring self-assessment. Sleep apnoea involves breathing problems that are experienced during sleep. This can cause daytime drowsiness, which can double a driver's road accident risk. Australasian Sleep Association Associate Professor Shantha Rajaratnam said truck drivers may be unaware that they have the disorder. "We know that people with obstructive sleep apnoea can fall asleep very easily, especially on long monotonous tasks such as driving; the risk of a motor vehicle crash can be over two times greater," he said. "The current process is for drivers to be asked (by a medical practitioner) about symptoms of sleep apnoea during medical checks. This is relying on self-report." He said that drivers may be reluctant to report the disorder to their employers for fear of having their employment terminated.
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More employers are recognising the value of retaining older workers, Aging Workforce News reports. Only 4% of surveyed firms believe employees who postpone retirement will be a negative for companies. Around half of surveyed US retirement plan sponsors (comprised of employers or companies) believe companies will benefit from baby boomer employees who extend their careers beyond age 65. "Although some companies will continue to offer buyouts and retirement packages to their older staff, our survey suggests that many businesses will be pleased to retain selected boomer employees," said Todd Perala, Director of Relationship Management at BMO Retirement Services - the survey conductor. "There appears to be a growing recognition in corporate America that employees in their sixties possess valuable institutional experience and expertise."
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Nearly a third of workers dislike team-building activities, yet these exercises are used by many companies to foster teamwork, US News reports. Team-building activities should support the work employees undertake together, or provide a genuine opportunity for relaxation or enjoyment. "An entire industry has grown around corporate team-building programs, from ropes courses, wilderness programs, and paintball to ice breakers, trust exercises, and coaching sessions based on questionable personality tests," says the American Psychological Association's David W. Ballard. "Take care to avoid putting employees in embarrassing or uncomfortable situations," says Ballard. "Recognize that people have different preferences and respect employee boundaries regarding physical contact and the disclosure of personal information." Some suggestions for valuable team-building exercises include: volunteering; fitness or sport activities; trips; professional development activities; and shared meals. There are more details at the link above.
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A statistical model predicts that by 2100, the number of people over 85 will be greater than previously thought, and there will be fewer working people to support them, Eureka Alert reports. This prediction suggests that there will be a decrease in social security programs for elderly people. "This has been studied a lot in developed countries, but what we see with this model is that the increase in people over 85 will be a worldwide phenomenon," said lead author Adrian Raftery, University of Washington professor of statistics and sociology. "We don't know for sure what will happen in the future, but this model gives us a better sense of the accuracy of the projections." The projections estimate that in China, the number of working-age adults for each person 65 or older will shrink from 7.9 in 2010 to 1.6 in 2100. In India, the number for working people per elderly person will decrease from 11.1 in 2010 to 2.0 in 2100. In the United States, this ratio will decline from 4.6 in 2010 to 1.8 by the end of the century. The ratio in the United Kingdom is estimated to drop from 3.6 to 1.6, while The Netherlands is expected to drop from 4.0 to 1.6. The predictions are based on on countries' previous fertility and mortality rates, as well as immigration patterns.
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Staying physically active during middle-age is important for heart health, partly because of a reduction in inflammation. Now, new research has found that even moderate leisure activities such as gardening, housework or brisk walking can make a difference, Medical News Today reports. "It is especially important for older people to be physically active because it contributes to successful aging," said Lead author Mark Hamer. "These leisure-time activities represent moderate intensity exercise that is important to health." The study of over 4,000 people, begun in 1985, looked at the effects of lifestyle and occupation on health, measuring levels of physical activity and inflammation in participants. "Inflammatory markers are important because we have shown they are a key mechanism explaining the link between physical activity and the lower risk of heart disease," said Hamer. "The people who benefited the most from this study were the ones that remained physically active." Maureen Talbot, Senior Cardiac Nurse with the British Heart Foundation, said, "Donning your gardening gloves, or picking up a paint brush, can still go a long way to help look after your heart health, as even gentle exercise can have a big impact on how well your heart ages."
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Acute stress changes DNA and alters the activity of certain genes, according to new research published in Translational Psychiatry, Medical News Today reports. "The results provide evidence how stress could be related to a higher risk of mental or physical illness", says Prof. Dr. Gunther Meinlschmidt. "Our genetic material, the DNA, provides the construction manual for the proteins that our bodies need," explains Medical News Today. "Which proteins a cell produces depends on the cell type and the environment. So-termed epigenetic information determines which genes are read, acting quasi as a biological switch." One such 'switch' is provided by 'methyl' groups. Previous studies have shown that psychological trauma and stressful situations are associated with long-term altered DNA methylation. "Epigenetic changes may well be an important link between stress and chronic diseases" says Prof. Meinlschmidt. "We hope to identify more complex epigenetic stress patterns in future and thus to be able to determine the associated risk of disease. This could provide information on new approaches to treatment and prevention."
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Someone's speech can be used to measure the severity of their depression and their response to treatment, Science Daily reports. A new collaborative study between the University of Melbourne and the Center for Psychological Consultation in Wisconsin found that patients diagnosed with depression can have their progress accurately measured over the phone, by having their speech analysed. “The speech of people with depression changes when they respond to treatment, becoming faster and with shorter pauses. Those with more severe depression produce longer pauses and have slower speaking rates,” said Dr Adam Vogel. “The speech of people with depression changes when they respond to treatment, becoming faster and with shorter pauses. Those with more severe depression produce longer pauses and have slower speaking rates." The study looked at aspects of vocal production including timing, pitch and intonation, and attempted to assign various biomarkers to depression severity and response to treatment. “This offers greater treatment flexibility as we can now check on our patients remotely, looking at their speech patterns even from remote or rural areas,” said Dr James Mundt, Senior Research Scientist at the Center for Psychological Consultation in Wisconsin, USA. “We know that depressed patients have difficulties expressing themselves, so if we can improve how we assess depression, then we can improve how we treat it.”
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The number one source of stress for workers is low pay, according to a survey by Harris Interactive for Everest College, Forbes reports. The survey of 898 working adults saw 11 per cent of respondents name pay as their greatest source of stress. "Annoying" co-workers were cited as the second most stressful aspect of work. Other reported sources of stress included commuting (9 per cent), an unreasonable workload (9 per cent) and having to work in a job that is not in the participant's desired career (8 per cent). Other sources of stress included a lack of work-life balance (5 per cent), low opportunity for advancement (4 per cent) and employers (4 per cent). Some positives from the survey included a drop in the number of people citing fear of job-loss as their biggest stress: 4 per cent compared with 9 per cent in the previous year's survey. Twenty six per cent of people reported no work stress, up from 21 per cent last year.
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We've all had times of great happiness, writes Heidi Grant Halvorson for Forbes, but the trouble is in making the feeling last. Hedonic adaptation is the name psychologists give the idea that no matter how good (or bad) we feel at certain times, emotionally we often drift back to the place we came from. One study of lottery winners found that despite being overjoyed after winning big, 18 months later they were no happier than non-winners. This happens for two reasons: one, we simply get used to the pleasure of certain things and notice them less, and two, we begin to see even positive changes as the 'new normal', which shifts the bar for satisfaction higher. How do we make happiness last? "Variety is...the spice of life...because we don’t get 'used to' positive events when our experiences are novel, or unexpected," says Grant Halvorson. "When, on the other hand, a positive experience is repetitive – when you know exactly what to expect – you don’t get the same kick out of it." People "spend a lot of time trying to figure out what will make them happy," says Grant Halvorson, "but not nearly enough time trying to hang on to the happiness they already have. In a way, this is like focusing all your energy on making more money, without giving any thought to what you’ll do with the money you’ve already earned. The key to wealth, like the key to happiness, is to not only look for new opportunities, but to make the most of the ones you’ve been given."
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Working mothers at age 40 are healthier than stay-at-home mothers, mothers who work part-time, or mothers who have work experience but are repeatedly unemployed, Science Daily reports. New research from the University of Akron examined longitudinal data of 2,450 women who became mothers between 1978 and 1995, and found that women who returned to work shorty after having children reported better mental and physical health. Reported benefits included greater mobility, less depression and more energy. "Work is good for your health, both mentally and physically," says Assistant Sociology Professor Adrianne Frech. "It gives women a sense of purpose, self-efficacy, control and autonomy. They have a place where they are an expert on something, and they're paid a wage." Frech highlighted the importance of recognising the least-healthy group, the "persistently unemployed" mothers. "Women with interrupted employment face more job-related barriers than other women, or cumulative disadvantages over time," says Frech. "If women can make good choices before their first pregnancy, they likely will be better off health-wise later. Examples of good choices could be delaying your first birth until you're married and done with your education, or not waiting a long time before returning to the workforce."
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A new study has found no link between breast cancer and shift work, ABC News reports. Concern had been raised after previous studies showed that disrupting the sleep-wake cycle caused breast cancers in mice. But the Western Australian Institute for Medical Research said that its study of over 1,000 women found no link between shift work and cancer. "We compared the people who had cancer with those who didn't," said Professor Lin Fritschi. "If shift work is associated with breast cancer, you would expect those women who had breast cancer to have been much more likely to have done shift work in the past, and we didn't find that was the case." Professor Lin noted the importance of human studies. "The thing that we thought was important to note was that humans aren't rats and that we don't completely change our system when we do night shifts," she said. "We still have family commitments, we still have things going on in our lives, which means that people often don't do the complete adaptation that mice and rats do."
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New research shows that single-officer patrols pose safety risks and an increased risk of stress, Adelaide Now reports. An Australian Institute of Criminology report found scant evidence to back the case that solo patrols are an effective policing tools. The report studied Australian and international research and concluded that officers on solo patrols could be subject to increased personal danger and heightened stress. Police Association president Mark Carroll said the report confirmed that the practice should not be further implemented. "Introducing a broader solo patrol policing model ... might well increase the risk of harm to our police," he said. An SA Police spokesman said there was no intention to expand solo patrols "at this time." The AIC report was commissioned in response to the stabbing of Brevet Sergeant Jeff Allen by a parolee in July, 2009.
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Patients need to be better educated to deal with their immediate health issues, and this can be achieved by health care organisations implementing a range of specific attributes, Medical News Today reports. A new paper outlines ten attributes that health care organisations should implement to make it easier for people to better navigate health information, make sense of services and better manage their own health. Around 77 million people in the US have difficulty understanding even very basic health information, which impairs their ability to make informed decisions about their own health or follow doctors' advice. "Depending on how you define it, nearly half the U.S. population has poor health literacy skills," said senior author Dean Schillinger, MD. "Over the last two decades, we have focused on what patients can do to improve their health literacy," he said. "In this report, we look at the other side of the health literacy coin, and focus on what health care systems can do." The paper reports on ten attributes that organisations that promote proper health literacy possess, which can be found by following this news item's title link.
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A new study shows that eating poorly and not exercising affects work productivity, Huffington Post reports. The study of 19,803 people, published in the journal Population Health Management, found that unhealthy eating is linked with a 66 per cent heightened risk of loss of productivity, while exercising only rarely is linked with a 50 per cent increased risk of low productivity. Smoking was also found to be linked to a 28 per cent risk of loss of productivity. "Total health-related employee productivity loss accounts for 77 percent of all such loss and costs employers two to three times more than annual healthcare expenses," said study researcher Ray Merrill, a health science professor at Brigham Young University. People between the ages of 30 and 39 were most likely to experience a loss in productivity, while people aged 60 and over were the least likely to experience productivity losses.
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The most recent edition of Spine reports that the best way to increase return to work rates for sufferers of low-back pain on medical leave from work is to provide them with advice on remaining active, Medical News Today reports. "Combined counselling and disability evaluation by a medical advisor results in a higher return to work rate due to a lower sick leave recurrence as compared to disability evaluation alone," revealed researchers Marc Du Bois, MD, and Peter Donceel, PhD. Their study involved 506 mainly blue-collar workers on medical leave because of lower-back pain. Half of participants were given only standard disability evaluation, while the other workers were given information and counselling for lower back pain according to the best medical practices currently available. This includes advice to stay active and avoid bed rest, continuing normal daily activities, and being provided with reassurance that pain is likely to subside over time. Those in the counselling group had a higher chance of coming off disability support and returning to work, with only 4 per cent of workers who did not return after one year, compared with 8 per cent of those who received only standard disability evaluation. Workers with more serious conditions like sciatica were not included in the study.
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Telling the truth even when tempted to lie can significantly improve your mental and physical health, Medical News Today reports. "Recent evidence indicates that Americans average about 11 lies per week. We wanted to find out if living more honestly can actually cause better health," said lead author of the "Science of Honesty" study, Anita E. Kelly, PhD. "We found that the participants could purposefully and dramatically reduce their everyday lies, and that in turn was associated with significantly improved health." The study was conducted over 10 weeks with a sample of 110 people; half of whom were asked to stop telling major and minor lies for the study period. The other half of the participants received no special instructions regarding lying. Both groups underwent weekly health and relationship measurements, including polygraph assessment of the number of 'major' and 'white' lies they had told during the week. Over the 10-week course, the group telling no lies enjoyed significantly better health benefits. When participants told three fewer lies per week compared with previous weeks, they experienced on average around four fewer mental health complaints (such as feeling tense or melancholy) and about three fewer physical complaints (including sore throats or headaches). "Statistical analyses showed that this improvement in relationships significantly accounted for the improvement in health that was associated with less lying," said co-author Lijuan Wang, PhD.
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A recent study published in American Psychological Association journal Emotion found that 'morning people' report feeling happier and healthier than night owls, US News reports. Researchers suggest that one of the reasons for this could be because society caters to a morning person's schedule, which fits within the standard "9 to 5" shift. The article outlines 10 ways to be more productive before lunch time: making a to-do list the day before; getting a full night's rest; avoiding hitting the snooze button; exercising in the AM; having a morning routine; eating breakfast; arriving at the office on time; checking-in with the boss; tackling the big projects first; avoiding morning meetings; allotting time for following up on messages; and taking a mid-morning break.
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People paranoid about suffering workplace sabotage may actually be more likely to become the target of it, Science Daily reports. New research found that people who are concerned about being the focus of negative gossip or being snubbed at work are more likely to seek out information to confirm their fears. This ultimately leads to their actions annoying co-workers and thereby increasing their likelihood of being rejected or subverted. "It may be best to ignore impulses that tell you that you're the victim of office politics," said lead author and Sauder Prof. Karl Aquino. It's normal for people to wonder what others think about them, especially when positive impressions lead to power and financial gain in the workplace. "However, our research shows employees should do their best to keep their interactions positive and ignore the negative. As the expression goes, kill them with kindness," says Aquino. One of the study's experiments found that people who were more likely to interpret others' actions as negative were more likely to try to interpret others' actions through eavesdropping or spying. "[Another experiment] measured study participants' comfort level with a co-worker who is worried about unfair treatment as compared to other types of employees," reported Science Daily. "Rather than be saddled with a worrywart, participants were 3.5 times more likely to choose individuals who demanded feedback on work quality. Participants were 16.5 times more likely to prefer working with others keen to get information on work group dynamics as a whole."
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Making small changes in how we perceive events can lower stress levels and make us happier, NPR reports. Psychologist Ellen Langer explains how mindfulness can improve our lives and how easy it can be to cultivate it. "I looked at chronic versus acute illness, and I couldn't find a definition for chronic," said Langer. "But it mattered enormously because when people see that they have a chronic illness, they believe that there's nothing they can do about it." Langer found that when we set about noticing when we have symptoms, or when we don't, three things happen. "The first is you see you don't have it all the time, so it's not quite as bad as you thought. You know, people are depressed, they think they're depressed all the time. No one is anything all the time. People who are dyslexic, it turns out that most words, over 90 percent of the words, they're reading they tend to read correctly, yet they define themselves by their illness. So what happens is first you see you're not as bad as you thought you were. Second, by seeing that sometimes it's better, sometimes it's worse leads you to ask the question — well, why? And you may well come up with a solution. And the third, even if you don't, that whole process is mindful, and the 35-or-so years of research we've done shows that that kind of noticing new things leads to health and longevity."
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Even modest weight loss can provide overweight and obese people with a decade's worth of real health benefits, US News reports. A new study taught 3,000 overweight people with impaired glucose tolerance - a prediabetic condition - how to modify their behaviour as opposed to simply taking drugs to treat the condition. Participants learned new strategies including keeping track of food intake, reducing the amount of unhealthy food in the home and increasing their physical activity. Even modest weight loss (14 lbs / 6.3 kg) reduced the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 58 per cent. These health benefits lasted ten years, even if people regained the weight they'd lost. "Helping people find ways to change their eating and activity behaviors and developing interventions other than medication to reinforce a healthy lifestyle have made a huge difference in preventing one of the major health problems in this country," said study author Rena Wing. "Weight losses of just 10 percent of a person's body weight ... have also been shown to have a long-term impact on sleep apnea, hypertension and quality of life, and to slow the decline in mobility that occurs as people age."
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Almost 10 per cent of the population suffers from back problems, and the frequency of claims for back disorders and other musculoskeletal disorders has declined at a slower rate than all other claims. "Indeed, chronic musculoskeletal disorders are the costliest of all conditions for workers compensation schemes and have been the focus of preventive campaigns for some time," reports The Conversation. "But the fact that the rates are declining at a slower rate than for other complaints suggests that there’s scope for improvement." A new Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) study found that people with back problems are 2.5 times more likely to report affective disorders than people without back pain. “[The] chronic and pervasive nature of back problems often lead to poorer quality of life, psychological distress, mental disorders and disability," said the study's report. "Occupational health research suggests there’s a more complex relationship between psychological distress and back pain," reports The Conversation. "Evidence has been mounting that psychosocial factors associated with the way work is organised and the way people are managed are major determinants of this significant health problem, alongside a lack of decision-making latitude and poor relationships with supervisors." A large study from Norway has revealed that "the most consistent predictors of back pain prevention were found to be decision control, empowering leadership and fair leadership."
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Mental health advocate Arthur Gallant suggests some tips for handling mental illness in the workplace, Huffington Post reports. "Talk to your employees," says Gallant. "With the amount of stigma surrounding mental illness people are scared to reveal they have mental illness; and they're also really good at covering it up...Make it known that you are against stigma and have an open door policy should an employee want to make it known to you that they live with mental illness and what the company can do to help accommodate them." Gallant advises learning to identify and anticipate common triggers of mental illness, such as a drop in labour hours or new management. "Benefits are cheaper than lost labour," explains Gallant. "It seems like the majority of employers only offer benefits to full-time employees while others offer them to both full and part-time employees. Sure it may cost the company to extend these benefits to all employees; but just think of how much additional money it will cost the company if an employee has to take a leave of absence due to mental illness. Offering ongoing confidential counseling services may allow the employee to continue working while dealing with their mental illness without taking time off." He also suggests forcing employees to take their entitled holiday leave.
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Workers entitled to paid leave when they are sick are less likely to be injured at work compared with those who don't get paid sick leave, Huffington Post reports. A new study by US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that people with paid sick leave have a 28 per cent lower risk of workplace injury than people without it. The risk of injury varied with industry: health care workers without access to paid sick leave had an 18 per cent increased risk of workplace injury, while for construction workers the figure was 21 per cent. "Many workers may feel pressured to work while they are sick, out of fear of losing their income," said researcher Abay Asfaw, Ph.D. "If fewer people work while they are sick, this could lead to safer operations and fewer injuries in the workplace." The study involved 38,000 private sector workers.
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A new study reveals that casual work is more dangerous than other employment, ABC reports. Figures analysed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics for Safe Work Australia show that casual workers have a 50 per cent higher rate of work-related injury than their permanent co-workers. Women were also found to have a 28 per cent higher risk of work injuries than male workers. "The increasing number of casual workers in workplaces results in what we call disorganisation which is a breakdown in communications and lack of induction and training and supervision, inadequate supervision in the workplace for these workers," said Maria McNamara, research associate with the Work and Health Research team at the University of Sydney. "A lot of them would be unaware of the health and safety risks and hazards present in that workplace and their lack of experience and training would make them more susceptible to succumbing to these risks and hazards." McNamara said that the findings for women's higher risk of injury was related to the nature of their work. "Women are overrepresented in casual work and temporary employment in general," she said. "Women find themselves in these types of work because they feel they need flexibility because they have caring responsibilities," said ACTU president Ged Kearney.
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New South Wales employers may no longer have to provide annual leave entitlements to employees claiming workers' compensation, Sydney Morning Herald reports. WorkCover NSW is reviewing its position after receiving legal advice that the issue is governed under the Commonwealth Fair Work Act, which states that workers cannot accrue leave while being paid compensation. In a letter being drafted to notify employers of the change, WorkCover's Cameron Player said that previously, "Workers on compensation benefits in NSW have long been permitted to accrue holiday and long-service leave [because] workers on workers compensation leave are entitled to the ordinary rights and incidentals arising from their employment, on the basis that their 'contract of employment' subsists during that time." Secretary of Unions NSW, Mark Lennon, said employers were ''receiving signals from the state government that it's OK to further attack the rights and entitlements of sick and injured workers''. He added that is is "disturbing that an independent statutory authority could be perceived as taking its orders from the employer lobby."
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Amidst a bad influenza season, health authorities are urging Queenslanders to stay at home if they think they are sick, Courier Mail reports. Queensland Health data shows the number of people testing positive to the flu this season is almost 1.5 times the five-year average. While 3390 people have tested positive to the flu, actual numbers are said to be much higher - because most sufferers won't get testing. Infectious disease experts have described the flu season as a "fairly significant season" resulting in "a lot more cases." Influenza Specialist Group chairman Alan Hampson said employees should be asked to stay at home if they have the flu. "Workplaces should be encouraging employees to stay at home and get better when they're ill and actually give them brownie points for doing that," he said. "There are a whole lot of things that do happen with influenza that people don't appreciate. It predisposes to things such as heart attacks and strokes. If you're pushing yourself, then the greater the chances of these things happening because of influenza." He added that a "very large" number of deaths that occur as a result of influenza are actually recorded as heart attacks and related conditions.
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Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria and the United Firefighters Union are lobbying the State Government for more comprehensive cancer compensation, ABC News reports. They are requesting that the Government parallel the Federal system, which provides compensation to firefighters for fire-related cancers. The groups have put aside differences over training issues raised during the paid firefighters' recent pay dispute. "Firefighters are much more prone to certain types of cancer and that's because they're exposed to chemicals and toxins at fires and other incidents," said Volunteer Fire Brigades spokesman Andrew Ford. "So you've really got to look at protections that can recognise that link between their duties as a firefighter and certain types of cancer." Ford argued that volunteers should be covered under the same legislation as paid firefighters. "They work together on the fireground. They do the same training. They use the same equipment and they face the same exposures...So they both deserve and need the same protection." Greens MP Colleen Hartland is asking the Victorian Government and the Opposition for support. "We need all of the parties to agree that firefighters risk their lives every day for us and we have to return the, I suppose the word might be favour, in that we might want to protect them," she said.
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Over half of Australians don't exercise regularly and 35 per cent exercise for just one hour or less a week, according to AIA Australia. With the London Olympics starting this week, AIA Australia is encouraging Australians to get up off the couch and get active during the games. According to the AIA Healthy Living Index Monitor over half (55%) of Australian adults admit they don't exercise regularly, with tiredness (59%) and being time-poor (53%) cited as the main barriers to the treadmill. The AIA pan Asia-Pacific health survey of 15 markets ranks Australia's overall health index score as 59 out of a possible 100, below the regional average of 61. The research found, in general, adults in Australia acknowledged they needed to do more to achieve healthy living and are not particularly satisfied with their health. "We can't all be Olympic athletes but just 30 minutes of moderate exercise every day is enough to improve your health, help you lose weight and reduce the risk of developing diseases like Type 2 diabetes and heart attacks," said AIA Australia's Chief Medical Officer, Dr Pramodh Nathaniel.
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Watching a computer or TV screen late at night or falling asleep with it on may increase a person's chance of becoming depressed, Fox News reports. A study that exposed hamsters to dim night time light picked up changes in behaviour and the brain similar to symptoms of depression in humans. While exposure to light at night has been linked to an increased risk of breast cancer and obesity, researchers are only just beginning to understand the link between night time light and mood disorders. "The results we found in hamsters are consistent with what we know about depression in humans," said study leader Tracy Bedrosian. Hamsters exposed to dim light at night also produced more of a protein called tumour necrosis factor - a chemical messenger that is released in the body to repair injury or infection. "Researchers have found a strong association in people between chronic inflammation and depression," said Randy Nelson, who also worked on the study. "That's why it is very significant that we found this relationship between dim light at night and increased expression of TNF." "The good news is that people who stay up late in front of the television and computer may be able to undo some of the harmful effects just by going back to a regular light-dark cycle and minimizing their exposure to artificial light at night," said Bedrosian.
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Expectant mothers who work beyond eight months of pregnancy may harming their babies as much as if they were smoking during pregnancy, Guardian reports. A new study found that women who worked after they were eight months pregnant gave birth to babies who were around 230g (0.5lb) lighter than those whose mothers stopped work between six and eight months. The effect of continuing work during the latter stages of pregnancy was equal to that of smoking: babies grew more slowly in the womb. This lower birth weight is associated with poor health and development, as well as a range of problems later in life. "We know low birth weight is a predictor of many things that happen later, including lower chances of completing school successfully, lower wages and higher mortality," said co-author Prof. Marco Francesconi. "We need to think seriously about parental leave, because – as this study suggests – the possible benefits of taking leave flexibly before the birth could be quite high."
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UK managers are seeing evidence of a rise in presenteeism among staff admist the global financial climate, Health Insurance & Protection Magazine reports. According to a joint report by the Chartered Management Institute and Simplyhealth, managers are "doing more unpaid overtime, reporting lower job satisfaction and seeing growing incidence of presenteeism among their staff since the recession." The Quality of Working Life 2012 report found that 43 per cent of respondents believe staff don't take sick leave when they are ill - up from 32 per cent in 2007. Managers responded that organisations are now less tolerant of people taking sick leave. The report also reveals that the average manager now works 6 days more unpaid overtime compared with 2007. Around 60 per cent of those working overtime said they have no choice to do so, because of their workload, while 29 per cent say their increased workload is due to an increase in job cuts. “It looks like presenteeism is another symptom of high levels of organisational change," said head of employer marketing at Simplyhealth, Howard Hughes. "We’d urge all organisations to ensure they have programmes in place to encourage employees to be proactive about caring for their health – this kind of good management will increase productivity, and ultimately the bottom line.”
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Fewer people died when their physicians focused on the main risk factors for stroke and dementia, according to new research reported by Medical News Today. In the study, physicians focused on high blood pressure, smoking, high cholesterol, diabetes, irregular heartbeat and depression. Researcers also found that during a five-year period, the need for expensive long-term medical care was cut by 10 per cent for women and 9.6 per cent for men. "Primary prevention pays off," said Horst Bickel, Ph.D., lead author. "Prevention measures have a potential for improving health in old age which has up to now not been satisfactorily exploited." He described intervention methods including encouraging patients to be more physically active, eat healthier foods, quit smoking, and reduce high blood pressure and high cholesterol. "At the population level, even simple measures can lead to substantial achievements," said Bickel. "Our results are only one example for how health risks can be reduced through uncomplicated, routine treatment of risk factors in the framework of a real-world setting."
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This week, from the 22nd to 28th of July, is National Pain Week. It is hosted by Chronic Pain Australia, an organisation dedicated to reducing the social barriers to living with chronic pain. "The Festival of Hope is a first for Australia and akin to a mind/body/spirit event for people in pain, their friends and families," says the National Pain Week website. "It will be held at Parramatta Leagues Club in Sydney on Saturday 28th July 2012 from 9am - 5pm. Come along, learn new stuff, enjoy some beautiful music, meet others and explore a number of interesting exhibits. Registrations are a must get in early or you could miss out." Organisers are also lobbying for increased awareness of chronic pain. "This year we are launching a campaign to ask Federal Government to start debating the impact of chronic pain on Australians through the 10,000 Faces of Pain campaign. We are holding a festival for people in pain and their friends and families and we are working with primary care practitioners towards improving the quality of care for people in pain in their local communities."
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Time is running out for businesses and individuals to get their submissions in for the 2012 WorkSafe Awards. The 27 July deadline is the last chance to enter and possibly make it through to the prestigious 2012 WorkSafe Awards event, to be held on November 1st during Work Safe Week. Enter or nominate in any of the return to work categories below before 27 July. Categories: Employer excellence; Worker return to work achievement award; Return to Work Coordinator excellence; Occupational rehabilitation consultant achievement; Treating health practitioner achievement. You can enter yourself or you can nominate someone else on their behalf. For more information or further advice call Vera Mert-Ilijin on 9641 1703 (vera_mert-ilijin@worksafe.vic.gov.au) or Hemalatha Anand on 9641 1772 (hemalatha_anand@worksafe.vic.gov.au) from the RTW Division, WorkSafe.
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Six health-focused organisations have produced a guide for creating workplace wellness programs that utilise incentives, OHS Online reports. The guide, published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, aims to ensure programs use outcomes-based incentives, are fair to all employees and improve health results. The use of outcome-based incentives - financially rewarding an employee for meeting a specific health outcome, or penalising them for failing to meet it - is likely to increase over the coming years. "Employers play a significant role in influencing the health behaviors of their workforce, and increasingly they realize that a healthy workforce can reduce health care costs, disability, and absenteeism while increasing productivity," said Jerry Noyce, president and CEO of the Health Enhancement Research Organization. "As employers seek new ways to engage employees in programs that change health behaviors, their interest in outcomes-based incentives has grown considerably, as has the need for a unified voice on the issue."
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People suffering from serious mental illness such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and disabling depression are 2.6 times more likely to develop cancer than the general population, Science Daily reports. New Johns Hopkins research raises questions about whether people with serious mental health problems are receiving appropriate cancer screenings. "The increased risk is definitely there, but we're not entirely sure why," says study leader Gail L. Daumit, M.D., M.H.S. "Are these people getting screened? Are they being treated? Something's going on." Another study published last month found that people with serious mental illness were nearly twice as likely to suffer from an injury than the general population, and around 4.5 times more likely to die from their injuries.
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Bullying is widespread throughout Australian universities according to a report into one of Sydney's top universities, which calls for an investigation, Sydney Morning Herald reports. The Report into Workplace bullying at UNSW by academic Sarah Gregson described a culture of bullying and intimidation at the University of New South Wales. Sixty-eight per cent of the survey's 552 respondents said they'd been bullied, while 83 per cent had been a witness to bullying behaviour. The report has been submitted to a federal inquiry into workplace bullying. "I've sent that report to a range of activists around the union and they say there's nothing in there that they're not very familiar with, so we just need to keep continue to keep campaigning," said Gregson. "We'd like the parliamentary inquiry to recommend improved legislation in the area.'' Vice-president, university services at UNSW, Neil Morris, refuted the report's findings, saying its research methods are not sound. ''We have expressed our concern to the NTEU that the survey methodology is flawed,'' he said. ''For example, the survey identified bullying as broadly as 'staff being treated differently from another colleague', 'arbitrary decision making with negative impacts on someone', and 'imposition of unreasonable deadlines'. The extraordinary disconnect between the survey's findings - including that more than two-thirds of staff said they had been bullied - and the total number of complaints received at the institutional level, and statistics from other sources, highlights the study's questionable methodology.''
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The incidence of stress is on the increase around the developed world, and its not just affecting adults, The Age reports. Children are more depressed than previous generations, with experts suggesting "second-hand stress" as a significant contributor. Canadian research professor Dr Stuart Shanker says that high parental stress - from factors such as economic crisis, family breakdown and urban living - is causing children to lose their ability to self-regulate. "Self-regulation is the ability to manage your own energy states, emotions, behaviours and attention, in ways that are socially acceptable and help achieve positive goals, such as maintaining good relationships, learning and maintaining wellbeing," he says. Exposure to too many stressors can cause a child's baseline ability to self-regulate to be worn down, and can lead to the development of conditions such as anxiety, depression, cardiovascular disease and obesity. Psychologist Jocelyn Brewer said that parents should acknowledge stressful issues to their children. "It's actually about resolving an issue in front of the kids so that they can see that problems can be overcome and they can have models of appropriate or effective problem-solving and conflict resolution," she said.
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The health effects of sleep deficit experienced by shift-working police officers may be a public safety issue, according to a new study. Medical News Today reports that police officers who sleep less than six hours per night are more susceptible to chronic fatigue and health problems including being overweight or obese, contracting diabetes or heart disease. The study found that officers working evening or night shifts were 14 times more likely to have less restful sleep than their day shift working counterparts. Officers on night shift were also more likely to be subjected to more back-to-back shifts, making sleep even more difficult. This sleep deficit may be affecting officers' health, which in turn may influence their ability to do their jobs and oversee public safety. "The good news is this is correctable," said lead author Sandra Ramey. "There are approaches we can take to break the cascade of poor sleep for police officers." One such approach suggested by researchers would be to change the morning time that evening or night shift officers need to appear in court.
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A new social network for doctors is helping provide valuable medical second opinions, Mashable reports. iRounds - an online social network platform - is being touted as the "Twitter for doctors", and is the largest online professional physician network. It allows physicians to discuss cases, ask for second opinions and engage in dialogue, in real time. “Medicine is very much a team sport,” said Dr. Rafael Lugo, who referred a patient to a specialist after posting photos of a rare tumour to iRounds and receiving immediate feedback from specialists around the US. “At a glance, you can see any particular physicians’ publications, specializations, board certifications, and other qualifications, which enhances the credibility of they opinions,” New York-based nephrologist and internal medicine doctor Joshua Schwimmer told Mashable. “As with anything in medicine, you consult multiple resources and don’t trust a single source fully, so iRounds allows you to interact with multiple physicians in multiple specialties and potentially receive a wide range of opinions. The debates are always instructive.” All information remains private and confidential under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and only verified physicians and medical students are granted access.
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New York Times reports that some workers' compensation doctors are adding hundreds of millions of dollars to taxpayers', insurers' and employers' expenses through the lucrative practice of physician in-house dispensing. "Instead of sending patients to drugstores to get prescriptions filled, doctors dispense the drugs in their offices to patients, with the bills going to insurers," reports the Times. The prices of these doctor-dispensed drugs can be ten-times those in pharmacies. While doctor dispensing is legal in most US states, and is often convenient for patients, critics question the ethics of the practice, which is most common in workers' compensation cases. Drug supply middlemen help doctors establish in-house pharmacies, which sell repackaged drugs ultimately charged to the insurer. However, Dr. Marc Loev, a managing partner of a chain of clinics in Maryland, said these doctor dispensing systems were set up to assist, not take advantage of, workers' comp patients caught up in the bureaucracy of the system. “We instituted it because we were having significant difficulty providing the care for workers’ compensation patients," he said. Alan Hays, a Republican state senator in Florida who introduced a defeated bill that was intended to bar physicians from dispensing pills, disagrees. “I consider the fees that these people are charging to be immoral,” he said.
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Cancer survivors who sing in a choir enjoy an improved quality of life, says new research from Cardiff University, Medical News Today reports. The study aimed to measure the effects of singing in a choir on the mental and physical health of cancer survivors and their carers. While similar studies on the effects of choirs have been performed before, this is the first to specifically target cancer survivors and their carers. The study monitored the attitudes and health of choir participants over a three month period, with participants being asked to report on their quality of life, levels of anxiety and depression, and fatigue. Lung capacity was also measured. The results indicated an improvement in mental health, with reduced anxiety and depression. There was no change in fatigue levels, through the participants' perceived benefit of the choir was clear. Participants commented on the benefits of having a common goal in a social setting. Participation in the choir lifted moods and gave a sense of achievement. This and other studies suggest that participation in a choir can benefit sufferers of many chronic diseases, including cancer.
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Do you take your lunch break at your desk to make deadlines or avoid dodgy lunchrooms? New research found more than 500 types of bacteria existing on office spaces - more than the amount found on toilet seats, The Sydney Morning Herald reports. Another survey found that one in four Australians eat lunch at their desk, potentially putting them at risk of exposure to harmful germs or viruses. Senior research fellow in Occupational Health and Safety at Curtin University, Le Juin, said people sharing workplace facilities need to be mindful of maintaining hygiene standards. "Make sure when you do your work that your hands are clean, and before you go to lunch or go to do something else that you wash your hands and have a good hygiene habit," said Juin. Taking lunch breaks away from the desk is also important for general wellbeing. "[There are] ergonomic issues that we need to pay attention to. For every hour, you need to stand up and have a short break and do some exercise and then come back," said Juin.
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Three hundred and twenty public service workers are being asked to stand for science in a study gauging the potentially positive health effects of standing throughout the working day, The Age reports. Half of the workers will be given height-adjustable desks, to allow them to stand and sit as they work. They will also be coached to move more and wear accelerometers - to measure the duration and intensity of their activity. ''We want to know if you can change people and if you can change people, do you get better health and productivity outcomes?'' said Associate Professor Dunstan. The trial follows recent University of Sydney research that found people who sat for 11-plus hours per day were 40 per cent more likely to die within three years, compared with people who sat for less than four hours per day. People who sat for between eight and 11 hours per day has a 15 per cent increased risk of dying within three years, irrespective of daily physical activity such as gym visits.
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Taking part in a stress management program may help people with multiple sclerosis (MS) prevent new disease activity, Science Daily reports. A new study involved 121 people with MS; half of whom attended stress management programs involving problem-solving skills, relaxation, increasing positive activities, and enhancing social support. During the treatment period, 77 per cent of people receiving stress management training were free of new lesions - brain damage that indicates disease activity - compared with 55 per cent of those not receiving stress management training (the control group). "The size of the effect is similar to other recent phase II trials of new drug therapies for MS," said study author David C. Mohr, Ph.D, of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. Mohr noted that the effects of the training did not continue after the treatment concluded. "This was unexpected," Mohr said. "It's possible that people were not able to sustain their new coping skills once the support ended, or that some aspect of the treatment other than stress management skills, such as the social support, was the most beneficial part of the treatment."
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"The correlation between money and happiness is almost non-existent" for those living above the poverty line, says social psychologist Jamie Gruman. "We're trying to find out what makes people happy," says Gruman, co-founder of the Canadian Positive Psychology Association, "because we've learned it isn't money." He says that in the past, studies into happiness focused on "disorders," "deficits," "neuroses" and the need for therapy, with a record number of adults being prescribed antidepressants. What positive psychology presents is an alternative to our innate tendency to focus on the negative. A healthy dose of pessimism is appropriate at times, says Gruman, but conversely, "When you have a positive moment, how do you make the most of those moments?" Dr. Adam Anderson says some people are lucky to have the 'right' genes for positivity, while others need to learn ways of exercising positivity. This is what the study of positive psychology aims to understand and facilitate.
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The Personal Injury Education Foundation (PIEF) is hosting the Personal Injury Management Conference, this year focusing on Driving Outcomes That Work, and highlighting programs and initiatives that have excelled in the personal injury industry. Joining the conference as a keynote speaker is Terry Bogyo, former Director of Corporate Planning and Development for WorkSafe BC (the Workers’ Compensation Board of British Columbia). Mr Bogyo’s career has spanned more than 25 years, where he has had key roles in claims and rehabilitation strategic planning. At the conference, Mr Bogyo will discuss return to work outcomes, and how they differ between Australia and North America. “I want to explore some of the ways US and Canadian jurisdictions use incentives and disincentives to support RTW on difficult cases,” Mr Bogyo said. With studies highlighting the importance return to work has on rehabilitation, Mr Bogyo wants to dispel misconceptions on workers returning to work after an injury. “The medical evidence is clear: work is good for you and timely RTW not only reduces costs for employers, it improves outcomes for workers,” he said. “The vast majority of workers return to work well before full recovery...Excellent outcomes are only achievable if you believe they are. I want to stress the importance to those working in this field that they take a positive, proactive approach.”
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Video games that promote health can improve the wellbeing of employees, which in turn can help employers save on direct and indirect health care costs, Medical News Today reports. An editorial in Games for Health Journal suggests employers offer game-based services to employees to educate them on health and wellness, and improve their physical and psychological fitness. "Wellness programs using health games have the potential to significantly impact human well-being and the costs, pain, and suffering of preventable illnesses and conditions," says Games for Health Journal Editor-in-Chief Bill Ferguson, Ph.D.. "The most successful wellness programs incorporate videogames that present themselves as in the service of the player," said Dr. Ferguson. "These activities enable individuals to engage in things they have personally desired, but were unable to prioritize and accomplish before wellness games. The result is healthier, happier, and more productive employees - a win-win for employers and their people"
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The global pain management market is forecast to reach US $77 billion by the year 2017, Companies and Markets reports. Over 1.5 billion people worldwide currently suffer from chronic pain and this figure is set to continue to rise in the coming years. Market growth is predicted to be driven by increasing demand for pain treatment drugs as well as efficient medical devices for pain treatment. Other growth areas include the introduction of novel and effective therapies in both opioid and non-opioid pharmaceutical sectors. Pain management drugs represent the largest segment of the market, while pain management services account for the fastest growing segment worldwide.
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Sleep is a "secret weapon" that you can consciously use to increase your performance and success in both work and life, The Age reports. Performance coach Andrew May has worked with elite sports people for the past 15 years and has some tips for our predominantly sleep-deprived working population. "Sleep isn't an evolutionary error; it's something that we all need in order to perform each day," says May. "The four primary functions of sleep are to conserve energy, repair and rejuvenate our body's cells, improve our brain plasticity and improve learning and memory function." May says that working towards better sleep will ensure better results in waking life. His tips include: Make sleep a priority; Cut out caffeine after 3pm; Keep active and use movement to your advantage; Learn to relax; Disconnect your technology; Have a routine; Be realistic if you have children; Keep the TV out of the bedroom; Don't sweep worries under the rug; and Practice makes perfect. Follow the new title link for more details.
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NY Times blogger Tim Kreider warns of the pitfalls of the popular trend of being busy. "Almost everyone I know is busy," writes Kreider. "They feel anxious and guilty when they aren’t either working or doing something to promote their work. They schedule in time with friends the way students with 4.0 G.P.A.’s [Grade Point Averages - high school score] make sure to sign up for community service because it looks good on their college applications." So what are the downsides to this perpetual state of business? Kreider describes a friend who recently moved from New York to the countryside in France. "She described herself as happy and relaxed for the first time in years. She still gets her work done, but it doesn’t consume her entire day and brain...What she had mistakenly assumed was her personality — driven, cranky, anxious and sad — turned out to be a deformative effect of her environment." Learning to resist this state of stress is, paradoxically, pivotal to actually achieving positive things. "Idleness is not just a vacation, an indulgence or a vice; it is as indispensable to the brain as vitamin D is to the body, and deprived of it we suffer a mental affliction as disfiguring as rickets," explains Kreider. "The space and quiet that idleness provides is a necessary condition for standing back from life and seeing it whole, for making unexpected connections and waiting for the wild summer lightning strikes of inspiration — it is, paradoxically, necessary to getting any work done."
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How can we achieve a positive working culture when the workplace is becoming increasingly fragmented and 'virtual', asks NY Times? Paul Zak, professor of economics and director of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies at Claremont Graduate University says it comes down to oxytocin - a neurochemical associated with trust, empathy and bonding. Zak's studies have found that oxytocin is produced in high-performing workplaces. “The classic way to get people to do what you want is fear, but people acclimate to that,” says Zak. “If you want to keep people on task all the time, you want oxytocin-producing situations.” These include fostering workers with praise; ensuring transparency in identifying tasks and setting goals; promoting authenticity; having effective delegation of work; allowing empathy to others' situations; and allowing autonomy. How can these be fostered online? “[Management] have to get better at communicating the purpose of things – why they are doing something,” says Zak. “It will be important to create a narrative for the virtual team.”
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Severe sleep loss has the same immediate, negative effect on the immune system as exposure to stress, Science Daily reports. A new study compared the white blood cell count of healthy men under normal and severely sleep-deprived conditions, finding the greatest changes were in the white blood cells known as granulocytes. "The granulocytes reacted immediately to the physical stress of sleep loss and directly mirrored the body's stress response," said Ackermann, a postdoctoral researcher at the Eramus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Prior studies have drawn a link between sleep deprivation and the development of chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity. "Future research will reveal the molecular mechanisms behind this immediate stress response and elucidate its role in the development of diseases associated with chronic sleep loss," said Katrin Ackermann, PhD, the study's lead author. "If confirmed with more data, this will have implications for clinical practice and for professions associated with long-term sleep loss, such as rotating shift work."
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A third of fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) workers are dangerously obese and at risk of heart attack according to Australian Medical Association state president Richard Choong, Perth Now reports. Dr Choong said between 30-35 per cent of his 400 FIFO worker patients are overweight and may not live long enough to enjoy the fruits of their six-figure incomes. "Being overweight makes you a prime candidate for a heart attack, something that is compounded by the stress of the (FIFO) lifestyle with its long hours and little rest," said Dr Choong. "Mining workers need to realise their health is more important than their salary." Dietician Denise Griffiths said FIFO workers often feel too exhausted to look after themselves when returning home from work. "The FIFO lifestyle is a difficult one to lead. It's long hours for weeks at a time and when (workers) come home they just want to relax and spend time with their family and friends." she said. "They want to be able to enjoy themselves and have a beer not exercise."
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Workplace flu vaccinations can provide an "excellent" return on investment, according to specialist health service company Life Care Consultants, Scoop.co.nz reports. “Having your employees vaccinated against flu at work is good sense for business," said Life Care’s managing director Janet Brothers. "Research published in 2010 by Wellsource, one of America’s leading workplace health and wellbeing providers, shows employers benefit with a 40% reduction in sick leave." Brothers said the return on an employer's investment for vaccinating staff against flu has been measured at 161% within six months. She encouraged employers to offer free flu vaccinations to staff. “Regardless of the size of the business, absenteeism and, very often, presenteeism – turning up to work when you’re sick, can have a hugely disruptive effect on other team members, service delivery and ultimately the bottom line of your business. Taking a wider and more altruistic view on flu vaccinations, there are significant social benefits with savings to the health dollar not to mention a more productive and healthier workforce.”
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The ACT government is pushing to become one of the first "launch sites" of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) from July next year, Canberra Times reports. Two sites will be piloted in the first year, with another two being introduced a year later. The NDIS will be a Medicare-style safety net that pays for equipment, therapy and support for over 400,000 people under 65 who acquire a disability, as well as their carers. ''The NDIS is a huge development for the disability sector and while it will provide significant benefits, community groups will need assistance to prepare for the change,'' said ACT Community Services Minister Joy Burch. ''The ACT government wants to ensure that the sector is well prepared for the rollout of the NDIS, which is why we are making this early commitment in partnership with the sector.'' New South Wales and Tasmania are also vying to be involved in the pilot.
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Employment policy and health policy are one and the same, says a new study that finds workers without access to employment insurance and unemployment benefits experience higher mortality rates, Science Daily reports. The research concluded that not only is there an increased risk of dying for all unemployed workers, but low and medium-skilled workers in the US are at a greater risk of death if they lose their job, compared with their German counterparts. "Employment insurance makes a difference to the health of the most vulnerable populations, low-wage and poorly educated workers," said Chris McLeod, lead researcher. "For low-wage and poorly educated workers, it's not just about losing your job but losing your job and being at the bottom of the labour market." He added that social policy is a determinant of peoples' wellbeing and life spans. "It is important that we recognize how changes to employment and unemployment protections could inadvertently affect the health of the most vulnerable populations," said McLeod.
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Merely working in an environment where bullying occurs is enough to make many people consider quitting, Science Daily reports. Canadian research found that nurses who were not bullied directly, but who worked in an environment where bullying occurred, felt a stronger urge to quit than those actually being bullied. The effects of what researchers describe as this "ambient" bullying can be far-reaching, such as causing re-recruitment costs in the wake of a high staff turnover. This study demonstrates that a culture of bullying affects everyone in the workplace, not just the target of the bullying. "This is potentially interesting because we tend to assume that direct, personal experiences should be more influential upon employees than indirect experiences only witnessed or heard about in a second-hand fashion" said corresponding author, Marjan Houshmand. "Yet our study identifies a case where direct and indirect experiences have a similarly strong relationship to turnover intentions."
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Employees who have more control over their jobs take fewer sick days says a new study, Science Alert reports. When it comes to lower back pain, researchers found that the best way to prevent long absences from work (up to six months) was to give employees a sense of empowerment - and to ensure that their GPs followed up with them on a regular basis. "For the first time, the risk of prolonged sick leave for people complaining of back pain can be averted by simple short-term measures such as talking to their supervisor, changing work hours and modifying work breaks," said Associate Professor Markus Melloh. "Long-term measures include greater empowerment within a job, such as more decision-making by the worker." Associate Professor Melloh said that back pain is a very important issue because the back is the most common site of pain for people of working age, from young to middle-age adults. "Sickness absence due to an ongoing pain condition is a hot topic" said Associate Professor Melloh. "Prolonged absence may lead to unemployment and reduced employability of a worker, and also indirect health care costs increase when workers are absent for too long."
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Just one hour of interval exercise sprints per week can significantly reduce fat, Science Alert reports. Researchers at the University of New South Wales found that just 20 minutes of sprints on an exercise bike, three times per week, helped male participants shed two kilograms of body fat, and gain 1.2 kilograms of leg and abdomen muscle. These same results compare with seven hours of ordinary jogging per week. “Sprints are a very time efficient form of exercise,” said Associate Professor Steve Boutcher. “The sprint program...reduced visceral fat with seven times less exercise time and has a much greater impact on cardiovascular and metabolic health than reductions of subcutaneous fat stores in the legs and arms...Other studies using aerobic exercise, such as continuous jogging, have found that the amount of exercise needed to produce a similar decrease in visceral fat was around seven hours per week for 14 weeks."
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New research suggests chronic pain emerges as a result of an emotional response to an injury, Sky News reports. "The injury itself is not enough to explain the ongoing pain. It has to do with the injury combined with the state of the brain," said scientists from the Northwestern University in Chicago. Their research involved brain scan studies of the interaction between two brain regions: the frontal cortex and nucleus accumbens. The researchers found that the more emotionally someone's brain reacted to an injury, the more likely that person will experience ongoing pain after the injury has healed. "It may be that these sections of the brain are more excited to begin with in certain individuals, or there may be genetic and environmental influences that predispose these brain regions to interact at an excitable level," said professor Vania Apakarian. "Now we hope to develop new therapies for treatment based on this finding."
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Firefighters have been granted an exemption from changes to WorkCover legislation that would have seen them not covered during transit to and from work, ABC News reports. Pressuring the NSW Government with a strike, firefighters managed to win their reprieve shortly before the workers' compensation law amendments were passed in State Parliament. "I'm very happy and there will be men and women in fire stations around the state who will be very happy with this. Sanity prevailed in the early hours of the morning," said Fire Brigade Employees Union secretary Jim Casey. "We now have the most harsh workplace injury laws in all of Australia," said Shadow treasurer Michael Daley. "They are drastic. They will hurt ordinary people." Greens MP David Shoebridge says the government deliberately rushed the changes through. "This debate should have been adjourned and we should have had it at a civilised time," he said. "Thousands of workers will see their workers compensation benefits slashed."
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Rising health care costs and physician shortages require the introduction of a range of models of care, including more involvement of allied health professionals, 7th Space reports. A review sought to evaluate the quality of care of advanced physiotherapy practice, with an emphasis on services to patients with musculoskeletal disorders. After examining 19 studies, the researchers concluded that advanced physiotherapy practice may be as (or more) beneficial than usual care by physicians for patients with musculoskeletal disorders. This is in terms of diagnostic accuracy, treatment effectiveness, use of healthcare resources, economic costs and patient satisfaction. "The emerging evidence suggests that physiotherapists in APP roles provide equal or better usual care in comparison to physicians," concluded the report.
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All injured workers will be required to cover their legal costs under new workers' compensation laws, The Sydney Morning Herald reports. Richard Brennan, a Sydney solicitor who represents injured workers seeking benefits under the workers' compensation scheme, says this amendment will result in many injured workers going unrepresented or even not pursuing their claims at all. Responding to amendments to the scheme introduced by Christian Democrats MP Fred Nile, Brennan had this to say: "In trying to save one worker in 1000 from paying the insurance company's costs, [Fred] has ensured that 1000 [out of] 1000 have to pay costs." Existing laws saw injured workers' costs paid in full by the insurer at rates regulated by WorkCover. ''Now, the insurance companies can pay their own lawyers anything they like," said Brennan. The Government defended the changes, saying they were part of the plan to reduce WorkCover's $4 billion deficit.
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The latest national health statistics reveal we are living longer in better health, yet this is accompanied by growing health costs for an ageing population, The Age reports. Australia's Health 2012 report, released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, revealed that women at age 65 can expect to live for another 22 years - including 16 years without disability - while men can expect an additional 19 years, with 15 years free from disability. This is a year more of healthy life compared with the late 1990s. Director of the AIHW, David Kalisch, said that almost half of health costs are spent on average in the final two years of life. Health spending was at $121 billion in 2009-10, compared with $72 billion a decade before. The report tracked rising out-of-pocket costs, which are at around $1000 per year - double what they were a decade ago.
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Adding to the list of damaging consequences of increasing work hours and job strain, poor nutrition is increasingly affecting families of many workers, Medical News Today reports. A new study focuses on work/family conflict for both parents, and its effect on the health and nutrition of their adolescent children. Mothers working full-time, "reported fewer family meals, more frequent fast food for family meals, less frequent encouragement of their adolescents' healthful eating, lower fruit and vegetable intake and less time spent on food preparation, compared to part-time and not-employed mothers," said researchers. Fathers working full-time reported significantly fewer hours of food preparation than part-time or not working fathers. Working parents experiencing high levels of work-life stress reported having one and a half fewer family meals per week, and eating half a serving less of fruits and vegetables per day. "There's a great need to help parents find realistic and sustainable ways to feed their families more healthfully while taking into consideration all of the stresses on parents these days," said researchers.
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Having a happier workplace has saved one workplace between $5-$12K per staff member in recruitment costs, according to E-Web CEO Gary Ng. “It used to cost us between 5-12k to recruit each new staff member, but in the last two years we’ve almost eliminated those recruitment costs because word has gotten out about our positive workplace culture; we now find ourselves inundated with hundreds of high calibre job-seekers approaching us directly,” said Mr Ng, who is presenting on workplace wellbeing at the Workplace Health Promotion Network annual forum in Sydney on Wednesday, 20 June. “We aim to empower staff, for example, we don’t do ‘performance reviews’; we do ‘personal growth projections’ and ask staff to set their own KPI’s and growth areas," said Ng. Spokesperson for MHA, Katrina Davis said, “More than one in five Australians will experience a mental illness in any given year, so it is in the interests of every workplace to promote positive mental health and create a supportive workplace environment”.
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Several experts suggest there's no hard evidence linking cancer cases to exposure to toxic dust created by the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, USA Today reports. Last month the federal government announced that 50 types of cancer would be covered under the multibillion-dollar World Trade Center health fund. Scientists, however, say there's little research proving that exposure to the toxic dust has even caused one kind of cancer. "To imagine that there is strong evidence about any cancer resulting from 9/11 is naive in the extreme," said Donald Berry, biostatistics professor at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. The National Institute for Occupational Safety raised several issues, including that the few cancer experts on the government advisory panel are outweighed by advocates for cleanup and rescue workers; and that exposure to cancer-causing agents does not necessarily mean someone will develop cancer. "I understand the urge to want to compensate and reward the heroes and victims of that tragedy," said Dr. Alfred Neugut, Columbia University oncologist and epidemiologist. "[But] if we're using medical compensation as the means to that, then we should be scientifically rigorous about it."
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Over 80 per cent of call centre workers said their work causes them to feel stressed, Press Association reports. A study of nearly 800 workers by Unison has found that the health and wellbeing of call centre staff is often compromised by their pressurised, target-driven and closely-monitored working environment. One in four workers has had their access to a toilet break restricted, which the report describes as a "significant" risk to their health and safety. Nearly seven out of ten people surveyed reported eye strain, while over half reported problems with their hearing and voice. "Workers rightly expect their employers to have a duty of care not only to their physical health, but also to their mental wellbeing, and the findings of this survey - that eight in 10 are experiencing stress, a quarter of them to a damaging degree - must be addressed urgently," said Unison general secretary Dave Prentis. "The results of this survey should be a wake-up call for call centre employers."
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It's a common enough problem, so what are some ways to get to sleep sooner, and for longer? Up to 80 per cent of people have trouble sleeping at some stage of their lives, and about 30 per cent struggle over a longer period, reports Stuff.co.nz. "Probably the simplest place to start is to make sure sleep is a priority,'' said Dr Timothy Sharp, founder of the Happiness Institute. Avoiding caffeine in the afternoon and large meals late in the evening can improve the quality of sleep. Turning off electronic devices is another big one. "All that should be turned off and put away because it takes a while for our brains to wind down," says Sharp. Follow the link in this new item's title for the full 10 steps to help you sleep at night.
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A parliamentary report into the proposed cuts to the NSW workers' compensation scheme has adopted nearly all of the government's recommendations, prompting the opposition to brand the process a "sham", Sydney Morning Herald reports. The committee has recommended a cap on medical expenses, a reduction in weekly payments, cuts to benefits after a set period of time for some injuries, and the abolition of journey claims - workers will no longer be covered for injuries they may incur while in transit to and from work. Police will be exempt from the journey claim amendment, though fire fighters will not. Finance Minister Greg Pearce says the cuts will save the scheme from buckling under its $4 billion deficit. Premier Barry O'Farrell believes the cuts will protect injured workers. "What I'm saying to workers across the state is the best protection any government can provide them with is a sustainable scheme," he said. Parliamentary committee members Michael Daley and Adam Searle disagreed, saying the recommendations would result in "the biggest assault on workers’ rights in NSW that we have ever seen." Mr Searle pointed out that while compensation payments to injured workers had already been cut 20 per cent over the past decade, the scheme's agents' income has tripled over the same period.
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Meditation training can help people stay on tasks for longer with fewer distractions, while improving their memory and reducing their stress, Medical News today reports. New research from the University of Washington studied three groups of 12-15 Human Resources managers. One group received mindfulness meditation training over an 8-week period, while another group received body relaxation training. Members of a third group received no training at first, then after eight weeks were given the mindfulness training. During this period, all participants were given stressful tests of their work-related multitasking abilities. Those who received meditation training reported lower stress levels, while those who received only relaxation training did not. The group that did not receive meditation training at first did not report lower stress, but then went on to do so after receiving meditation training. "We are encouraged by these first results," said researcher professor David Levy. "While there is increasing scientific evidence that certain forms of meditation increase concentration and reduce emotional volatility and stress, until now there has been little direct evidence that meditation may impart such benefits for those in stressful, information-intensive environments."
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Obesity and depression are the root causes of daytime sleepiness, according to three studies reported by Medical News Today. "The 'epidemic' of sleepiness parallels an 'epidemic' of obesity and psychosocial stress," said Alexandros Vgontzas, MD and principal investigator for the three studies. "The primary finding connecting our three studies are that depression and obesity are the main risk factors for both new-onset and persistent excessive sleepiness," he said. "Weight loss, depression and sleep disorders should be our priorities in terms of preventing the medical complications and public safety hazards associated with this excessive sleepiness." Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is associated with significant health risks including high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, depression, diabetes, obesity and work accidents.
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A simple cup of coffee with a friend can reduce levels of depression for sufferers, Medical Xpress reports. A new study by researchers at University College Dublin found a link between social interaction and depression symptoms. “This study shows that conventional treatments can be supplemented by social support from family, friends and the community in the battle against mental health problems in Ireland,” said the Minister for Disability, Equality, Mental Health and Older People, Ms Kathleen Lynch TD. “Increased social interaction helps sufferers to rebuild their self-esteem which in turn enables them to maintain and develop positive relationships and friendships.” At the beginning of the study, 20 per cent of participants had no contact with friends, 35 per cent were living alone and 50 per cent never attended social groups. “By the end of the study, all of the participants reported feeling better about themselves, having more confidence to socialise in their community, and experiencing fewer symptoms of depression,” said Dr Ann Sheridan, lead author of the study. “Supporting the development of positive relationships and increasing social activity helps with the treatment of mental health difficulties.”
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While more than 80 per cent of American businesses with at least 50 employees engage in some kind of health-promotion program, the common practice of providing access to online wellness information is not enough on its own, writes Dave Miller for HRE Online. "That is not enough to simply offer educational programs and expect to see reductions in healthcare costs or improvements in employee morale," writes Miller. "Employers both large and small need to do more for the health of their employees and the well-being of their companies." A recent survey by the Principal Financial Group found that medical costs fall by an average of $3.27 for every dollar spent on wellness, while absenteeism costs fall by $2.73. "Study after study shows that healthy and fit employees are more productive, call in sick less often and visit the doctor less frequently," says Miller. He suggests 'wellness challenges' to improve workplace wellbeing. "Fun and friendly competition goes a long way to helping people make a change or reach a specific goal. In the workplace, the keys to success lie in the planning and implementation."
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A new study published in the BMJ triggered a number of headlines suggesting that exercise doesn't help depression, Medical News Today reports. Researchers behind the study did not set out to test the effectiveness of exercise on treating depression; however media sound bytes referring to this research have taken it out of context. Researchers "wanted to find out whether adding a specific physical activity intervention to the "usual care" that patients with depression receive through their general practitioners (GPs) in the UK, would significantly reduce their symptoms," writes Medical News Today. While the researchers found that "The addition of a facilitated physical activity intervention to usual care did not improve depression outcome or reduce use of antidepressants compared with usual care alone," they noted that participants in the [exercising] group reported more physical activity during the follow-up period, even months after they stopped having contact with the facilitator. "Thus the researchers did not conclude that exercise is "useless" for depression, as some of the headlines would suggest," writes Medical News Today, "but their findings could provide useful information for healthcare staff making decisions about which exercise programs to include in primary care services."
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A new study has found that phone-based psychotherapy is just as effective as face-to-face cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), and that more patients relying on phone sessions stuck with their therapy, Time Healthland reports. The study, led by David Mohr at Northwestern University, is described as the most definitive of its type. Of the 325 participants, significantly fewer people dropped out of the phone-therapy group. After 18 weeks, only 21% of the phone-based therapy patients had stopped their sessions, compared with 33% of the face-to-face patients. Both groups improved equally over the course of therapy. However, researchers continued to monitor participants after the conclusion of the therapy, and found that those who had received face-to-face treatment were doing slightly better, reporting fewer symptoms of depression. Researchers noted that this didn't negate the effects of phone therapy, but rather that the phone-based patients may have been more likely to be the most severely depressed ones. “I think this study is definitive in saying that face-to-face contact is not really necessary,” said Mohr. “I don’t think this means that telephone psychotherapy replaces face-to-face therapy, but it means they are certainly interchangeable, and that phone therapy is not a second-rate treatment for patients with depression.”
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Kevin Jones at Safety At Work Blog responds to an article in The Age that queries why workplace bullying legislation - dubbed 'Brodie's Law - is still not yet being applied. Jones asks why the police force - whose role in the community is typically "reactive" - are being expected to enforce the law, when workplace bullying equally requires harm-prevention actions. "The lack of action is not surprising as 'Brodie’s Law'...was a change to laws about stalking and not specifically workplace bullying," says Jones. "The hyperbolic reporting around the introduction of 'Brodie’s Law' has compounded the confusion about who to turn to when bullying occurs...Worksafe Victoria has indicated in the past that, although the psychological impacts of bullying are real to the victim, many interpersonal conflicts and misunderstandings have been lumped under workplace bullying. I would argue that this has inflated the prevalence of workplace bullying in the minds of the public." This, Jones argues, shifts the focus from what is really needed: a coordinated prevention strategy. "A greater level of sustainable change would occur from advocating for a greater recognition of mental health issues as they occur in, and affect, the workplace," says Jones. "Imagine what level of change could be achieved if all of the outrage was coordinated into a strategic campaign on reducing psychosocial harm."
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The Australian Human Rights Commission has called for the elimination of barriers to people working through their 60s and beyond, Aging Workforce reports. The commission issued a white paper, titled "Working Past Our 60s: Reforming Laws and Policies for the Older Worker," which details barriers to workforce participation for older Australians involving workers compensation, income insurance and licensing. "Structural barriers not only create financial and security difficulties for people who work into their 60s and beyond, they also send a message to older workers that they should not be in the workforce," says the paper. With regard to workers' compensation, income protection and superannuation, the paper recommends, "extending...provisions to all people who remain productive in the workforce will go some way towards ensuring that older Australians enjoy the same rights as the rest of the working population." It also recommends "ensuring that the licensing and regulatory requirements do not discriminate on the basis of age will also provide opportunities for people to work for as long as they are fit and productive."
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Adolescents and young adults aged between 13 and 24 who have a mental health disorder are 2.4 times more likely to become long-term opioid users, Medical News Today reports. A longitudinal study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health found that not only were 13-24 year-olds more likely to be prescribed opioids for chronic pain, but those with mental health conditions such as depression or anxiety were more likely to become addicted compared with those who did not have a mental health disorder. "There are a number of reasons why adolescents and young adults with mental health issues are more likely to become long-term users of opioids," said Dr. Laura Richardson, researcher and associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington. "Depression and anxiety might increase pain symptoms and lead to longer treatment, and physicians may see depressed patients as being more distressed and may be willing to treat pain symptoms over a longer period of time." The study tracked opioid usage of 62,560 adolescents and young adults over a seven-year period.
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A review published in the Annals of Internal Medicine finds the benefits of viscosupplementation injections for knee arthritis may be minimal, Reuters reports. The injections aim to replenish the depleted hyaluronic acid - a natural shock absorber and lubricant in joints - in osteoarthritic knees. The new research review found that while viscosupplementation did appear to bring pain relief to some patients, the injections brought only "clinically irrelevant effects." These injections can also carry side effects of swelling and inflammation of the joint. "We don't have evidence that viscosupplementation works, but it is associated with an increased risk of adverse events," said Dr. Peter Juni. He and his team suggested the injections "be discouraged" for people with knee arthritis. Dr. Joseph Bosco, from the NYU Langone Medical Center in New York argued that the injections should still be an option for some patients. "I think patient selection is key," he said, suggesting the treatment is more likely to help someone with mild to moderate knee arthritis and "no big pieces of cartilage floating around in the joint."
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The Health Department is calling for people to vaccinate against influenza after figures reveal that the number of people diagnosed with the flu this year have doubled compared with the same time last year, ABC News reports. 422 people were reportedly diagnosed with the flu in the first 20 weeks of this year, compared with 221 people diagnosed in the same period during 2011. "The influenza season hasn't really taken off yet and we are watching and waiting for that to occur but certainly we have had increased numbers over summer and autumn over previous years," said Paul Armstrong. "The important point is that this time of the year when the weather starts to get colder, and people start to think about wintry things, that one of those things should be getting vaccinated against the influenza virus," he said. Armstrong emphasised the importance of influenza vaccination for people in high risk groups, including people over the age of 65, Aboriginal people over the age of 15, pregnant women and children under the age of five years.
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Happiness may be the key to heart health, Cleveland.com reports. A new study from the Harvard School of Public Health found that the risk of cardiovascular disease was reduced in people who had higher levels of life satisfaction and optimism, regardless of their age, socioeconomic status, smoking status or body weight. "The most optimistic people had an approximately 50 percent reduced risk of experiencing an initial cardiovascular event compared to their less-optimistic peers," said co-author Julia K.Boehm. "From the research, it also appears that these positive factors slow the progression of disease." The researchers say their study emphasises the importance of non-surgical and non-pharmaceutical therapies. "Health is more than just the absence of disease," said Boehm. "It's also about whether you have meaning, satisfaction and happiness in your life."
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Daily consumption of dark chocolate may lower your risk of stroke and heart attack, Science Daily reports. A new study by Monash University researchers published in the British Medical Journal found that dark chocolate's blood pressure and cholesterol-lowering properties presented a cheap intervention strategy for the 30 per cent of Australians at high risk of cardiovascular disease. “We’ve predicted significant health benefits of eating 100g of dark chocolate every day over a 10 year period. That's about the equivalent of one premium-quality block containing a minimum 70% cocoa," said PhD student Ella Zomer. “Our findings indicate dark chocolate therapy could provide an alternative to or be used to complement drug therapeutics in people at high risk of cardiovascular disease.” She added that researchers were not suggesting high-risk groups use dark chocolate exclusively as their only preventative measure, but in combination with strategies including exercise. Zomer suggested that 'enriched' dark chocolate varieties with high flavonoid levels can allow consumers to derive health benefits with lower levels of chocolate consumption.
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A new study has found that having a virtual exercise partner can significantly boost someone's motivation by as much as 100 per cent, Medical News Today reports. The research saw women participating in cycling exercises doing twice as much when working with a virtual partner, compared with those who exercised alone. "Being able to more than double one's performance is a substantial gain for those trying to increase their physical activity," said Brandon Irwin. The experiment assigned a "virtually present partner" - via video - to women participants, who were told they would be riding with a real partner, but in separate rooms. These women "met" their partners in a pre-recorded video and were informed that their partner's performance was higher than their own. During exercise sessions, participants thought they were tracking their partner's progress via a "live" video feed, but it was actually a recording. The results showed that those who exercised alone had a marked decline in motivation in intent to exercise again, compared with those who had a virtual partner.
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Mental health organisation Beyondblue warns that the stress and anxiety caused by job insecurity could become a major public health problem in Australia, ABC News reports. Beyondblue CEO Kate Carnell says research shows that the casualisation of the Australian workforce is giving an increasing number of workers mental health disorders, as well as physical conditions such as heart disease. "Heart health is affected by exercise levels, stress levels, dietary approaches and so on, so bad lifestyle outcomes can cause definite heart problems and mental health is very much part of that whole mix," said Carnell. "There is no doubt that job insecurity is a major major cause of job strain and job strain is a major risk factor for depression. So we're seeing more depression in the workplace, we're seeing more absenteeism and almost more importantly more presenteeism - people who are coming to work when they are depressed without the capacity to concentrate enough, and that can be an issue with other people in the workplace." Twenty-five per cent of Australian workers have no access to paid sick leave, which is resulting in one of the main drivers for increased presenteeism.
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Painkillers are greatly increasing workers' compensation costs - in more ways than one - New York Times reports. While insurers in the US spend around $1.4 billion per year on narcotic / opioid painkillers, the effect that these drugs have on insurers' bottom-lines is twofold. “What we see is an association between the greater use of opioids and delayed recovery from workplace injuries,” said Alex Swedlow, the head of research at the California Workers Compensation Institute. This drives up both disability payouts and medical expenses, by delaying return to work. Despite the widespread use of narcotic painkillers to treat a range of common problems including back pain, there is little evidence that they bring long-term benefits. "In a sense, insurers are experiencing the consequences of their own policies," reports the Times. "During the last decade, they readily reimbursed doctors for prescribing painkillers while eliminating payments for treatments that did not rely on drugs, like therapy."
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Mining company Xstrata has commissioned a study into the health of 100 of its northern Queensland workers, ABC News reports. Xstrata spokesman Steve de Kruijff explained that the aim of the study is to better understand the effect of sedentary work patterns on worker health. "[The study aims to] find out more about the health and wellbeing of our workforce - the ongoing quality of their life," said de Kruijff. The study, which will be conducted over three years, will also help the company understand how best to promote regular exercise, healthy eating and sustainable sleep patterns. "I guess the research that we see that can happen here can benefit not just the mining industry but most industries," said de Kruijff. "I'm sure that we can assist and provide opportunities for our workforce through this research - just to focus on the wellbeing of our workforce and wanting to improve people's futures."
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Hiding your true social identity at work results in decreased job satisfaction and increased turnover, says a new study from Rice University, the University of Houston and George Mason University, Science Daily reports. "People make decisions every day about whether it is safe to be themselves at work...there are real consequences of these decisions," said Eden King, study co-author. "The workplace is becoming a much more diverse place, but there are still some individuals who have difficulty embracing what makes them different, especially while on the job," said Michelle Hebl, co-author. Workers who suppress their race and ethnicity, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation or disability may engage in this behaviour in an attempt to protect themselves, but in some cases this actually exposes them to more discriminatory behaviour. "When individuals embrace their social identity in the workplace, other co-workers might be more sensitive to their behaviour and treatment of individuals like them," said Juan Madera. "And quite often, what's good for the worker is good for the workplace. The employees feel accepted and have better experiences with co-workers, which creates a positive working environment that may lead to decreased turnover and greater profits."
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A new study has found that doctors making visits may overlook a patient's poor mental health if they are accompanied by a carer companion, Medical News Today reports. Existing research suggests that having a loved one present when visiting a doctor can be beneficial to a patient's health, however, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that older adults with poor mental health function may experience shorter visits and less patient-centered communication if they were accompanied by a companion during doctor visits. "Despite a growing body of research that a family companion has favorable implications for patient- centered processes and communication during medical visits, what remains unclear is the effect on medical visits that involve discussion of a potentially stigmatizing condition such as mental health," said Jennifer Wolff, PhD, lead author. "Our study found that when patients with poor mental health were accompanied by a family companion, patients engaged in less psychosocial information-giving; physicians engaged in less question-asking and partnership-building and both patients and physicians contributed more task-oriented and biomedical dialogue which is indicative of less patient-centered communication."
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New research published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism has found that obese people are not always at an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) or early death, Medical News Today reports. If the obese person is metabolically healthy, their risk of all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality is not that different from other people's. Looking at the medical and mortality records of 22,203 people, researchers sought to find if there was a link between metabolically healthy obesity and cardiovascular disease risk, as well as all-cause mortality - which is whether obese people with no illnesses, such as diabetes, have a higher risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, or dying early. "Metabolically healthy obese participants were not at increased risk of CVD and all-cause mortality over 7 years," said the researchers.
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The NSW government has been accused of exaggerating WorkCover's unfunded liabilities in an attempt to create a "smokescreen" for cutting benefits to injured workers, Sydney Morning Herald reports. Unions NSW told a parliamentary inquiry into the NSW Workers' Compensation Scheme that the government isn't being honest about the reasons behind the scheme's $4 billion deficit. Unions NSW Secretary Mark Lennon said WorkCover's unfunded liability had been "wildly exaggerated to create a sense of crisis, so that the government can cut payments to sick and injured workers, in the name of allegedly helping business." He said that the $4 billion figure is based on a "worst-case scenario." An issues paper released by Finance Minister Greg Pearce suggests possible measures of cutting benefits to injured workers and removing journey claims. Unions NSW countered the paper, arguing that "politicians find it expedient to reduce scheme costs by targeting the entitlements of injured workers rather than tackle the underlying causes." They added that "the reluctance of governments to scrutinise the actions of scheme administrators, their claims agents and employers... is a deep-seated, perennial problem and a major obstacle to genuine reform."
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To maintain a healthy weight, when you eat may be as important as what you eat, Medical News Today reports. A study reported on in the journal Cell Metabolism has found that the health consequences of a poor diet may result in part from a mismatch between our body clocks and our eating schedules. When mice on a high-fat diet were restricted to eating for just eight hours per day, they ate just as much as those mice who were allowed to eat around the clock, yet the restricted mice were protected against obesity and other metabolic issues. "Every organ has a clock," said lead author Satchidananda Panda. He explained that our organs each have times when they are working at peak efficiency, and times when they are 'sleeping.' These metabolic cycles should match when we eat; turning on when we eat to assist cholesterol breakdown and glucose production, and turning off again after we eat. "When we eat randomly, those genes aren't on completely or off completely," said Panda. The results suggest that restricted meal times may be an under-utilised method for keeping off the pounds and improving health.
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The Federal Government has announed a plan for a parliamentary inquiry into the causes and extent of workplace bullying, ABC News reports. It will also consider proposals for preventing bullying culture from developing in the workplace. Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten announced the plans, with Ms Gillard saying that the enquiry will focus on creating a national law and workplace code of conduct. "If we have an inquiry it will enable people to come forward, tell their stories... and help us add to what we're doing now," she said. Minister Shorten said that workplace bullying was costing businesses between $6 billion and $36 billion annually. "We believe that workplace bullying, even if it can't always be seen, is as big a scourge as anything else, which is hurting our people at work - in particular our young people," he said.
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While research shows that multitasking causes an estimated 40 per cent drop in productivity, the common habit can be extremely difficult to give up, Shape reports. Author John Brubaker explains that multitasknig is so appealing because it makes us happy - in the short term. "We enjoy it because each time we check our email or instant message, it causes our brain to secrete dopamine similar to a drug's effect," says Brubaker. "While that momentary joy feels good, it derails us and causes us to lose focus." Stanford University researchers found that multitaskers are less productive than their more focused counterparts and also suffer from weaker self-control. Author Christine Louise Hohlbaum says the whole concept of multitasking is really a myth; the human brain can actually only focus on one task at a time. Even if we think we're saving time by "doing two things at once," we're actually just switching our focus back and forth repeatedly. This just makes us tire more quickly. "Accept that it is okay to do one thing at a time in the knowledge that slow is faster and fast is merely exhausting," said Hohlbaum. "If you're doing mindless things such as watching television while checking your Facebook status, go for it. But know you aren't giving your full awareness to either thing, which can be okay if nothing's at stake."
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Almost everyone will experience lower back pain at least once in their lives, but does even severe pain mean you should seek treatment? A new paper suggests not, reporting that the side effects of some treatment methods, such as chiropractic spinal manipulations, tend to be under-reported in trials, Guardian reports. Unless back pain sufferers have "red flag" symptoms - such as being under 20 or over 55 years old, losing control of bladder or bowels, or having weakness or numbness in a leg or arm - they are likely to be one of the 90 per cent of people whose back pain gets better within a month. Even if a disk has slipped, the treatment remains the same: start moving as soon as possible.
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Symptoms of acute and persistent low-back pain may improve significantly for people undergoing treatment, but their pain and disability may persist for a year or more, Medical News Today reports. A study by Australian and Brazilian researchers, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, looked at data from 33 studies involving 11,166 people, to review the way pain lasts for patients of acute as well as persistent low-back pain. For patients first presenting with acute low-back pain, the typical improvement in pain intensity after one year was around 90%. People who initially presented with low-back pain had moderate levels of pain and disability after one year - the average improvement in pain was only around 50%. "Our review confirms the broad finding of previous reviews that the typical course of acute low-back pain is initially favorable: there is a marked reduction in mean pain and disability in the first six weeks," said Dr. Christopher Maher. "Beyond six weeks, improvement slows and thereafter only small reductions in mean pain and disability are apparent up to one year."
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Patients can often suffer post-traumatic stress, anxiety or depression following a spell in an intensive-care unit, not only due to their initial illness or trauma, but also because of the ICU experience itself, Medical News Today reports. A new study found that women are more likely than men to suffer from post-traumatic stress following ICU treatment. Fortunately, psychological and physical 'follow-up' can reduce both this and post-ICU depression. "In general, for the same event, women are twice as likely to suffer post-traumatic stress disorder, recover more slowly, and are more prone to suffer long-term effects," said Dr Peter Sackey. "We found this was also true in ICU survivors. The women with the highest IES [Impact Event Scale] scores were the ones who were most helped by the follow-up scheme. While it is not clear whether the scheme only helps patients at severe risk of PTSD, it does mean that these people have access to the treatment they need."
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Cognitive behaviour therapy is a successful technique used to treat depression, anxiety and other mental health disorders by changing behaviours, Fox News reports. Simon Rego, director of psychology training at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, offered nine techniques for breaking the cycle of negativity. These include: Avoiding catastrophising situations; Stopping ruminating about situations; Resisting trying to predict future situations; Not dwelling on the past; Reaching out to others; Sticking to a structured routine; Avoiding 'black and white' thinking; 'Reality-checking' your thoughts; and choosing smart goals. Follow the link in the headline for more details.
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People who rate themselves as having high emotional intelligence (EI) may tend to overestimate their own ability to detect when others are being deceptive, Science Daily reports. A paper published in Legal and Criminological Psychology measured the EI of 116 participants, who were then asked to view 20 videos from around the world of people pleading for the safe return of a missing family member. In half of the videos, the person making the plea was actually responsible for the missing person's disappearance or murder. Participants were asked to judge whether the pleas were honest or deceptive. Researchers found that higher EI was associated with overconfidence in assessing other peoples' sincerity. While EI itself was not associated with being better or worse at discriminating between truths and lies, people with a higher ability to perceive and express emotion - an element of EI - were not as good at being able to tell when people were telling lies. "...features of emotional intelligence, and the decision-making processes they lead to, may have the paradoxical effect of impairing people's ability to detect deceit," said Professor Stephen Porter. "This finding is important because EI is a well-accepted concept and is used in a variety of domains, including the workplace."
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While Commonwealth firefighters are now covered by workers' compensation if they contract any of 12 specified types of cancer, their Victorian counterparts are still not eligible for WorkCover payments if they find themselves in the same situation, The Age reports. The State opposition and the Greens are calling for the the Baillieu government to similarly protect Victorian firefighters. Precipitating the Commonwealth move to amend compensation legislation, a Senate report released in September 2011 revealed that there was a higher incidence of certain cancers among firefighters than in the general population. State Greens MP Colleen Hartland will introduce a bill to the Victoria Parliament this year to change the state laws.
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Safety inspections, safety upgrades and fines are often perceived as hindrances to business, but a new study shows that surprise visits by safety inspectors actually save money and jobs for years to come, Scientific American reports. The analysis, published in Science, shows that just one single safety inspection saved companies 26 per cent on workers' compensation claims over five years. Companies saved an average of $355,000 over five years in worker injury claims and compensation, compared with other companies who were not inspected. “Across the numerous outcomes we looked at, we never saw any evidence of inspections causing harms,” said co-author Michael Toffel. In fact, in the sample, researchers actually saw small gains in firm survival, payroll, creditworthiness, sales and employment in the companies that were inspected.
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The Greens say an online survey shows evidence of widespread bullying in both the public and private sectors, as well as under-reporting by victims, ABC News reports. 135 workers completed the survey, with 75 per cent saying they had been bullied - the majority within the last 12 months. Nearly half of all bullying incidents were not reported, while 85 per cent of people who did report a bullying incident were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the response they received. Greens spokeswoman Amanda Bresnan said the survey highlights the need for better bullying prevention strategies and victim support. "This year I proposed legislation to address workplace bullying. It would have created specialist positions in WorkSafe to deal with bullying, and establish an expert advisory committee on the issue," she said. The majority of survey respondents supported her call for WorkSafe ACT to employ specialist bullying inspectors. "Both Labor and Liberal voted against these important reforms and seem to think the status quo is acceptable."
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As winter rolls around, we are again reminded of the detrimental effects of presenteeism (attending work while ill), Canberra Times reports. While absenteeism accounts for around $6 billion in lost productivity each year, presenteeism is estimated to cost about $25 million per year. Clyde Rathbone, former Wallaby star, designs workplace health programs for business and government departments. ''Most people assume the biggest health-related cost in the workplace is absenteeism, but research is showing presenteeism is worse,'' Mr Rathbone said. ''You're at work but because of illness, you're not functioning to full capacity.''
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Make mine a double-shot, barista! The largest ever study of the relationship between coffee consumption and health has found that the more coffee people consumed, the less likely they were to die from a number of health problems, including heart disease, diabetes, respiratory disease, stroke, infections, and even injuries and accidents - New York Times reports. The study of over 400,000 people aged between 50 to 71 aimed to answer the long-standing question of whether coffee is good or bad for you. The results showed that over the 14-year study period, the risk of dying was 15 per cent lower for women and 10 per cent lower for men who drank between two and six or more cups of coffee a day. “It’s a modest effect,” said lead author Neal D. Freeman. “But the biggest concern for a long time has been that drinking coffee is a risky thing to do. Our results, and some of those of more recent studies, provide reassurance for coffee drinkers that this isn’t the case. The people who are regularly drinking coffee have a similar risk of death as nondrinkers, and there might be a modest benefit.’’
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One in three children believe their parents work too hard, according to new research by the Australian Institute for Family Studies, reports Sydney Morning Herald. In the first-of-its-kind study, around 4,000 children aged between 10 to 11 were surveyed on their parents' work habits. Thirty-five per cent of children felt that their dads worked too much, while 27 per cent thought their mums worked too much. "They see their parents working long hours and not coming home until late and weekends. Kids notice that and sense that they are missing out on time with their mother or father,'' said researcher Jennifer Baxter. While balancing work and life is a difficult challenge, 67 per cent of parents said their work had a positive effect on their children. Researchers noted that the difference related to whether the work was meaninfgul. ''A job can make a big difference to how parents fare and that in turn matters to how children fare...When parents aren't doing well, children don't do well," said Lyndall Strazdins of ANU. "Being in a poor quality job - that is insecure, has heavy workloads, doesn't give people any say over how they do their job and doesn't build their skills - is equally as bad for your mental health as being unemployed."
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A University of Sydney study has linked the experience of "mental silence" with better health outcomes and greater wellbeing, Science Alert. "We found that the health and wellbeing profile of people who had meditated for at least two years was significantly higher in the majority of health and wellbeing categories when compared to the Australian population," said lead researcher Dr Ramesh Manocha. Mental health of participants was the area of greatest difference, with long-term meditators being 10 per cent better-off than the general population. The study is a world-first health quality of life survey of long-term meditators, and has been published in the journal of Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. The study focused on Sahaja Yoga meditation, aimed at achieving a state of mental silence, as opposed to relaxation or mindfulness meditation techniques. "While we did expect that there would be some differences between the meditators and the general population we didn't expect the findings to be so pronounced. We repeated large components of the survey several times to confirm our results and got the same outcomes...[The results make] a strong case for the use of meditation as a primary prevention strategy, especially in mental health."
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Controlling the rise in obesity and promoting wellbeing is arguably the most important public health priority since the anti-tobacco campaign, and could save the US over $500 billion in treatment costs, Medical News Today reports. Researchers from Duke University, RTI International and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say that an additional 32 million more obese people are likely to become a burden on the healthcare system through to the year 2030. "Keeping obesity rates level," said lead author Eric Finkelstein, PhD, "could yield a savings of nearly $550 billion in medical expenditures over the next two decades."The study, which was released at the CDC's Weight of the Nation conference in Washinton, D.C., suggest that nearly half of the US population will be obese by 2030. "Should these forecasts prove accurate, the adverse health and cost consequences of obesity are likely to continue to escalate without a significant intervention...We know more than ever about the most successful strategies that will help Americans live healthier, more active lives and reduce obesity rates and medical costs...People need to make healthy choices, but the healthy choices must first be available and accessible in order to make them."
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Someone's judgment about the severity of their own depression or anxiety, and whether or not they should seek help, hinges on how they believe their suffering "ranks" in comparison with other people, Medical News Today reports. New research says the danger of this ranking is that people often make innacurate judgements about their own depression and anxiety symptoms, which may lead to missed diagnoses or false positive diagnoses of mental health conditions. "It is the patient that initiates most GP consultations about depression and anxiety, so that personal decision to see a doctor is a vital factor in determining a diagnosis," said researchers. "Worryingly, people who could be the most vulnerable to mental health disorders - for example those from certain geographical areas of the country or demographic groups where depression and anxiety are high - could be the very ones who are at highest risk of missed diagnoses." Vulnerable individuals who are surrounded by people who feel depressed may not seek help because comparitively, they perceive their suffering as less than those around them. Conversely, those suffering from depression very rarely may incorrectly believe that their suffering is abnormal, simply by comparing themselves to others. "Given that fact, our study may explain why there are such high rates of under and over-detection of depression and anxiety," said researchers.
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The wellbeing of over 750 previously sedentary office workers substantially improved when they were given pedometers and a daily goal of 10,000 steps, Sky News reports. Researchers followed the workers over a four-month period, sending them weekly encouragement emails and tallying the number of steps walked. Around 50 per cent of those considered to have poor wellbeing at the beginning of the study transitioned to positive wellbeing after the four months. This improvement was sustained, with positive results remaining present one year later. "These results suggest that a health program such as this which incorporates both physical activity and team collegial involvement has the potential to improve wellbeing," said the study's authors.
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While more people are living further away from urban centres, the risks to health of commuting are becoming apparent, Science Daily reports. A new study has found that greater commuting distances are associated with decreased cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), increased weight and other indicators of metabolic risk. Researchers said the study provides more information about the way in which commuting contributes to the mortality risk of sedentary behaviour. The study found that people who drove longer distances to work reported less frequent participation in moderate to vigorous physical activity. Those who commuted more than 15 miles (24 kilometres) to work were less likely to meet recommendations for moderate to vigorous physical activity, while those who commuted greater than 10 miles (16 kilometres) were associated with high blood pressure.
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Taking a break from emailing while you're still at work may reduce your stress levels, improve your health and help you focus better, US News reports. A new study found that workers who were cut off from email for five days experienced more natural, variable heart rates and switched between computer windows only half as much. Study co-author Gloria Mark said the findings could help boost productivity by encouraging offices to implement email vacations - involving controlling login times or batching messages. "We were surprised by the results, because they didn't have to turn out this way," said Mark. "It's possible that people might have been even more stressed not to have email, to feel like they were missing out on something, so we didn't expect that people would become significantly less stressed." Workers who didn't take an email vacation switched screens an average of 37 times per hour, compared with 18 times for the email vacationers. Non-vacationers were also in a steady 'high-alert' state, with more constant heart rates. "[The study] really got at some important issues such as multitasking, focus and being present at what we do on a day-to-day basis," said David Ballard, head of the American Psychological Association's Psychologically Healthy Workplace Program.
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Australians spend more time worry about work than any other issue in their lives, Sydney Morning Herald reports. Worries about work topped the list of other possible concerns, including war, the environment and politics. In the first major study of everyday Australians' worries, Macquarie University researchers that "future career" concerns created the greatest worry for men and women, while "the future" and "achievements" also ranked in the five top concerns. ''A lot of people tended to worry about work, social interactions, their appearance and those sorts of areas," said Associate Professor Jennifer Hudson, from the Centre for Emotional Health. Over 60 per cent of women said work and study worried them from "moderately" to "a lot", while slightly more men ranked these as concerns - around 70 per cent. These figures rose to over 80 per cent for people under 30 years of age. ''It is probably a combination of people being worried about their job security, and also the measures people feel they have to go to in order to get ahead,'' said Dr Denniss of The Australia Institute. ''People feel anxious that other people appear to be working longer and harder than them, because at 11pm their colleague will send out an email copying in everyone in the office so that everyone knows they are still working late at night.'' He suggested that technology play a greater role in allowing more flexibility with work.
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New research from Mayo Clinic has found that a combination of moderate exercise and mentally stimulating activities, like using a computer, can decrease the chances of having memory loss for people over 70 years old, Fox news reports. “We know that from our previous studies, physical exercise is independently associated with better memory and computer use is independently associated with better memory,” said study’s author, Dr. Yonas Geda. “We found that this combination had a synergistic interaction. It means two plus three becomes eight instead of just five.” The study of 626 people aged between 70 and 93 found that 20.1 percent of people who did not exercise or use a computer had normal cognition, while 37.6 percent showed symptoms of mild cognitive impairment (MCI - the transitional stage between traditional memory loss and early dementia and Alzheimer's disease.) For the opposite participants – those who exercised and used a computer – 36 percent were cognitively normal and only 18.3 percent showed MCI symptoms. "We found the most beneficial exercise in terms of frequency was five to six times per week, not daily," said researchers, "And the most beneficial is moderate, not vigorous. We don’t exactly know why this is.”
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Protecting Tasmanian workers from the harmful effects of second-hand tobacco smoke will be easier from today, with the launch of a new resource to help workplaces go smoke-free. The Minister for Health, Michelle O’Byrne, said while most indoor workplaces were already smoke-free, smoking was still too common in outside workplaces and some semi-inside workplaces like sheds and garages. “If employees are exposed to environmental tobacco smoke at work, either inside or outside, their workplace is not safe,” she said. “The World Health Organisation has stated there is no safe level of exposure to tobacco smoke. Going smoke-free helps employers meet their legal responsibilities to protect people at or near workplaces from risks to health and safety.” Ms O’Byrne said going smoke-free in the workplace is one of the most important things employers can do to protect the health of employees, and is widely accepted by the community. “Research shows 82 per cent of Australians support measures to ban smoking in the workplace. “It’s also good for business, because the health of your business depends on the health of your employees.” Ms O’Byrne said that the highly addictive nature of tobacco smoking made it important for employers to consider the needs of smokers when making the change. The Going Smoke-free kit can be downloaded here.
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Eight paramedics have committed suicide over the past three years, prompting colleagues and the union to despair at what they describe as an unprecedented trend, The Age reports. Three paramedics have taken their lives in four months this year alone, raising the suicide rate of ambulance workers to 20 times that of the general population. Ambulance Employees Australia secretary Steve McGhie said ther had never been this many suicides in such a short period. McGhie said that some paramedics who had committed suicide had left Ambulance Victoria before their deaths, and there had been an increase in the number of suicide attempts. ''We might have had one every five years before, nothing like this,'' said Mr McGhie. ''It's a tragedy that we work in the health sector and we can't deal with this health issue involving our own people...''It's no one factor causing this. But the pressure and the demands on paramedics are far greater than what they've ever been before.'' Mr McGhie hoped that the welfare support panel proposed in the union's log of claims will appease the situation. ''There's support available at the moment, just not enough,'' he said.
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Victoria has bowed out of the national OHS harmonisation scheme, Kevin Jones of Safety At Work Blog reports. Treasurer Kim Wells has made an official budget speech in which he said the state government will not be enacting the model Work Health and Safety laws. “The Government will not sign up to the current proposal for harmonised legislation for occupational health and safety," said Wells. Citing financial reasons, Wells argued that the legislation "offers little benefit for Victoria to offset the $3.4 billion of estimated costs, the majority of which falls on small business. Victoria will continue to work towards best practice legislation.” In response, Jones suggest some pertinent questions, including: "What standing will national Codes of Practice have in Victoria? Will WorkSafe continue to participate in the development of laws, Codes and guidance material that will apply in Victoria? In this period of budgetary frugality, why is the Victorian Treasurer is prepared to relinquish $A50 million of federal funding? Will the Victorian Government release the full PwC Report instead of just the summary, so that the full costings analysis can be reviewed? Can Victoria still claim to have the best OHS laws in Australia?"
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The number of obese people in America climbs, and so too does the costs of dealing with it, Fox News reports. A study from The Campaign to End Obesity found that the amount of obese people in the US has tripled over the past 50 years, from 13 per cent to 34 per cent. The costs of treating it - cited as $190 billion per year - do not only affect those who are obese. Health insurance companies raise premiums across the board - even for non-obese people - to help pay for medical costs related to obesity. It is suggested that the costs incurred by hospitals, sports facilities and transportation services are also increasing, due to the need for replacing seats and toilets to better accommodate obese patrons. The study also suggests that obesity is responsible for a $5 billion annual increase in jet fuel costs for commercial airlines, directly due to heavier passengers. Car transportation is reportedly also costing $4 billion annually more, for the same reason.
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One third of people aged 45 and over with arthritis report being depressed or anxious, Web MD reports. A new study of 1,793 people with all types of arthritis has reported the results, saying that anxiety may even be more common than depression among these people. "The emotional consequences of arthritis are high," says researcher and epidemiologist Louise Murphy, PhD. While doctors are trained to routinely look for symptoms of depression is people with chronic pain conditions such as arthritis, anxiety is not as commonly screened for. The study found that rates of anxiety were almost twice as high as those of depression. Thirty-one per cent of study participants had anxiety, while 18 per cent had depression. Eighty-four per cent of those with depression also had anxiety, while 50 per cent with anxiety also had depression. Researchers cited regular exercise as part of the solution. "The recommendation is to engage in 150 minutes of physical activity a week, but this can be short bursts such 10-minute walks, 15 times a week," said Murphy.
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Removing pressure altogether from life is an impossible ideal, reports BBC, but a new test about the psychology of pressure will investigate why some people are better at coping than others. Primarily, the research aims to find out why some people lose control of their emotions, while others don't. So, why do some people 'choke' in interviews, competitive work environments and other high pressure scenarios? "The neuroscience of choking is rather intriguing, and it can best be understood by considering what happens when you are walking along the street," writes Matthew Syed. "None of us actually think about the mechanics of how we walk as we are ambling along - we are thinking about what we are going to have for dinner, or what we are going to say at our next meeting, etc. But now imagine that you are walking along a narrow path with a 10,000 foot precipice on either side. Now, we might think about how we are moving our feet, the angle of our tread, the precise footfall on the path. And this, of course, is when we are most likely to fall." You can take the BBC's test on the psychology of pressure here.
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A new study has found that anxiety-prone mice developed more severe cancers than their calmer counterparts, Medical News Today reports. Mice with consistent anxiety had a sensitivity to chronic stress and a dampened immune system, which rendered them succeptible to developing more tumours and invasive cancer. In the experiment, mice with differing levels of anxiety were exposed to UV radiation in a model that "closely mimics human skin cancer." Researchers explained how the finding could have implications for people who are chronically stressed. "It's bad enough that cancer diagnosis and treatment generates stress and anxiety, but this study shows that anxiety and stress can accelerate cancer progression, thus perpetuating a vicious cycle," said lead author Firdaus Dhabhar, PhD. "The goal is to ameliorate or eliminate the effects of anxiety and chronic stress, at least at the time of cancer diagnosis and during treatment."
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Ambulance Victoria paramedics are seeking more support for physically and mentally injured workers, including those who have been bullied at work, The Age reports. The calls accompany a demand for a 30 per cent pay increase, as well as better overtime rates for paramedics, in an attempt to address "rock bottom morale." The Ambulance Employees Association says that paramedics are increasingly working overtime and have the highest injury rate of any public sector group in the state. Around one in 10 paramedics has submitted a WorkCover claim. "Unless we do something about pay rates in Victoria we're going to continue to lose more paramedics than what are being recruited,'' said union state secretary Steve McGhie. The union has called for the establishment of a welfare support panel, consisting of a mental health expert, a union representative and employer representative, to help return injured staff to work. "The problem in regard to injury rate in the ambulance service is so high they can't keep up with it. The highest rate is to do with back injuries and the movement of patients. The second highest is psychological issues, and that obviously comes from dealing with the pressures of the job, the death and the dying and the trauma that they see,'' said McGhie.
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Learning to focus less on their pain may help chronic pain sufferers sleep better and experience less day-to-day pain, Science Daily reports. New research conducted with 214 people with chronic face and jaw pain highlights the functions of a major neurological pathway that links negative thinking about pain to increased pain, through disturbed sleep. Approximately 80 per cent of chronic pain sufferers experience disturbed sleep. "We have found that people who ruminate about their pain and have more negative thoughts about their pain don't sleep as well, and the result is they feel more pain," says Luis F. Buenaver, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "If cognitive behavioral therapy can help people change the way they think about their pain, they might end that vicious cycle and feel better without sleeping pills or pain medicine." Buenaver added that while it may sound simple, "you can change the way you feel by changing the way you think."
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New research reveals that as few as 6 per cent of women experience cancer-related persistent fatigue a year after undergoing treatment for breast cancer, compared to up to 50 per cent as previously thought, Science Alert reports. A new study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology contradicts previous research, which may have attributed high rates of fatigue to factors unrelated to the cancer or its treatment. “The good news is that the vast majority of women who have undergone cancer treatment either never experience ongoing debilitating fatigue in the weeks and months after treatment ends or if they do, it passes relatively quickly,” said study author, Professor David Goldstein. “This is not to say that cancer-related fatigue is not a problem. It is still one of the main symptoms of cancer and a major side effect of treatment, but people can be reassured that for the vast majority receiving adjuvant treatment, it is not an ongoing or long term debilitating experience,” Professor Goldstein said.
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A new review adds to the body of evidence showing how return to work facilitates peoples' physical and mental wellbeing, IWH reports. “This systematic review is a rigorous study that fills an important gap and provides key evidence to support return-to-work programs,” said Institute for Work & Health President and Senior Scientist Dr. Cameron Mustard. He described their attempt to go beyond the usual "chicken or the egg" question about whether good health or good employment comes first. Instead, researchers reviewed the literature on the mental and physical health effects of gaining or returning to employment on the health of working-age adults. "Fifteen of the 18 studies demonstrated a beneficial effect of RTW on health, either showing a significant improvement in health after re-employment or a significant decline in health attributed to continued unemployment," researchers stated. They also showed evidence that "poor health interferes with people’s ability to go back to work, as well as some evidence suggesting that earlier re-employment may be associated with better health."
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Too many of us think that the dangers of being inactive don't apply to them, writes Gretchen Reynolds for the New York Times. Reynolds discovers, however, that even frequent exercisers can undo their good efforts by sitting for too long each day. "The consequences," she writes, "are swift, pervasive and punishing." Reynolds cites a number of studies, including one that followed 250,000 adults' daily TV, sitting, commuting, exercising and health habits. "People in the study who exercised for seven hours or more a week but spent at least seven hours a day in front of the television (a common scientific measure of sedentary time) were more likely to die prematurely than the small group who worked out seven hours a week and watched less than an hour of TV a day." Other research made it clear that the key was to break up sitting with any kind of activity, even walking.
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A UK NHS staff health and well-being review led by Dr Steve Boorman has identified possible savings of £555m if the NHS were to lower its sickness absence figure by one third. The report illustrates that where NHS organisations prioritise staff health and well-being, performance is enhanced, patient care improves, staff retention is higher and sickness absence is lower. In turn, agency staff costs are reduced and productivity improves. The Boorman review was commissioned following the publication of Dame Carol Black's report on health and well-being of the working age population, Lord Darzi's report High Quality Care for All and the Department of Health's report A High Quality Workforce.
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The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine has released a 10-point Agenda for Change, arguing that improved workplace health is as important as other public health improvement strategies. The initiative promotes educational tools for employers and workers, clinical and practice management resources for physicians, and advocacy with national policymakers for changes to the health care system. “ACOEM believes that its time for all of us in the health care system to recognize the workplace as a critical location for achieving our overall health goals as a nation,” said ACOEM President T. Warner Hudson, MD. “The workplace offers unique resources and infrastructure for addressing both individual and population health.”
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Stress can have significant physical and mental effects, including heachache, muscle pain, insomnia, anxiety, depression, addiction - the list goes on. Here are six stress-relief tips from Business Insider: 1) Create an oasis: In this 24/7 work world, make sure you switch off computers and phones at least an hour before and after sleep. 2) Find the 'sweet spots': Categorise tasks by difficulty and their potential impact, then choose according to rank to maximise your efficiency. 3) Renegotiate your workload: Realistically assess your limits, to avoid overwork and stress. 4) Turn off the news: If the 24-hour news cycle is getting you down, turn it off unless it's directly relevant to your life. 5) Disconnect from the uncontrollable: Predicting problems can be helpful, but don't continue to focus on them once you've assesed something. 6) Avoid stressed people: You're programmed to mirror other peoples' behaviour, so limit contact with people who catastrophise everything and instead surround yourself with optimists.
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A survey by the American Psychological Society found that half of workers who do not feel valued by their workplace are significantly more likely to look for work elsewhere in the next year, Deseret News reports. Conversely, those who report feeling valued by their employer are much more likely to remain loyal and hardworking - and be healthier and happier too. Of the 1,714 working adults surveyed, 93 per cent reported that feeling valued by management motivated them to do their best work, compared with only 33 per cent of those who said they did not feel valued. Those who reported feeling physically and mentally healthy also had a higher level of satisfaction and were more motivated. The article also includes eight tips for workers who want to be happier at work.
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Having a "glass-half-full" attitude to life may protect people against heart attack and stroke, Web MD reports. A new review by the Harvard School of Public Health of over 200 studies linked personality characteristics such as optimism and happiness to a lower risk for heart and vacsular disease. "Historically, studies have focused on the negative impact of depression and anxiety," said research fellow Julia K. Boehm, PhD. "We wanted to look at the flip side to see how psychological well-being - things like happiness, optimism, and having a sense of purpose - might impact [heart disease and stroke] risk." One of the explanatons for why people who report a greater sense of well-being have better outcomes is that they are more likely to have healthier lifestyles. They were more likely to exercise, eat better and get more sleep than those reporting a more negative view of life. "This suggests that bolstering psychological strengths like happiness and optimism could improve cardiovascular health," said Boehm. Bryan Bruno, MD, explained the implications for treaters. "Most cardiologists are aware of the importance of treating depression in patients with heart disease," he said. "Study after study has shown that once someone has had a cardiovascular event, their prognosis is a lot worse if they have untreated depression."
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Unsatisfied, unhappy workers are more likely to suffer from serious, persistant lower-back pain than others with a positive attitude, Science Alert reports. New research reveals that a third of people studied with niggling non-specific back pain went on to develop everyday back pain that negatively impacted on their career and social lives. Despite these people requiring extended sick leave and medical consultations, only a small number had actually suffered a physical change such as a slipped disc. "Everybody has occasional lower back or neck pain but we are concerned about people with continuous non-specific pain for weeks at a time, which has significant socio-economic and personal costs," said Research Associate Professor Markus Melloh. Patients who continued to show "maladaptive cognitions" involving fear and helplessness about their condition, movement avoidance and magnification of the condition's seriousness, were more likely to develop a chronic condition. "Attitude in the workplace and positive thinking have a huge impact on lower back pain," said Melloh. "If an employee has the option to participate in change in their workplace or have some say in their job design, they can regain a positive attitude and the condition may correct itself...Having somebody to listen and show emotional support at work is a strong protective factor."
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The O'Farrell government will reduce lump-sum payments to injured workers and impose a cutoff period for payments to long-term benefit recipients, Sydney Morning Herald reports. The government is proposing an overhaul to the WorkCover scheme, which is currently facing a $5 billion deficit. Lawyers and union representatives estimate that half of the 28,000 workers who are currently receiving benefits and medical expenses would no longer receieve payments under the new scheme. The changes include: abolishing lump-sum payments to injured workers with less than 10 per cent whole-body impairment; a cut-off after 2.5 years (130 weeks) for weekly payments for those considered partially injured; and a limit of nine years for all entitlements except for "totally incapacitated" workers. New reforms would allow a maximum of 90 per cent of an injured worker's wage to be paid in the event of injury or illness. That payment would then fall to 80 per cent after 13 weeks. "We are committed to improving rehabilitation outcomes, better rates of return to work and better management of the scheme," said a spokesman for Minister for Finance Greg Pearce. Barrister Bruce McManamey disagreed, saying the changes, "will result in injured workers losing their homes. People lose the ability to repay mortgages when they are thrown back on to social security.''
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"Are our jobs killing us? By committing to a lifetime of labor, much of it sedentary, are we inadvertently exposing ourselves to a kind of stress our bodies weren't designed for?" Brian Fung for Business Insider takes a look at the research behind some common questions surrounding work and health. While the majority of research says that work in general is good for you, Fung looks at some common issues of the modern workplace: "Are longer hours bad for you?"; "What about working odd hours?"; "I work in an office. Should be pretty safe, right?"; "Is unemployed bad for your health?"; and "Is work killing us?"
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Individuals who had any mental illness, major depressive episodes or serious mental illness in the past year were more likely to develop diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, cardiovascular disease or have a stroke, says new research. Medical News Today reports on a study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which found that people who had major depressive episodes lasting over two weeks were much more likely to develop certain conditions, including being 24.1 per cent more likely to develop high blood pressure, 8.9 per cent increase for diabetes, 6.5 per cent increase for cardiovascular disease, 17 per cent increase for asthma, and 2.5 per cent increase in stroke risk. "Behavioral health is essential to health," said SAMHSA administrator Pamela S. Hyde. "Promoting health and wellness for individuals, families and communities means treating behavioral health needs with the same commitment and vigor as any other physical health condition. Communities, families, and individuals cannot achieve health without addressing behavioral health."
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Dialysis patients whose mental health deteriorates over time face an increased risk or dying prematurely, Medical News Today reports. Research shows that such patients face an increased risk of heart disease - the leading cause of death in kidney disease patients - prompting calls for additional investigation into whether caring for kidney disease patients' mental health may help prevent heart complications and even death. "Our results emphasize the link between mind and body in patients with chronic illness and underscore the importance of attention to mental health for preventing cardiac complications and even death in dialysis patients," said researcher Ea Wha Kang. The study involved 1,846 dialysis patients whose mental health was measured at the beginning of the study and each subsequent year for three years. Those whose mental health scores decreased over time had a 5.8 per cent deceased survival time, and their time to first hospitalisation due to heart problems decreased by 7.6 per cent.
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A new study suggests that the growing number of psychiatric disorder diagnoses may be negatively influencing public perceptions of mental illness, Medical News Today reports. The study was comprised of interviews with 165 individuals with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, major depression, and other less severe disorders, who were undergoing mental health treatment for the first time. Author Brea L. Perry found that those with more socially-accepted mental illnesses, such as depression and mild mood disorders, did not receive as strong support as those who were diagnosed with more severe mental illness. "Perhaps because so many people are diagnosed and subsequently treated successfully, signs of depression do not alarm friends and family members to the same degree as disorders known to severely affect functioning," wrote Perry. She also found that the public does not always deem mental illnesses to be as justifiable as physical illnesses in allowing sufferers a "sick" role. Diagnosis of outwardly regognisable severe mental illness such as schizophrenia or the manic phase of bipolar disorder can lead to higher discrimination levels of sufferers by the public, yet create a stronger social support system among family and close friends.
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The head of Australia's largest injury prevention research organisation, Professor Rod McClure, is calling for "new thinking" in the development of more effective injury prevention programs. McClure, director of the Monash Injury Research Institute, will use next week's Dr Eric Wigglesworth AM Memorial Lecture to argue that researchers must take a more "ecological" view of injury prevention to improve health and safety. Professor McClure explains that the predominant theory since the 1970s for the cause of injuries is the transfer of energy, and that prevention of injuries is achieved through data-driven, systematic energy control. "Energy control is only part of the solution," said McClure. “Research in its pure theoretical form does not necessarily translate into creating a safer environment...We need to find a way to take ‘what works’ in theory and ‘make it work’ in practice...By recasting the problem of injury in terms of an ecological model, the barriers to translating research into effective injury prevention programs will be overcome."
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One in three fly-in, fly-out mining workers are quitting their jobs because of a range of health and lifestyle factors, Perth Now reports. The Federal Government's inquiry into FIFO practices in regional Australia will hear a range of reasons why workers are leaving, including attrition rates, a culture of hard drug abuse and the lack of family-friendly rosters. "Some sites achieve much lower numbers (of attrition) and some achieve a bit worse . . . it depends on factors like accommodation, camp life, flights, heat, even dust levels," said CME spokesman Mr Campbell-Fraser. He said there had been a dramatic improvement in accommodation for FIFO workers in recent years, yet some unions described a "prison camp" culture, with "petty and demeaning" rules. "(Workers) say their family lives suffer because the project can demand a roster of 26 days on and nine days off. It's a roster that has no regard for work/life balance," said Maritime Union of Australia spokesman Doug Heath. Other witnesses giving evidence to the inquiry include the WA Chamber of Minerals and Energy, the Australian Medical Association, Fortescue Metals, Chevron Australia and the WA Network of Alcohol and Other Drug Agencies.
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A cheap, simple powder may be the alternative to costly knee and hip replacements, The Age reports. A trial of Strontium ranelate, sold as Protelos in Britain, has been found to slow the process of osteoarthritis - all at a cost of less than $1.50 a day. Osteoarthritis is a painful wear-and-tear disease that destroys joints. The study found that Protelos reduced the deterioration of knee-joint cartilage in 1683 participants, of an average age of 63, by a third over three years. The treatment also reduced pain and increased mobility. ''This is a major breakthrough," said lead researcher Professor Cyrus Cooper. "The results today could totally change the way we treat osteoarthritis. For the first time we have a treatment that can slow the development of this debilitating disease and could reduce or even eliminate the need for expensive and painful joint-replacement surgery...For over 20 years we have been searching for a treatment that would allow us to alter the course of the disease, rather than just manage the symptoms."
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Department of Housing employees have access to a range of health and wellbeing initiatives designed to improve their health and productivity, reports Perth Now. Yet critics of the program, such as shadow treasurer Ben Wyatt, dispute how some such initiatives improve "frontline services." The initiatives offered to DoH employees include free sporting and recreational events like yoga, Pilates and boxing, free flu vaccines, weight-management programs, and blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose checks. "We support measures like staff health checks and health monitoring," said Wyatt, but called for the Housing Minister, Troy Buswell, to "explain why taxpayers should be paying for weekly yoga, Pilates and boxing for fun programs at the cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars and how these programs improve frontline services...this sort of waste will not sit well with the public." Buswell asserted that the program and its per-unit cost "is entirely consistent with programs offered by both other government organisations as well as organisations in the private sector...It is appropriate that contemporary employers invest in the health and wellbeing of their employees, and local and international research shows this investment generates benefits for both parties."
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Financial services industry workers are the least healthy, and are more likely to smoke and drink alcohol at risky levels, The Age reports. A WorkSafe Victoria study of 400,000 WorkHealth checks has revealed that nearly 72 per cent of financial services workers who had a WorkHealth check aren't doing enough physical exercise, while almost 95 per cent don't eat enough fruit or vegetables. Almost a quarter of male financial services workers and over 11 per cent of female workers are at a "high risk" of developing type 2 diabetes. Women were also more likely to smoke than males. Ambassador for WorkHealth, Wayne Kayler-Thomson, suggested the financial services industry could take some of their own advice regarding risk management - and invest in workers' health. "Every year, absenteeism due to injury and illness costs the Victorian economy and individual employers millions," writes Kayler-Thomson. "Yet research shows that by offering health and wellbeing programs for employees, you can have an impact on crucial areas such as reducing absenteeism, boosting productivity and attracting motivated, committed staff to deliver strong results for your business."
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Employees who feel obligated to stay in their roles can be physically and mentally worse-off, Medical News Today reports. New research has found that employees who stay in a job out of a sense of obligation or because of a lack of alternatives can be at an increased risk of emotional exhaustion or burnout - a chronic state of physical and mental depletion. "It may be that, in the absence of an emotional bond with the organisation, commitment based on obligation is experienced as a kind of indebtedness - a loss of autonomy that is emotionally draining over time," said co-author Alexandra Panaccio. "When employees stay with their organisation because they feel that they have no other options," said Panaccio, "they are more likely to experience emotional exhaustion. This feeling, in turn, may lead them to leave the organisation." Panaccio suggests that "employers should try to minimize this 'lack of alternatives' type of commitment among employees by developing their competencies, thus increasing their feeling of mobility and, paradoxically, contributing to them wanting to stay with the organisation."
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Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten belied calls for changes to industrial regulations by industry groups, arguing that productivity gains can be found in many other ways, The Sydney Morning Herald reports. While industry groups insisted that changes to workplace laws would improve productivity, Mr Shorten replied that "workforces of the future should not outsource all things and all matters of productivity to workplace regulation alone." Instead, he cited other areas for improvement including "excessive waste, high turnover, [and] poor occupational health and safety." Shorten emphasised the importance of fostering a healthy workplace culture. "Organisations that can explain to their employees where the employee fits in and a plan for each employees' future create far greater alignment between employee and employer," he said. Shorten also commented on the current state of debate. "Sadly at present, our debate moves tiresomely back and forth...between the two opposing destinations of fairness at one end, flexibility at the other," he said. "What if this debate wasn't linear at all? What if there was an alternative destination? An alternative 'sweet spot' for improving wealth creation and wellbeing at enterprises?"
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It has long been known that psychological stress is associated with an increased risk of developing depression, heart disease and infectious diseases, Science Daily reports. Until now, however, it hasn't been clear how this link functions. Research led by Carnegie Mellon University's Sheldon Cohen found that chronic psychological stress is associated with the body losing it's ability to regulate the inflammatory response. This, in turn, can lead to the development of disease. "The immune system's ability to regulate inflammation predicts who will develop a cold, but more importantly it provides an explanation of how stress can promote disease," said Cohen. "When under stress, cells of the immune system are unable to respond to hormonal control, and consequently, produce levels of inflammation that promote disease. Because inflammation plays a role in many diseases such as cardiovascular, asthma and autoimmune disorders, this model suggests why stress impacts them as well." This information will help in identifying and preventing the diseases influenced by chronic stress.
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People are less inclined to pay to prevent mental illnesses than for treatments of medical conditions, Medical News Today reports. New research found that even though people perceived mental illnesses as more burdensome than some general medical illnesses, they were 40 per cent less inclined to pay for the prevention of mental illnesses, compared with medical ones. "Our results showed that participants understood that mental illness clearly has a very negative impact on quality of life yet were significantly not as willing to pay for effective treatments for these illnesses," outlined the report. "The findings mirror the general pattern of health care spending, with less resources going to treat mental illnesses than might be expected given the overall level of burden they impose on society." The researchers summed up by stating that efforts to eliminate the gap between mental and physical health conditions will require targeting of peoples' beliefs mental illnesses and the value of their treatments.
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WorkCover makes training your supervisors about return to work easier with “Managing return to work – supervisor training” package now available. The Managing return to work – Supervisor training package has been developed by Return to Work Matters and licensed to WorkCoverSA. This is a licensed training tool for you, as coordinator, to use when working with supervisors and managers, to help them understand the important role they play in helping workers remain at or return to work after an injury. While the package is designed for a full-day training session, you can use it to suit your organisation’s needs. It contains: a PowerPoint presentation; a facilitator guide; a participant workbook; a participant resource handbook; and a participant evaluation form. To access the full training package, please complete the online application. For more information please contact the Return to Work Advisory Services Unit, WorkCoverSA, on (08) 8233 2231 or email rrtwc-support@workcover.com.
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Schoolteachers who underwent a short, intensive meditation program were less depressed, anxious or stressed, and more compassionate and aware of others' feelings, reports Medical News Today. A UCSF study blended Buddhist meditation techniques with modern scientific methods for regulating emotions. Eighty-two female schoolteachers underwent a 42-hour, eight-week training program, incorporating secular meditation practices with techniques learned from the scientific study of emotion. "The findings suggest that increased awareness of mental processes can influence emotional behavior," said lead author Margaret Kemeny, PhD, director of the Health Psychology Program in UCSF's Department of Psychiatry. "The study is particularly important because opportunities for reflection and contemplation seem to be fading in our fast-paced, technology-driven culture."
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Tom Watjen, CEO of financial protection benefits firm Unum, explained the value of income protection benefits to individuals, business and government at a US Senate committee hearing titled: "Stay-at-work and back-to-work strategies: lessons from the private sector", Yahoo News reports. The hearing focused on how the private sector supports employees through disability insurance, employment modifications and workplace accommodations. “The ability to earn a living is the most important asset people have, and protecting that asset benefits individuals, families, businesses and taxpayers,” said Watjen. “The world of disability is uncharted territory for most employees, and Unum guides them through this difficult landscape by building a trusting and supportive relationship with the common goal of helping the employee recover and return to work." An Unum-commissioned study last year found that private, employer-sponsored disability insurance saves taxpayers up to $4.5 billion per year and assists up to 575,000 families to avoid impoverishment and reliance on public assistance programs. A video of private sector submissions can be found here.
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A new study has found that avoiding prolonged sitting is just as important as exercise, Science Alert reports. The results showed that adults who sat for more than 11 hours per day had a 40 per cent increased risk of dying in the next three years. These results came even after taking account of the 200,000 participants' physical activity levels, weight and health status. "That morning walk or trip to the gym is still necessary, but it's also important to avoid prolonged sitting," said lead author Dr Hidde van der Ploeg. "Our results suggest the time people spend sitting at home, at work and in traffic should be reduced by standing or walking more." An editorial in the study's publishing journal Archives of Internal Medicine deemed the study strong enough to support doctors prescribing "reduced daily sitting time" to patients.
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More than 40 per cent of Australian commercial truck drivers have obstructive sleep apnoea, a sleeping disorder that can double the risk of sufferers crashing their vehicles, Sydney Morning Herald reports. A new study found that drivers are failing to report their symptoms, such as snoring and sleepiness, despite the requirement by licensing exams. "Our study shows licence requirements don't identify drivers with sleep disorders. The system is inadequate," said Ron Grunstein, professor of sleep medicine at the University of Sydney. Sixteen per cent of the 41 per cent of drivers with sleep apnoea are categorised as being severe cases. The study also found that half of drivers were obese, half were smokers, and around 20 per cent had hypertension.
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Around 40 per cent of athletes who undergo knee reconstruction surgery do not return to their previous level of sports participation, Science Alert reports. Australian research published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine illustrates why people should be told how realistic a full recoverery would be, before having surgery. PhD student Clare Ardern said the results were "a surprise because as a physiotherapist I would expect that previously fit, active and healthy athletes to return to playing their sport at a similar level to before they were injured." However, the research showed that "knee repair is big surgery and many athletes who choose surgery face a long road to recovery." Researchers said that "Injured athletes and their medical team need to know how likely it is that they will be able to return to their sport if they have surgery so that they can make a decision about whether having surgery is the right treatment option for them."
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Applications are now open for the 2012 Augusta Zadow scholarships, which recognise outstanding workplace health and safety initiatives for South Australian women. Two scholarships valued at up to $10,000 each will be awarded to assist with OHS improvements, further education or research undertaken by, or for the benefit of, women in South Australia. In 1895, Augusta Zadow became the first female Inspector of Factories in South Australia. She played a crucial role in securing better conditions for employees in factories, particularly for women and children. Many of the working conditions we now take for granted are due to Augusta's efforts. Entries close at 5:00pm on Friday 27 August 2012. See the SafeWork SA website for more info.
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1.5 million Australian adults suffer from sleep disorders such as insomnia, sleep apnoea and restless legs syndrome, and it's costing the economy more than $5.1 billion a year in healthcare costs and lost productivity, Sydney Morning Herald reports. A new paper reviewing 130 studies, published in The Lancet, suggests that despite the explosion in growth of insomnia medications, the best way to beat sleeplessness is to change bedtime behaviours. This includes learning relaxation techniques, sleep restriction therapy (going to sleep only to sleep), excercising regularly and making your bedroom dark, quiet and comfortable. US research has shown that people who take sleeping pills as little as twice a month are three to four times more likely to die in the next 2½ years. People taking more than 132 pills a year have a 35 per cent increase in cancer.
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The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) is campaigning for more Australian employers to hire "outside the box" next time they need staff, reports Aging Workforce. This referrs to candidates including mature aged people, women with caring responsibilities, indigenous Australians, people with a disability, and the unemployed - including youth. "With ageing demographics, sluggish productivity and forecast skill shortages, industry needs to think laterally and long term when it comes to recruitment," said ACCI Chief Executive Peter Anderson. The campaign involves a practical guide targeted at employers that presents the business case of recruiting "outside the box", including a focus on "a significant and often highly skilled and work ready group currently 'outside the box" - mature-aged workers.
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Most chronic disease prevention policies use a 10-year period to estimate the costs of chronic diseases, when assessing the benefits of legislative proposals to combat them, Medical News Today reports. However, US experts recommend this period be extended to 25 years, to allow more full models for estimating the long-term costs of chronic disease. "While the CBO 10-year budget window may be appropriate for many federal programs, when the health and financial impacts of a disease play out over longer periods, policymakers need a longer time horizon to get an accurate view of their policy options," said Michael O'Grady. "Despite the abundance of evidence that obesity is crippling America's fiscal and physical health, policies to reduce its prevalence have often been hampered by our federal budget scoring process," said Stephanie Silverman, co-founder of the Campaign to End Obesity. "By widening our lens to reflect the reality of health care costs, we can target meaningful prevention programs that yield the greatest cost savings and lessen the burden of the obesity epidemic on our economy."
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A new article in the Journal Age and Ageing suggests that older adults with a high Body Mass Index (BMI) are more likely to suffer from lower cognitive function, Medical News Today reports. "Our findings have important public health implications," said lead author Dae Hyun Yoon. "The prevention of obesity, particularly central obesity, might be important for the prevention of cognitive decline or dementia". Among the participants below the age of 70, the obese subjects were older, more likely to be male, and likely to have a higher prevalence of poor cognitive performance and higher hypertension compared with non-obese subjects.
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Doctors have warned employers to not dispute an employee's medical certificate that allows them to miss work, Herald Sun reports. Australian Medical Association president Steve Hambleton expressed concern that employers may feel entitled to question medical certificates following Opposition leader Tony Abbott's questioning of Labor MP Craig Thompson's medical certificate. Thompson is being investigated by FWA over his financial management of the Health Services Union, but has been away from work with a medical certificate deeming him unfit for work until March 23. Abbott declared Thompson's medical certificate "too vague", prompting Dr Hambleton to say that doctors and patients should never have to explain themselves - their confidentiality "sacrosanct in this country".
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Some people may think they're just a natural-born "stress head" and just have to put up with a racing heartbeat, tense muscles and interrupted thoughts. Not so, says psychologist Sarah Eidelman, arguing that people can build up a "stress fitness" that will give them greater resistance to excessive pressure and demands, ABC reports. "There's a lot you can do to build resilience but some of it requires more consistent effort," says Edelman. "Ask yourself what are some of the key stresses in your life and are there things you can work on. The very act of planning and executing a strategy helps reduce feelings of helplessness and frustration." Edelman says a common source of stress can be unrealistic expectations or deadlines. "You're human so sometimes you will make mistakes. Most of the time nothing terrible will happen." She offers tips for building a stress fitness regime in the link above.
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Three in 10 workers worldwide say their workplace is not psychologically safe or healthy, in a poll of over 14,000 workers around the world, The Globe and Mail reports. Stress, interpersonal conflict, frustration, lack of feedback and lack of promotion were cited as reasons why 27 per cent of workers in 24 countries reported dissatisfaction with the psychological climate of their work environment. "Employers need to pay attention to their employees’ mental health, not just their physical health," said Alexandra Evershed, senior vice-president of reasearch company Ipsos Public Affairs. Conversely, 47 per cent of workers said their workplace had a healthy environment. Ipsos polled workers in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Britain, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United States.
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One in three of today's Gen Y-ers will have diabetes during their lifetime, Science Alert reports. That's one person every five minutes developing a condition that can lead to visual impairment, kidney disease or limb amputation. A new report, Diabetes: the silent pandemic and its impact on Australia calls for urgent and renewed focus on this growing threat. Type-2 diabetes is our fastest growing chronic disease and will triple in prevalence to 2025. The prevalence of type-1 diabetes is also growing by about 3 per cent every year, however unlike type-2 diabetes, type-1 diabetes is unpreventable and its cause is unknown. "Our future path with diabetes is very concerning," said lead author Associate Professor Jonathan Shaw. "What is critical now is for us to take urgent responsibility and act firmly...Considering diabetes entirely a matter of personal responsibility will certainly fail to address this public health challenge. A well-planned and coordinated way to reach all levels of society is now critical for the future of this country."
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Just 60 seconds of heavy physical exertion in a threatening situation can lead to peoples' significantly damaged memories of events, reports Medical News Today. A new study by researchers at the University of Portsmouth found that police officers, witnesses and victims of crime suffer loss of memory, recognition and awareness of their environment if they have had to use bursts of physical energy in a combative encounter. Less than 60 seconds of "all-out" physical exertion was enough to seriously impair memories associated with the incident, including versions of events or identifying of persons involved. "As exhaustion takes over, cognitive resources tend to diminish," said researchers. "The ability to fully shift attention is inhibited, so even potentially relevant information might not be attended to. Ultimately, memory is determined by what we can process and attend to."
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A quarter of cancers could be prevented by 2025 by improving peoples' diet and exercise habits, The Age reports. A new report published in the Medical Journal of Australia predicts the incidence of cancer will rise in Australia to 170,000 in the next 13 years. This will be an increase of 60 per cent since 2007. Improving the population's health and certain environmental factors could reduce cancer incidence by 43,000 - or 25 percent. Report co-author Pip Youl said that less than 10 per cent of Australians eat the recommended five servings of vegetables per day, and only 6 per cent eat the recommended two servings of fruit per day. Only 2 per cent of the total health expenditure in 2007-8 was spent on preventative services or health promotion, but the authors found that spending more on promoting good nutrition and physical activity would save over $674 million in 2025.
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A survey by the Influenza Specialist group reveals that 90 per cent of Australian workers surveyed have risked the health of their colleagues by showing up to work sick, due to the pressure of deadlines and their reluctance to increase workloads for coworkers. This presenteeism is contributing to an economic loss of $34 billion per year in Australia. Despite the poll finding an increasing number of Australians frustrated at colleagues who present to work ill, many are still reluctant to practice proper "flu etiquette" themselves. "People need to get vaccinated now – it could save their lives and will ensure they are protected when others bring the infection into their workplaces or social environment," said ISG Chairman Dr Alan Hampson. The number of Australians still coming to work while sick eclipses the US figure, which stands at 64 per cent.
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The Greens have launched an anonymous survey to gauge the level of unreported bullying in ACT workplaces and schools, ABC News reports. "We know that obviously in workplaces it's a very high incidence of bullying," said Greens MLA Amanda Bresnan. "So we actually want to see, with under-reporting in particular, why people aren't reporting the situations they experience." She said recent data from the Legislative Assembly and the Community and Public Sector Union suggests under-reporting of bullying is widespread. "Also a number of people aren't satisfied with the response they get and that's the really key issue about under-reporting." Bresnan also called for more Government leadership on bullying. "In the states where they've introduced expertise which we proposed in our bill, they've actually seen an increase in reporting but it's a positive thing because it means that people are more confident in the system and will come forward with bullying cases."
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Workplace grudges are common and even sometimes valid, writes Andrea Kay for USA Today, but learning to let go of them is important for your wellbeing. "Your workplace is fraught with grudge opportunity. Think of all the people who have done you wrong. How about that co-worker who isn't carrying his weight but gets paid for the same job you do? Or when what's-his-name didn't follow directions or interrupted you in the middle of your star presentation and the whole thing went down the tubes." The list goes on, and the grudges can last for years, even decades. "It's so primal, it could go back to our primitive goal of survival of the fittest. Anyone who undermines our survival — yes, insults, being ignored or irresponsible people can be seen as threats to your survival — is to be avoided," says psychologist Larina Kase. But grudge-holding can be bad for your mental and physical health. Advice for moving past grudges includes contacting the person, writing a list of pros and cons for continuing to hold the grudge, and what it's stopping your from dealing with.
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Nominations for Comcare's Work Health and Safety Awards are now open. Two new awards have been added to this year’s Comcare Work Health and Safety Awards—the first time Comcare has administered the awards in its own right. The new awards (categories six and eight) will recognise Health and Safety Representative of the Year and Claims Manager of the Year. Comcare CEO Paul O’Connor said the expansion of the awards in 2012 acknowledges the importance of health and safety in the workplace. “I encourage as many nominations as possible for these awards which recognise excellence in workplace health and safety, rehabilitation and return to work achieved by individuals and organisations covered by the Comcare scheme. “Many organisations and employees make a vital contribution to health and safety in the workplace. “The awards highlight these contributions and how important they are in keeping employees safe, both physically and mentally at work,” Mr O’Connor said. The awards have previously been administered by the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission (SRCC). This changed with the introduction of the new work health and safety (WHS) laws in January this year, as Comcare is now the sole regulator of WHS in the scheme. The awards will be presented at a dinner in Sydney on 20 September 2012 as part of the Comcare National Conference. Further details on the awards can be found at www.comcare.gov.au/events.
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Women experiencing work burnout may be more likely to use eating as a comfort mechanism, Reuters reports. A new Finnish study of 230 women found that those who reported work burnout were more likely to have a habit of emotional eating, i.e. eating when stressed, anxious or depressed, as opposed to eating only when hungry. Participants who experienced work burnout were also more prone to uncontrolled eating - such as feeling always hungry or being unable to stop eating until all the food is gone. It's all connected to stress," said Sherry Pogoto, associate professor of medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and a clinician at the university's Weight Center. "Work permeates our lives," said Pogoto, who was not involved in the study. "And when people have a source of chronic stress, it can sometimes lead to emotional eating and problems with weight control." Even if someone isn't overweight, emotional eating is still unhealthy. "It's reinforcing a habit that's not healthy," she said. Pogoto recommended that people instead turn to exercise when stressed. "People often skip exercise when they feel stressed out, but that's a mistake because exercise is the biggest antidote to stress."
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New research has linked chronic stress with impaired memory, providing insight into why stress responses can trigger mental illness, Science Daily reports. Researchers focused on the influence of stress hormones on the prefrontal cortex (PFC), a region of the brain responsible for high level functions such as working memory and decision making. "Previous work has shown that chronic stress impairs PFC-mediated behaviors, like mental flexibility and attention," said the study's author Dr. Zhen Yan. "However, little is known about the physiological consequences and molecular targets of long-term stress." The researchers measured the effect of repeated stress on glutamate receptors in the PFC, which play an important role in functions such as memory. Their findings linked chronic stress with abnormal PFC function and recommended further research on stress-related mental disorders.
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WorkCover NSW may be facing drastic budget cuts after Finance Minister Gregg Pearce's announcement that the authority's deficit increased by $1 billion in the six months to June last year, ABC News reports. "It's vital that action is taken to reform the scheme and bring it back in the black," he said. "That's why the government considers the improved management of the scheme is a matter of the highest priority." Mr Pearce said there are more than 36,000 claimants currently on weekly WorkCover payments, with 38 per cent having been receiving payments for over three years. "The Government has to think of new ways of incentivising claimants to return to work...We are looking at ways in which rehabilitation practices and return to work schemes can be improved." Australian Lawyers Association spokesperson Jana Gumbert said the changes may adversely affect seriously injured workers. "The people who have the most serious injuries who are currently entitled to sue, and when I say to sue I mean to sue for very limited benefits already, those people will lose that right. They'll be forced to stay on a drip feed with an insurance company for the rest of their lives and that's really unsatisfactory."
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WorkCover Victoria and the TAC could potentially be amalgamated by the Baillieu government, which has privately requested a review of both authorities by the Essential Services Commission, The Age reports. Following plans to strip $472 million from WorkCover for general revenue, the Baillieu government is allegedly considering combining WorkCover and the TAC in a move that could save tens of millions of dollars. A spokeswoman for Assistant Treasurer Gordon Rich-Phillips saod there were "no plans" to combine the two authorities, but the government could not pre-empt the review's recommendations. Opposition finance spokesman Robin Scott said a merger would pose a "fundamental threat to the integrity of both organisations." Lawyer John Cain said that while both authorities dealt with accident prevention and compensation, it would be a mistake to assume they could be combined. "The real risk of putting them together is that you end up with the distinct possibility that both schemes will be worse off," he said.
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Feeling stressed changes how people weigh risk and reward, Science Daily reports. New research from the University of Southern California examines why people pay more attention to the upside of a possible outcome when they are under stress. Surprisingly, this discovery is "not what people would think right off the bat," says researcher Mara Mather. "Stress is usually associated with negative experiences, so you'd think, maybe I'm going to be more focused on the negative outcomes." However, researchers found that when people are under stress, they begin to pay more attention to positive information, and start discounting negative information. "Stress seems to help people learn from positive feedback and impairs their learning from negative feedback," says Mather. Stress also magnifies the differences between how men and women perceive risk. When men are stressed, they become more willing to take risks, while when women are stressed, they become more conservative about risk and instead focus on relationship-building.
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Workers who encounter high levels of diesel exhaust have an increased risk of developing lung cancer, NY Times reports. A study by the US National Cancer Institute found that miners exposed to high levels of diesel exhaust have three to five times the risks of developing lung cancer, compared with workers who were exposed to lower levels of diesel exhaust. These risks are also applicable not only in workplace settings, but to anyone living in urban areas, said researchers. The results of the study are due to be published next week on the website of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, despite letters from a lawyer representing a mining consortium warning legal consequences of publishing the results.
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Workers on sick leave because of common mental health disorders returned to work sooner when their psychotherapy dealt specifically with work-related problems, Medical News Today reports. Research by the American Psychological Association found that employees who received such therapy and returned to work sooner did not suffer any adverse effects, and showed significant improvement over a year. The study followed 168 employees who were on sick leave due to psychological problems such as anxiety, adjustment disorder and minor depression. "People with depression or anxiety may take a lot of sick leave to address their problems," said lead author Suzanne Lagerveld, of the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO). "However, focusing on how to return to work is not a standard part of therapy. This study shows that integrating return-to-work strategies into therapy leads to less time out of work with little to no compromise in people's psychological well-being over the course of one year."
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People with a disability are at significantly higher risk of experiencing violence compared with people without disabilities, Medical News Today reports. Adults with mental illness are almost four times more likely to experience violence, while adults with a disability are 1.5 times more likely to experience violence, according to new research from Liverpool John Moores University, UK. "About 3% of individuals with non-specific impairments [e.g. physical, mental, or emotional, or health problems that restrict activities] will have experienced violence within the past 12 months, rising to almost a quarter of people with mental illnesses," said study leader Mark Bellis. "Lifetime exposure to violence, and the proportions of individuals with disability who are directly threatened with violence or otherwise live in fear of becoming a victim, are likely to be substantially higher than our estimate." Approximately 15 per cent of adults worldwide are disabled, and this figure is expected to rise alongisde the increase in chronic diseases and impact of an aging population.
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Taking regular breaks from the desk can significantly improve workers' health, Science Alert reports. Researchers from the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute conducted experiments involving measuring blood glucose level spikes of people in a seated work environment. Blood glucose spikes are associated with a number of adverse health outcomes including cardiovascular disease. Researchers found that people who interrupted their sitting with regular bouts of activity had up to a 30 per cent improvement in their body's response to a meal containing glucose. “Our research has already shown that sitting for long periods can be hazardous to health," said researchers. "Sedentary behaviour is also a risk factor for chronic diseases, including some cancers." The researchers also found that walking at a light-intensity pace was as effective as walking at a moderate-intensity pace. "We appreciate that it’s not very common to find a treadmill in the workplace and how difficult it would be for people to engage in reasonably vigorous movement in the office. Just standing up regularly, walking to the printer, using the stairs instead of an elevator and standing while on the phone are all likely to deliver a benefit."
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Experts say Australian workers are suffering from an "unrecognised epidemic" of tiredness, The Sydney Morning Herald reports. A new paper by psychologists Natalie Skinner and Jill Dorian calls for governments to cap the working week to 38 hours, including overtime, to help reduce accidents caused by sleep deprivation. Of the 970 workers and self-employed business people surveyed, around 30 per cent reported often feeling "extremely tired" or "completely exhausted." About the same proportion of people said they rarely or never sleep for seven hours per night. ''Our findings suggest that working 45-plus hours significantly increases the risk of negative outcomes for fatigue and sleep deprivation," said the researchers. ''These outcomes, in turn, are associated with reduced productivity, community and workplace safety...it is recommended that an upper limit be set for 'reasonable' hours no longer than 38 weekly hours, even taking into account operational needs of the workplace/enterprise.''
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WorkCover NSW OHS prosecutions are currently adjourned while a review establishes whether they fall under a new law introduced last month, The Sydney Morning Herald reports. The new Work Health and Safety Act 2011 replaced the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000, making it harder for the prosecution to prove its case. Shadow treasurer Micheal Daley suggested that WorkCover was contravening its job of protecting workers, while Greens MP David Shoebridge said the review defies Parliament and breeches the intent of the law, because it is not retrospective and not intended to be applied to cases that began before last month. "Tougher occupational health and safety standards were set in law until the end of 2011," he said. "WorkCover is ignoring this and delivering for the Coalition's friends in industry...If an employer breached a safety standard they should face the full consequences, not be given a get-out-of-jail-free card by the O'Farrell government." A prominent Sydney barrister cast doubt on the intent of the review, suggesting it was secretive and may lead to the withdrawl of all the prosecutions under the 2000 act. "If they go down that path, then they are going to usurp the intent of the legislation," he said.
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Employing people aged between 45 and 67 increases a business's productivity, says a report issued by the German government, Aging Workforce News reports. The report was issued after the German government raised the national retirement age to 67 years of age. The report found that if age-appropriate jobs are available, the productivity of employees between 45 and 50 years increases by as much as two per cent. "A growing number of people in Germany are in good health and can look forward to a long life after the age of 50, said Labour and Social Affairs Minister Ursula von der Leyen. "At the same time, there are fewer younger people to replace them...This calls for more in-company health promotion and appropriate workplace design for older personnel and more qualification and permanent continued education starting at middle age."
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While anticipating future events is a necessary part of planning and controlling our lives, if it becomes too stressful it may contribute to our risk of developing chronic diseases, Science Daily reports. In a study of 50 women, psychologists found that those women who were most threatened by the prospect of various stressful tasks appeared more aged at a cellular level, which is associated with an increased risk of chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease and stroke. "We are getting closer to understanding how chronic stress translates into the present moment," said Elissa Epel, PhD, a lead investigator on the study. Lead author Aoife O'Donofan said the study's findings "suggest that the major forms of stress in your life may influence how your respond to more minor forms of stress, such as losing your keys, getting stuck in traffic or leading a meeting at work. Our goal is to gain better understanding of how psychological stress promotes biological aging so that we can design targeted interventions that reduce risk for disease in stressed individuals. We now have preliminary evidence that higher anticipatory threat perception may be one such mechanism."
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A new study found that employees who exercised every week were less likely to experience mental health problems, including burnout and depression, Medical News Today reports. Researchers from Tel Aviv University and the University of Haifa originally set out to study the link between depression and burnout in 1,632 healthy workers. While they established that an increase in depression predicts an increase in job burnout over time - and vice versa - they also found that those employees who exercised for four hours per week were approximately half as likely to experience deterioration of their mental health as those who did not exercise. The researchers also found that The researchers stated to employers that having physically active workers lessens high health costs, reduces absenteeism and increases productivity for businesses.
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Procrastination is often seen as simple laziness, but it may be a deeper symptom of an increasingly stressful workplace, reports The New York Times. Employees are increasingly faced with shrinking work teams and growing workloads and pressures, while companies are asking workers to be more innovative, creative and efficient. All of these factors can lead to overwhelmed employees who put off doing their work as a coping mechanism. Corporate trainer Rory Vaden says that the average employee admits to wasting two hours per day on non-work tasks, resulting in "expensive and visible costs." Procrastination is often not, however, practiced by people who couldn't care less. People who procrastinate can have unrealistically high expectations of themselves and may be perfectionists. “The most productive people tend to focus on progress over perfection,” said Vaden. For those people who chronically procrastinate, effective treatment may need to involve cognitive behaviour therapy.
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National mental health initiative beyondblue has released a free online workplace mental health awareness e-learning program. The comprehensive tool includes activities, scenarios and videos that build understanding of depression and anxiety disorders in the workplace. The online program takes about 20 minutes to complete and allows participants to choose the way in which they would like to explore the content. According to the beyondblue website, "A mentally healthy workplace protects and promotes mental health and empowers people to seek help for depression and anxiety, for the benefits of the individual, organisation and community....Workplaces have a significant impact on the mental health of staff through job design and workplace culture." The tool can be accessed through this link.
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Around 5,000 cancers a year in Australia are attributed to occupational exposure to carcinogens, states a new report, but Australia does not currently follow best practice in reducing workers' exposure to work-related cancers, reports the Australian Medical Association. New research argues we need a more effective process to identify occupational carcinogens, inform workers about potential risks, and reduce the use of chemicals in industry. “Poor awareness of exposure to occupational carcinogens and lack of attribution of cancer to occupational causes among both the clinical and general community limits opportunities to reduce the likelihood and extend of exposure”, said author Professor Lin Fritschi of the Western Australian Institute for Medical Research. “To prioritise preventive activity, it will be essential to collect data on the number of workers in Australia who are exposed to carcinogens, what industries they are in, and the concentration and frequency of exposures...While some work has been done, there has been little progress in Australia’s regulatory approach to occupational carcinogen exposure. Australia should not lag behind international best practice in reducing exposure to carcinogens."
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A new study has found that one person's weight loss efforts can have a ripple effect on others to do likewise, Medical News Today reports. Researchers found that people in a team-based weight loss competition not only all achieved similar weight loss outcomes, but those who lost the most weight believed their team mates played a considerable role in their weight loss. "We know that obesity can be socially contagious, but now we know that social networks play a significant role in weight loss as well, particularly team-based weight loss competitions," said lead author Tricia Leahey, Ph.D., of The Miriam Hospital and Alpert Medical School. "In our study, weight loss clearly clustered within teams, which suggests that teammates influenced each other, perhaps by providing accountability, setting expectations of weight loss, and providing encouragement and support." The study involved 3,330 overweight or obese people, divided into 987 weight loss teams. Individuals who reported higher levels of team mate social influence increased their odds of achieving weight loss by 20 per cent. "We're all influenced by the people around us, so if we can harness this positive peer pressure and these positive social influences, we can create a social environment to help encourage additional weight loss," said Leahey.
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With the growth of two-income families comes the likelihood that stress will play an even more significant role in the household. A new study sought to understand how spousal support assisted people to cope with stress, Medical News Today reports. Wayne Hochwarter, the Jim Moran Professor of Business Administration in the Florida State University College of Business, surveyed over 400 working couples from both blue-collar and white-collar occupations. "Given that a lack of support from one's spouse represents a major cause of both divorce and career derailment, this research is needed to address issues that affect both home and work," Hochwarter said. He found that those people who reported high levels of stress, but who also had strong spousal support - compared with stressed employees with no support - experienced: a 50 per cent higher rates of marriage satisfaction; 33 per cent greater likelihood of having positive relationships with co-workers; 25 percent higher rates of concentration levels at work; 25 percent lower likelihood of experiencing fatigue at home after work; 20 percent higher views that their careers were heading in the right direction; and
20 percent higher level of job satisfaction.
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Eighty-three per cent of short-term disability claims are caused by mental health issues, according to a recent Towers Watson survey, 'Staying@Work', Calgary Herald reports. Other causes included musculoskeletal/back issues at 76 per cent, and accidents at 37 per cent. Mental health issues are also the cause of 85 per cent of long-term disability, followed by musculoskeletal/back issues at 76 per cent, and cancer at 63 per cent. "Most organizations report that employee stress is a major and growing business issue, and many are planning to adapt their organizational health strategies for the next two years to include a focus on mental health as well as physical health," said researchers. "Canadian respondents cited excessive workloads, lack of work/life balance, unclear or conflicting job expectations and inadequate staffing as the top sources of workplace stress." Keri Alletson, senior consultant, observed that, "over the past few years we've seen employers asking employees to work longer hours, to do more with less, leaving less time for healthy activities like going to the gym, or eating properly. At the same time, people are worrying about job security and their personal well-being. Together, these factors can add up and take a serious toll on both physical and mental health, as well as increase absence from work and presenteeism. In addition to the individual consequences, the business consequences — higher health-care costs, reduced work performance and lost productivity — can be significant."
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Fathers of young children are working longer hours and seeing their children less, reports The West Australian. New research has found that half of Australian men with children aged four or under are working over 45 hours a week, compared with 29 per cent of workers overall. The average working hours of fathers of preschoolers increased nearly six hours in the 10 years to 2006. This increase comes with growing job, financial and lifestyle pressures. Researcher Professor Barbara Pocock said the trend is "quite a concern...They are trying to pay off the mortgage. Their wives have often given up work to care for the children at home. It really makes active parenting very hard." She said because of a generational shift in work - from blue-collar to white-collar occupations - and advances in technology such as mobile email, work hours are expanding into family time, leaving less time for 'active parenting.' Australians work the sixth-longest average hours among 28 OECD countries.
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WorkCover NSW is approaching a $5b deficit, which could result in reduced injured worker payouts and increased employer premums, The Sydney Morning Herald reports. Recently resigned chairman of WorkCover Greg McCarthy told The Sun-Herald the situation was a result of the scheme's investments taking a battering during the global financial crisis, as well as "neglect" by former Labor finance ministers Joe Tripodi and Michael Daley. ''They just weren't interested and did not listen to my warnings. No one since John Della Bosca has pulled the levers at all,'' said McCarthy. He warned the Minister for Finance, Greg Pearce, that he would have to act "within weeks" by either raising premiums or reducing benefits, or both. "I have been constantly ignored,'' wrote McCarthy in his resignation letter. ''I continually get frustrated by others being asked to provide advices that have no or little industry knowledge or experience.'' He said successive governments had been too generous with cuts, and had provided no leadership to WorkCover's executive management. Mr Pearce said reform of the WorkCover scheme was a matter of the highest government priority.
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When it comes to sickness absence, many employers are fixated on dealing with the symptom, rather than the real causes at play, The Age reports. "High rates of absenteeism are a signal there’s something very wrong with the way employees are engaged," writes James Adonis. Research by Gallup reveals that disengaged employees' absence rates are 27 per cent higher than those of their engaged peers. Professor Gary Johns from Concordia University said managers should understand that absenteeism is more to do with workplace culture than devious or lazy employees. “There is some tendency to treat absence as a personal, individual performance issue and ignore the fact that it is under considerable social control," he said. "People imitate the attendance behaviour of their peers.” Making work and the workplace more relevant is a key step to reducing absenteeism. “People doing interesting work are not inclined to absence, a fact that is apparent from differences in absence levels across occupations,” said Johns. “People who fully grasp the negative impact on customers, clients, and co-workers see their work as significant and are less inclined to be absent.”
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The implementation of disability care and traumatic injury reform will move a step closer next week when key players meet to discuss the economic and social impacts of the proposed changes. A summit on February 17 in Melbourne will address the business case for the National Injury Insurance Scheme (NIIS) and broader disability reforms. Industry and government representatives will share views on the economic, insurance, implementation and user perspectives. The Federal Government’s position will be outlined by the Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation, the Honorable Bill Shorten MP. “The proposed reforms will have a positive impact on the quality of life of many Australians,” said Mr Chris McHugh, Executive General Manager Statutory Portfolio with Suncorp Commercial Insurance. “It’s critical that implementation is well co-ordinated and that the scheme is sustainable. This summit will progress that outcome.” The event is the first in a series of summits hosted by Suncorp in conjunction with PwC that will facilitate dialogue around the design and implementation of the proposed disability reforms. “These summits will help promote collaboration between stakeholders and formulate a common set of principles from which the development of this important initiative can progress.”
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A longevity study begun in 1921 has identified the psychological and social traits that may be the key to living a long and healthy life, The Sydney Morning Herald reports. Psychologist Lewis Terman began collecting data of 1500 children in 1921, to track which factors influence longevity. Psychologists Howard Friedman and Leslie Martin examined this research in their book The Longevity Project. One crucial finding was that stress is not always bad. While Friedman and Martin focused on the implications for child psychology, they also noted adult behaviours in their findings. "Those who worked hardest lived longest. Responsible and successful achievers thrived in every way, especially if they were dedicated to things and people beyond themselves," said Friedman. “Persistence turns out to be one of the best predictors of health and long life,” he added, alongside a strong sense of conscientiousness.
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After thousands of years of anecdotal evidence supporting the benefit of massage after exercise, a new study has shown its positive biological effects, NY Times reports. Athletes and health professionals alike extol the virtues of massage therapy for easing inflammation, improving blood flow, and reducing muscle tightness and pain. Now, researchers have found the mechanisms by which this occurs. In a series of experiments, participants exercised until exhaustion and underwent muscle biopsies before and after massage. Researchers examined the tissue for inflammation and found that massage reduced the production of cytokines, which play a critical role in inflammation. Massage also stimulated mitochondria into actions including cell function and repair. “The bottom line is that there appears to be a suppression of pathways in inflammation and an increase in mitochondrial biogenesis,” said the senior author, Dr. Mark A. Tarnopolsky. He also addressed the common practice of using drugs to suppress inflammation, which may actually supress healing. “There’s some theoretical concern that there is a maladaptive response in the long run if you’re constantly suppressing inflammation with drugs. With massage, you can have your cake and eat it too—massage can suppress inflammation and actually enhance cell recovery.”
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How you perceive the value of your time ultimately affects your happiness in life, reports Rotman School of Management. “Treating time as money can actually undermine your well-being," said Sanford DeVoe, one of two researchers at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management. Aiming to measure the impact of time-value on happiness, researchers primed participants to view their time as money, then measured participants' impatience and satisfaction levels during various paid and unpaid leisure activities. Researchers say their experiments demonstrated that thinking about time in terms of money “changes the way you actually experience time. Two people may experience the same thing, over the same amount of time, yet react to it very differently." With the growth of hourly-paid jobs and managerial trends focusing on work-time over output, researchers warn employees to be aware of the effect his has on personal lives, and to “stop and smell the roses.”
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If a stressed worker is experiencing physical symptoms, it is common for them to take a leave of absence. A new study shows that if the worker’s supervisor offers emotional and instrumental support during this stressful period, the worker is more likely to recover without taking time off, Medical News Today reports. Researchers from the University of Haifa examined a sample group of 241 workers to ascertain the role of their supervisor in minimising work absence due. The results showed that supervisor support for an employee suffering from psychosomatic symptoms improves the employee’s condition and reduces their likelihood of taking sickness absence. "The worker who is given this sort of support is more likely to overcome the somatic stress and continue to work productively, leaving recovery for the normal after-work hours when we recharge our batteries," said researcher Dr Michal Biron. "With the enormous economic losses due to absenteeism and with this still being a poorly understood phenomenon, the results of this new study are shedding light on those factors influencing sickness absence and which can be considered in the effort to reduce the losses without compromising work ethic and commitment.”
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Sometimes it’s hard to find the energy to exercise, yet new research shows it may work a different way: exercise brings energy, Medical News Today reports. Resarchers found that people who are more physically active report greater levels of excitement and enthusiasm. "You don't have to be the fittest person who is exercising every day to receive the feel-good benefits of exercise," said David Conroy, professor of kinesiology. "It's a matter of taking it one day at a time, of trying to get your activity in, and then there's this feel-good reward afterwards...Taking it one day at a time and savoring that feel-good effect at the end of the day might be one step to break it down and get those daily rewards for activity. Doing this could help people be a little more encouraged to stay active and keep up the program they started." The researchers examined the daily diaries of 190 participants who were asked to note sessions of physical activity of 15 minutes or more, and their resultant mental states. "Not only are there chronic benefits of physical activity, but there are discrete benefits as well,” said researcher Amanda Hyde. “So today, if you want a boost, go do some moderate-to-vigorous intensity exercise."
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Can you picture a world without micromanagers? New research from the University of Minnesota suggests that more flexible workplaces with less micromanagement enjoy a boost in employee health and productivity, HR Morning reports. Researchers found that when managers shifted their focus away from the hours workers spent at work to their actual work output, not only did morale improve but also health and productivity. The study followed 608 white-collar employees over the trial of an initiative called the Results Only Work Environment (ROWE), which asked managers to ignore time spent in the office and instead focus solely on the business results achieved by employees. Employees could set their own schedules based on their own needs, without having to notify or seek permission from management. Researchers measured the behaviours of those involved in the ROWE program against those who did not, and found participants: had better self-reported health; had an average of 52 minutes sleep more per night; felt less obligated to work when sick; were more likely to go to a doctor when sick; have an increased sense of control of their schedule; and suffered from less emotional exhaustion and psychological distress.
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Workplace wellness and prevention programs are the key to improving the health of workers and businesses, The Herald Mail reports. "The health of the work force is very closely linked to the health of your business," says analyst Katie Jones of the Maryland Office of Chronic Disease Prevention. Addressing the US Wellness@Work seminar, Jones said businesses that address workplace health and wellbeing stand to reduce absenteeism and increase productivity. She said that by eliminating smoking in the workforce, and improving diets and increasing exercise, employers could cut the risk of heart disease, stroke and Type 2 diabetes by up to 80 per cent, and reduce the risk of cancer by up to 40 per cent. Jones suggested a range of steps employers could take to improve workplace health and wellbeing, including simple ones such as stocking vending machines with healthier drinks and snacks, and offering healthy cafeteria meal options at reduced prices.
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Australian workers take an average of 9.4 sick days per year - a figure that's well above world averages - yet employers could be taking simple steps to reverse the trend, reports the Financial Review. Paul Dundon, managing director of Direct Health Solutions, says the acceptable level of absenteeism is 6.5 sick days per year, per employee, but workplaces with inflexible work practices that afford little control to employees can face absenteeism rates of over 20 days. Dundon estimates the cost of absenteeism to Australian businesses at over $30b per year. “Absenteeism is a point of failure between the employee, their manager and the organisation," he said. RTW Matters' Dr Mary Wyatt told Financial Review that sickness absence was "a reflection of the culture of the workplace.” Dr Wyatt argued that workers' perceptions of how they are treated in the workplace, as well as being part of a large number of workers, are a significant predictor of sick leave. “If you work in a call centre and there’s 100 other people there who can take over your job for the day, then you are more likely to take a day off work," she said. Peter Wilson, national president of the Australian Human Resources Institute, suggests employees may take non-genuine sick leave as a proxy stress leave. "Sometimes, it is very bad leadership and the employees hate going in to work," he said.
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Lack of sleep is costing the Australian economy $5.1 billion a year, according to a new Sleep Health Foundation study, Sky News reports. While sleep disorders and their treatments cost the economy around $270 million per year - plus a further $540 million on treating complications such as high blood pressure - the largest losses, $4.3 billion, are a direct result of lost productivity through absenteeism and presenteeism. "Picture yourself after a big night, you get to work and you're kind of functioning but you don't have your usual sharp edge ... we've all been there," said Professor David Hillman, chairman of the Sleep Health Foundation. "It does convert into dollars." A further $650 million is attributed to the indirect costs of sleep deprivation resulting in workplace and car accidents. "At the moment there is a concentration on healthy diet, regular exercise, alcohol moderation and smoking," said Professor Hillman. "But a good night's sleep isn't there (on the agenda) and it's got to be."
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US counties and parishes that have a larger number of locally-owned small businesses have healthier populations compared with those made up of large companies with "absentee" owners, Science Daily reports. A nation-wide US study defies the 'bigger is better' approach to business, saying it "highlights not only the economic benefits of small business, but its contributions to health and well-being." Researchers argue this occurs through small business owners having more invested in the community they source employees from. "When someone creates a 'mom and pop' business, it's a huge step to bring that first employee on board," said co-author Charles M Tolbert. "If it's a relative or neighbor, they'll bend over backward to hire and retain them. The old way of thinking was that you wanted to work for a big company because of pension plans, health insurance, dental insurance. But many of them have moved overseas to cheaper labor markets. So what we see are larger retailers, usually next to interstates, that pay low wages and may not even offer full-time jobs with benefits, but instead hire people to work 30 hours a week. There's a high turnover." Lead author Troy C. Blanchard concluded: "Our findings suggest that the rewards of a vibrant small business sector are multi-dimensional. In addition to job creation, small businesses yield important non-economic rewards to communities that may improve the health of local residents."
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How you perceive your illness has a greater impact on your health than experts previously understood, Science Alert reports. A scientific review published in Current Directions in Psychological Science shows that people's perceptions of their own illness have an effect on a number of their health outcomes, including how well the person is able to function, their use of health care, adherence to treatment plans, the duration of their illness and mortality. Some research even suggests that a person's perception of their illness may even have more of an impact on their health outcomes than the disease itself. The review found that illness perceptions change in response to diagnosis results, often leading to emotional distress, impaired recovery and disability. Lead author Professor Keith Petrie said: "Effective treatment is about much more than having a competent physician. A doctor can make accurate diagnoses and have excellent treatments but if the therapy doesn’t fit with the patient’s view of their illness, they are unlikely to keep taking it.”
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"In this culture," says Paul Hippolitus, director of the Disabled Students' Program at the University of California, "nearly everyone is uncomfortable with disability," The Atlantic reports. Employment figures in the US reflect this discomfort, where only 17.9 per cent of people with a disability are employed compared with 63.7 per cent of people without a disability. Part of this employers' inability to deal with the disabled may come from reservations about making reasonable accommodations for workers with a disability. These hesitations, however, are largely unfounded: according to the Job Accommodation Network, the majority of workplace accommodations cost nothing at all, or only run into the hundreds of dollars. To improve their job interview performance, writes Peggy Klaus, workers with a disability should make an opportunity to talk openly about the skills required to manage their disability, and examples of how they succeed at this.
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People who work for 11 hours or longer each day are more than twice as likely to suffer from major depression, compared with those working a standard eight-hour day, reports The Independent. A six-year study of over 2,000 middle-aged civil servants established the link between regular overtime and depression - even after factoring risks associated with lifestyle, physical health and alcohol intake. The study found that people working long hours were more likely to be men, married or cohabiting, and from higher occupational grades than employees working standard hours. "Although occasionally working overtime may have benefits for the individual and society, it is important to recognise that working excessive hours is also associated with an increased risk of major depression," said the study's lead author Marianna Virtanen. Paul Farmer, chief executive of the mental health charity Mind, said, "Making employees work excessive hours is a false economy, as not only are tired, unhappy workers less productive, but they risk developing mental health issues that if handled badly, can be costly to businesses. When people get work-related depression, employers need to move away from seeing this as a sign of weakness, and realise it might also be a sign of something wrong with the workplace."
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The tradition of "chucking a sickie" is well and truly woven into the fabric of Australian culture, but that may not necessarily be as bad as we think, reports WA Today. While the NSW Business Chamber issued a press release prior to Australia Day warning of the productivity dangers of unplanned absences, economics writer Jessica Irvine argues that the risks may be overblown. ''At a time when productivity and the economy are under the spotlight," wrote chamber chief, Stephen Cartwright, "employees should consider whether taking the easy way out is a wise long-term decision." Data from the 2001 National Drug Strategy Household survey warned that the cost of alcohol-related work absence was as high as $1.2 billion. However, Irvine dispells a common misconception surrounding productivity. "Productivity is not about how much you produce, but how much you produce relative to what you put in," writes Irvine. "Because productivity is defined as output per hour worked, workers chucking sickies and not working at all, does not affect the nation's productivity. Indeed, turning up to work and producing at below your usual capacity is the real productivity concern." This act - presenteeism - has been calculated by Econtech to cost our economy $26 billion per year.
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According to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, 40 per cent of US workers report their job as being very or extremely stressful, CNBC reports. New data from CareerCast has ranked the 10 most stressful jobs in the US. The most stressful jobs were: 10) taxi driver; 9) photojournalist; 8) senior corporate executive; 7) public relations executive; 6) event coordinator; 5) police officer; 4) military general; 3) airline pilot; 2) firefighter; and 1) enlisted military soldier. "Not all jobs are created equal when it comes to stress levels," said CareerCast.com and JobsRated.com publisher Tony Lee. "Probably the one thing that’s overriding is the amount of control you have. People who have the least amount of control have the most amount of stress — they’re reacting to whatever is happening around them."
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Occupational health psychologist Dr Merv Gilbert offers ten tips on improving mental health in the workplace, HealthCanal.com reports. Psychological disorders are the fastest rising cause for short and long-term disabilities and they are expected to exceed 50 per cent of all claims administered within the next five years in the Canada. Dr Gilbert itemises and explains the ten most important steps to improving psychological health and safety. 1) Make managing mental health disorders in the workplace a high priority. 2) Measure the impact of psychological disorders in the workplace. 3) Identify the risks to employee psychological health. 4) Address identified workplace and workforce hazards. 5) Provide information, programs and policies that promote early recognition and response to employee distress. 6) Provide managers and supervisors with resources and supports to address workplace mental health issues. 7) Review current processes, programs and policies with a psychological health lens. 8) Help employees who are, or may be, dealing with psychological health issues to stay at work. 9) Work together to assist with returning employees off work because of a psychological health condition in a timely, safe and appropriate manner. 10) Prevent or minimise relapse or recurrence.
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Professor of medicine at Stanford, Mark Cullen, MD, discusses the multifaceted impact of the growing epidemic of job stress to the San Jose Mercury. "There are two totally different components – individual and societal," explains Cullen. "I think the unrest in our society is not just due to unemployment, but also to the vast insecurity about work and its future. As terrible as the Great Recession was, in which 8 to 10 million people lost their jobs, 200,000 million people got nervous, real nervous. So the biggest question is, how do we return to some civil society in which people have security that there will be work, and they can be productive?" Cullen has a number of helpful suggestions for people suffering from job stress. "The biggest step most people can take is to become their own advocates. To do their own job analysis and to think about what parts of their job — the demands, the control over their job and the rewards — are amenable to change. Many of us can exercise more control and leverage over our work than we realize...Many people can actually make the current situation much more compatible with day-to-day good health." Follow the in-article link to find Cullen's complete list of preventative steps.
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Experts say that a lack of light plays havoc with your body clock, which explains why some people find it so difficult to get out of bed on cloudy or rainy mornings, Brisbane Times reports. Bright morning sunlight is the key to inhibiting the secretion of melatonin, the hormone your body produces before you go to sleep that causes you to feel drowsy. Without adequate morning light you can be left feeling lethargic, drowsy and run-down. "We know that each day one of [the] main sources of information we get about whether it is day or night is from environmental light," said Dr Naomi Rogers, Central Queensland University associate professor in chronobiology and sleep. "When it is cold and raining and it is dark you're not getting as much of that signal when you wake up, you're not getting that big jolt of information of 'is it daytime let's switch off the night activities and go into the day' This is why it is common for shift workers can to suffer from sleep disorders. "That's why they have so much trouble falling asleep during the daytime even though they have been up at night is often when they are driving home they are getting all that morning light...Their brain is getting the wake up signal," said Dr Rogers. Experts suggest combating morning sleepiness by keeping a regular wake-up time and giving youself as much exposure to light as possible after waking.
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Three in four Queensland resources industry employees are either overweight or obese, says Diabetes Queensland, and shift work is a major reason why, ABC News reports. "Where you've got a high proportion of shift workers and where you've got a high proportion of workers that actually don't have a lot of opportunity throughout the day to get up and move around and walk around, they're the sort of things that are going to increase the likelihood of being obese or overweight," says Diabetes Queensland CEO Michelle Trute. The organisation predicts that following current trends 65 per cent of the Queensland's adult population will be either overweight or obese by 2020. While mining company Xstrata uses pre-employment health assessments to guage employee fitness before hiring them, they admit there's no real data tracking employee obesity following employment. Reporter David Lewis says, "Xstrata plans to launch a website called "Shape Up Online" in the coming weeks, which aims to shed more light on the lifestyle choices of individual workers, and lure more of them to the gym."
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Poor diet and a lack of exercise are not enough to singlehandedly explain the rise in obesity, says one study, which cites stress as an overlooked factor, Medical News Today reports. Human biologist Brynjar Foss and sports scientist Sindre M Dyrstad have highlighted what they see as only part of the problem in the obesity crisis, in their article, "Stress in obesity: cause or consequence?" Their research gathered a number of studies that link weight gain to higher corticol levels - the stress hormone. "If you have high cortisol, you seem to put on weight more easily," said Foss. Because of this link, putting on weight can trigger a vicious cycle of stress. "When you go up in weight, your body also comes under stress. That probably has a self-reinforcing effect - so you get even fatter," explained Foss. Dieting can also trigger a stress response, which can counter the weight loss. "Should our hypothesis turn out to be correct, it would mean that you'll have to break this stress pattern if you want to halt the weight increase," said Foss.
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Balancing work and home commitments is a common requirement for many women and it comes comes with an increased risk of ill-health, reports Post-Gazette. According to US statistics, women are 60 per cent more likely to miss work due to injury or illness often due to their caregiver role outside of work. Because of this duty towards others, outside of work hours, caregivers are almost twice as likely to report chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and arthritis. To combat womens' elevated health risk, employers can implement effective workplace health and wellbeing initiatives. Such programs work twofold; by improving the health and wellbeing of workers, productivity also improves. Popular programs aimed at women include: Online resources; Discount programs for uncovered healthcare costs; A focus on womens' health needs in employee wellness programs; Workplace preventative health screenings such as body mass index, bone density, cholesterol level, heart rate, blood pressure and diabetes screening; and Supporting local and national organisations dedicated to women's health issues.
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A significant number of new fathers are experiencing fatigue that is risking their safety at work, reports The Sydney Morning Herald. While new dads experiencing fatigue may not be news in itself, research shows that chronic tiredness is impacting on new fathers' safety at work. A study by Gary Mellor at Southern Cross University followed 241 fathers during their babies' first three months, gauging the effect of the fathers' fatigue levels at work. Those who reported fatigue at work were 36 per cent more likely to have "near misses" at work. Not surprisingly, the more fatigued the fathers were, the less likely they were to follow safety practices. On average, fathers of six week-olds were woken two to three times a night and slept for 5.5 hours. 65 per cent of these fathers reported fatigue. By the time their babies were 12 weeks old, fathers got more sleep yet felt worse for it, with 75 per cent reporting fatigue. ''Fathers might benefit from using leave by working fewer days a week, having later start or earlier finish times, or long weekends,'' suggested Dr Mellor.
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On average, people spend 5 hours and 41 minutes per day sitting at their desks during a typical working week, and that's still too long, Medical News Today reports. A study from the Work & Health Research Centre, Loughborough University, UK, highlights not only the physical risk of prolonged sitting, but the mental health risks as well. Over 1000 employees were surveyed over an 18-month period to determine their physical activity levels and uptake of occupational health services. The study found that nearly 70 per cent of employees did not meet recommended guidelines for physical activity, and that the increase in sitting time was associated with a decrease in mental well-being. Those found to sit for longer at work were also more likely to sit outside of work hours. "People don't need a psychologist to tell them to get up and walk around," said researcher Dr Mayanna Duncan. "But if it helps, I'd tell them to put a post-it note on their computer to remind them. Anyway go and talk to your colleagues face to face, it's a lot more sociable and better for you than emailing them."
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Avoiding your abusive boss may seem like the easiest strategy for dealing with them, but it may actually worsen your well-being, EHS Today reports. A study by professors at the University of Haifa's faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences followed the coping strategies of employees faced with abusive bosses and measured the impact of these different approaches on employees' health. "Abusive supervision is highly distressing for employees. Our study shows that the strategies being used by employees to cope with the stress caused by such behavior do not lead to the most positive outcomes," said lead author Dana Yagil, Ph.D. While five different types of coping strateges were identified, the most popular ones involved avoiding contact with the abusive supervisor and seeking social support. These strategies, however, resulted in negative emotions for the employee, which increased stress. Communicating directly with the supervisor was found to be the healthiest strategy. "It is understandable that employees wish to reduce their contact with an abusive boss to a minimum," said Yagil. "However, this strategy further increases the employee's stress because it is associated with a sense of weakness and perpetuates their fear of the supervisor."
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A first-of-its-kind study has revealed that indoor air in offices may be a significant source of potentially toxic substances, Medical News Today reports. The study reports on Polyflourinated compounds (PFCs), used in water-repellant coatings on carpet and furniture, that were found in office air and subsequently the blood of office workers. Exposure to PFCs has been linked to a possible inreased risk of breast or pancreatic cancers, due to PFCs being suspected as being "endocrine disruptors." This study is the first to link PFC levels in the air to levels in the blood of office workers, which were 3-5 times greater than those reported on in household air, "suggesting that offices may represent a unique and important exposure environment," say researchers.
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The number of companies introducing wellness programs is climbing, yet in some cases so too are absence rates. The disconnect, reports BenefitsCanada.com, arises when such programs aren't implemented effectively. "A successful approach to effective wellness and disability planning is to think of its development as a group of building blocks," writes Rebecca Smith. "When these blocks are combined, they provide a solid, integrated and focused approach to effective workforce management that addresses wellness and disability at all levels. There are five main building blocks: foundation; prevention; accommodation/mitigation; support for recovery; and integrated supports." Foundation involves aligning programs to an organisation's goals, while Prevention involves correctly identifying and understanding current and potential employee health risks. Accommodation and Mitigation involve making work flexible for ill or injured employees; Support for recovery is all about optimal RTW processes; and Integrated Supports means using a combination of complementary services that may be available to you.
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A Canadian study has further stated the link between depression and losses not only on a personal level, but to the economy as a whole, The Vancouver Sun reports. A third of mental illness costs in Canada are due to productivty losses, which could be abated with proper treatment given to depression sufferers. "To get help with some of those symptoms would really help people to better function," said Carolyn Dewa. Among 3,000 surveyed workers in Alberta, those who had received treatment for severe depression were seven times more likely to report regaining functioning at a "highly productive level" at work, compared with people who received no treatment. Those who went through a moderate depression were 2.5 times more likely to reach a high level of productivity compared with those who received no treatment. Researchers highlighted the need for employers to make concessions early on for mentally ill employees, which add up later on in terms of productivity gains. "It's not even just about out-of-pocket payments and things like that," Dewa said. "Can people get time off to go to the doctor or to get counselling? Because to get those kinds of treatment, often you have to go during working hours."
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An op-ed in the journal PLoS Medicine has declared that shift work is so hazardous to health that it should be declared an occupational health hazard, Adelaide Now reports. Editors of the journal cited a study published in December last year which found a link between rotating shift work and the incidence of type 2 diabetes. "Shift work has the potential to accelerate the progression of the global epidemic of obesity and diabetes," wrote editors. The study found that over 11 per cent of nurses who worked rotating hours for a period of over 10 years had an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. Researchers attributed this link due in part to less nutritional meals being available for shift workers. SA Ambulance Service chief executive Ray Creen agreed that shift work could be a risk, citing fatigue and nutrition as factors. "Fatigue has been identified by SA Ambulance Service as a significant risk to the health and welfare of our staff if it is not managed appropriately," he said. "SA Ambulance Service is committed to raising awareness of fatigue, helping staff measure their own fatigue levels and providing them with skills and strategies to manage fatigue." This includes the removal of junk food vending machines from ambulance stations and workplaces, as well as encouraging staff to exercise regularly.
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WorkSafe chief executive Greg Tweedley has notified the authority that he will not be seeking a new contract when his current one expires in March, The Age reports. Tweedley's resignation comes just four weeks after the Baillieu government announced it would take $471.5 million out of WorkSafe's budget, over the next four years. The Victorian WorkCover authority (WorkSafe), funded by employer premiums, will have to hand half of its earnings over to Treasury for use in general revenue, until at least 2014-15. A spokeswoman for the state governent maintained that Mr Tweedley's resignation was not linked to the revised budget. He released a media statement saying he was looking to spend time overseas with family and friends, before pursuing new challenges later in the year. The opposition was not optimistic about the future of WorkSafe. ''His (Tweedley's) departure will mean it will be even more difficult for WorkSafe to recover from the half a billion dollars being ripped out of the authority,'' said opposition finance spokesman Robin Scott.
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The most recent theory making a virus responsible for chronic fatigue syndrome has been dismissed, ABC News reports. Two years ago, researchers gave hope to the 17 million sufferers of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) suggesting the conditions may be caused by a virus. Just before Christmas, however, US journals Science and Proceedings of the National Academy of Science withdrew published papers attributing chronic fatigue syndrome to a virus. Medical Science professor from the University of New South Wales, Andrew Lloyd, said that researchers had fallen into the trap of looking for a simple explanation for a complex disease. "The patient population have a great degree of desperation and hope that there will be the big breakthrough, the unique insight into the disease mechanisms, the cure, the diagnostic test," he said. While tens of millions of dollars went into unsucessful attempts to prove a virus the cause of CFS, Professor Lloyd said that minute amounts of mouse DNA actually contaminated the research and caused the false result. There is still hope for sufferers, however, with new research from Norway suggesting CFS may be an autoimmune disease.
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Work stress can lead to changes in the brain that make people less able to deal with future adversity, Work Health Safety Matters reports. Reported in Biological Psychiatry (and featured in Healthland - TIME Magazine), a new study found that stressful events can cause shrinkages in the brain areas responsible for the regulation of emotions and metabolism. Researchers also found that individual traumatic events don't have the strongest impact, but that a lifetime's worth of stress may cause the most significant changes in brain volume. “The key take home message is that across the board the area that is most vulnerable to stress of any kind is the prefrontal cortex,” sais Dr. Rajita Sinha. “It’s important for top-down regulation of our emotions, cognition, desires, and impulse control.” After nerve tissue in this area declines - such as due to stressful stimuli - our ability to counteract our own impulsive negative behaviour also declines, so we may becomes less able to deal with stress as we are exposed to it. “The prefrontal cortex is important for metabolic homeostasis and for our survival and adaptation to life’s challenges,” said Dr. Sinha. Chronic stress, such as possible in a work environment, was not found to reduce brain volume alone. But, when a sudden life trauma or adverse event was experienced alongside chronic stress, key brain areas shrank significantly and people were less able to cope. “Over time, as the number of cumulative stressors increases, chronic stress can interact with that and worsen the effect,” said Dr. Sinha.
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The most widely-accepted guidelines for clinical management of patients with low back pain (LBP) advise keeping active and returning to work, yet most practitioners still believe work factors cause or exacerbate LBP and recommend a short break from work, Medical News Today reports. Researchers at the University of London's Department of Psychology found that some healthcare practitioners see their role in returning patients to work as limited, and believe that some aspects of work are detrimental to their recovery. "Low back pain is consistently among the top most costly health problems. Back pain has been identified as the second main cause of absenteeism in the UK," said lead author Professor Tamar Pincus, PhD. His team created an Attitudes to Back Pain Scale for musculoskeletal practitioners - osteopaths, physiotherapists and chiropractors - to gauge pracitioner beliefs and behaviours, such as whether they limit the number of sessions for the treatment of low back pain, or believe that increasing mobility should be a goal of treatment. "Our findings suggest that, despite guidelines that encourage maintaining people at work during episodes of back pain, many clinicians hold a range of beliefs that contradict this advice, and these beliefs can influence their clinical decisions and behaviors,"said Prof. Pincus. The report noted that physiotherapists were more likely to endorse the benefits of work to aid in recovery.
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The work Christmas break-up is a great occasion for building morale, however, both employers and employees need to make sure it doesn't go too far, the Herald Sun reports. VECCI manager of workplace relations operations Lisa Burrell warned that staff are still obligated to ensure correct safety and conduct procedures are followed at work parties. Employers "need to be wary about issues that may arise under Equal Opportunity legislation such as sexual harassment or offensive behaviour in the form of inappropriate jokes, an ill-thought-out Christmas gift or other forms of inappropriate behaviour," she said. Darren Nelson of Nelson Recruiting advised employers to strike the balance between providing alcohol and providing too much alcohol - leading to potentially damaging situations. Some guidelines for work Christmas parties include: Ensuring safe transportation is available for after the party - consider subsidising travel cost; Understanding that equal opportunity and discrimination regulations remain applicable; Advising staff of expected behaviour standards before the party; Offering low or no-alcohol options; Being prepared to cut-off alcohol if problems arise; Restricting the use of social media - especially uploading of photos.
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A new report titled "Sick on the Job? Myths and Realities about Mental Health at Work"
reveals that 30 to 50 per cent of all new disability benefit claims in OECD countries are now attributed to mental illness, reports Fresh Business Thinking dot com. The report, by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), highlights the impact of this increase in mental health problems, with three in four workers with a mental disorder reporting reduced productivity at work - compared with one in four workers without a mental disorder. Challenging common myths surrounding mental health, the report states that between 55 and 70 per cent of people with a mental health disorder are in employment; an employment rate only about 10 to 15 percentage points lower than for people without a mental health disorder. The report calls for improved working conditions which reduce and better manage stress; systematic monitoring of sick leave behaviour; and help to employers to reduce workplace conflicts and avoid unnecessary dismissal caused by mental health problems.
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Queensland Industrial Relations Minister Cameron Dick has warned people to avoid the dangers of fatigue that are common at this time of the year, My Sunshine Coast reports. "Working when mentally or physically exhausted impairs a person's ability to think clearly, which is vital when making safety-related decisions," he said. "Many workplaces, including retailers, road transport companies, tradespeople and manufacturers, are at their busiest at this time of year and staff are working long hours to complete jobs before the holidays start." He revealed alarming figures suggesting that fatigued drivers can be as dangerous as drunk drivers. "Studies have shown that people who stay awake for 17 hours can impair performance as badly as if they were driving over the legal blood alcohol limit of 0.05%," through a "lack of concentration, poor judgment and decision-making, reduced capacity for interpersonal communication and slower reaction times," said Mr Dick. "Staying awake for 21 hours straight is equivalent to double the legal drink driving limit."
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Taking a 15-minute walk could cut your chocolate consumption at work in half, Medical News Today reports. A new study from the University of Exeter found that even when in stressful situations, workers would only eat half as much chocolate during the work day if they'd been for a quick walk at some stage in the day. "We know that snacking on high calorie foods, like chocolate, at work can become a mindless habit and can lead to weight gain over time." said lead researcher Professor Adrian Taylor. "We often feel that these snacks give us an energy boost, or help us deal with the stress of our jobs, including boredom. People often find it difficult to cut down on their daily treats but this study shows that by taking a short walk, they are able to regulate their intake by half." And to all those people out there who fear that their cravings are still too strong: the study specifically used participants who were identified as "regular chocolate-eaters."
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The woman who acted as whistleblower against "Dr Death," Jayant Patel, is seeking $400,000 damages from Queensland Health for injuries and loss of income over the past seven years, centering around claims they treated her "like a leper," Brisbane Times reports. Nurse Tina Hoffman was awarded the Australia Medal for raising concerns over Dr Patel's conduct at Bundaberg Base Hospital between 2003 - 2005. Ms Hoffman suffered anxiety and depression following the incident, receiving a $30,000 WorkCover payment in 2007. She is now suing Queensland Health for damages because of their alleged mistreatment of her during this period. ‘‘Toni never wanted to sue for damages, it was her preference to just get on with her life and avoid lawyers but she has been forced into this by the conduct of Queensland Health,’’ said Hoffman's lawyer Peter Koutsoukis. Queensland Health allegedly refused a psychologist's advice to provide Hoffman with psychiatric counselling, refused Hoffman's request to be moved to another department, and denied her special leave to attend Patel's trial in Brisbane. ‘‘It’s appalling and I can only wonder why they treat her in this way,’’ said Koutsoukis. ‘‘Recently we had a settlement conference in which we attempted to resolve this matter without recourse for litigation...We just wanted a geniune attempt to try and resolve this and they didn’t even turn up.’’
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Experts warn that a modern business culture of information overload is leading to employees' rising stress levels, psychological illness and billions of dollars worth of lost productivity, The Herald Sun reports. An excessive number of emails and digital information is now considered a normal aspect of the working day by many people, which is causing employees to reach "breaking point", says Marc Peter, director of technology at LexisNexis. “There are two key drivers for information overload," he said. "A lot of the information is irrelevant for the person who is receiving it and the second one is there is an inability of systems and processes in organisations to manage information efficiently.” Management consultant firm McKinsey suggests dealing with the deluge by finding time to focus on the task at hand, filtering out distractions like computers and telephones, and forgetting about work when possible by taking breaks and allowing downtime.
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The number of mental stress claims in the Australian public service have risen by 30 per cent, costing more than $70 million in compensation payouts last year, ABC News reports. "We've still got a lot of stigma to battle around mental health in the workplace," said Ingrid Ozols of Mental Health At Work. "There are a lot of organisations who are doing tremendous strategies. A lot of doing tokenistic stuff - oh let's just do a quick stress management course and tick the box for compliance." Nadine Flood from the CPSU said that the costs of psychological injury and mental illness are really only starting to be understood by both the public and private sectors. "Obviously there's a direct cost if individuals are taking time out from work and that's a cost not just to the business but also to that individual and their family...The costs are actually more significant where you start to damage the productivity and capacity of employees you've invested in." Ozols agrees: "I think that they're not seeing the links between wellness, productivity and profitability, that's the business case we keep coming up against."
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You may think the best thing to do after a stressful day at work is ignore it when you get home, but one expert says you should talk about it with your kids, Fox News reports. “Kids can pick up on our underlying emotions, so when you say you’re fine when you’re not, they know something is not right,” says Brandon Smith, workplace health expert. “On the one hand, we want to shield our children from each and every stress that comes along,” says Rahil Briggs, director of the Healthy Steps of Children’s Hospital at Montefiore Medical Center in Bronx, N.Y. "On the other hand, if we are failing in our attempts to put on a happy face, that is very confusing to a child." Tips for dealing with work stress at home include: Talking to your kids and letting them know you've had a bad day but it's not their fault; Trying to reduce stress before returning home by exercising or talking to friends on your way home; Taking time out by telling your kids you need 10 minutes alone or a 15-minute power nap; and being a good role model and not trying to hide the fact that you are stressed - deal with it properly.
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The Greens' proposal for tougher anti-bullying laws in the ACT has received in-principle support from the other political parties, Canberra Times reports. The proposed Bill requires WorkSafe to appoint a minimum of three inspectors experienced in dealing with workplace bullying. WorkSafe will also need to create an expert bullying advisory committe. ''These changes will enhance the ACT's ability to respond to bullying issues, to take preventative action against bullying, and to implement best practice and innovative laws and procedures,'' said Greens MLA Amanda Bresnan. From next year, workers who recklessly fail to prevent behaviour that causes serious harm to another can be fined $300,000. ''I think there is no doubt that bullying in the workplace is something that the government and parliament need to continue to improve, in terms of our management,'' said Chief Minister Katy Gallagher. ''It's something that has been raised this year...the general principle is good and it's pretty difficult to argue against the management of bullying in any workplace so we have an open mind about improving the systems.''
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Women who work irregular schedules including three or more night shifts per month - as well as their day and evening hours - may have a greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared with women who only worked day and evening shifts, Medical News Today reports. The findings, from a Harvard School of Public Health study of 69,269 U.S. women aged 42 to 67, found that years of this type of rotating night shift work led to weight gain, which may contribute to the increased risk of type 2 diabetes. "Long-term rotating night shift work is an important risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes and this risk increases with the numbers of years working rotating shifts," said An Pan, the study's lead author. "This study raises the awareness of increased obesity and diabetes risk among night shift workers and underscores the importance of improving diet and lifestyle for primary prevention of type 2 diabetes in this high risk group," said author Frank Hu.
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Having a flexible workplace improves employees' health behaviour and quality of sleep, Medical News Today reports. A new study by University of Minnesota sociology professors Erin Kelly and Phyllis Moen found that employees participating in flexible workplace initiatives reported an extra hour of sleep per night, were less likely to feel obligated to work when sick, were more likely to visit a doctor when necessary, and reported an increased sense of schedule control and reduced work-family conflict, emotional exhaustion and psychological distress. "Our study shows that moving from viewing time at the office as a sign of productivity, to emphasizing actual results can create a work environment that fosters healthy behavior and well-being," said Moen. "This has important policy implications, suggesting that initiatives creating broad access to time flexibility encourage employees to take better care of themselves."
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Public service workers will now be protected by workers' compensation during their breaks, reports PS News. The Safety, Rehabilitation Compensation and Other Legislation Amendment Act has now been approved by both Houses of Parliament, meaning workers taking "recess" breaks away from the workplace during working hours will be covered. These protections were removed in 2007, along with protections for public services staff injured while travelling to or from work. The amendment act also allows Comcare to access the Consolidated Revenue Fund to compensate people with diseases with long latency periods, who were employed before December 1988. Medical expenses for public service staff can also now be paid where payment of other compensation is suspended, and extends coverage of the Act to Commonwealth employees working in declared high-risk countries. The Community and Public Sector Union is still pushing for journey cover to be restored.
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Not only do abusive bosses cause problems at work, they can also lead to strained relationships at home, Medical News Today reports. A Baylor University study published online in the journal Personnel Psychology found that the strain caused by an abusive supervisor at work affects a worker's marital relationship and their overall family life. The study surveyed workers and their partners after incidences of supervisor abuse, which included: tantrums, rudeness, public criticism and inconsiderate action. "It may be that as supervisor abuse heightens tension in the relationship, the employee is less motivated or able to engage in positive interactions with the partner and other family members," said study co-author Merideth Ferguson, PH.D. "These findings have important implications for organizations and their managers. The evidence highlights the need for organizations to send an unequivocal message to those in supervisory positions that these hostile and harmful behaviors will not be tolerated," said Dawn Carlson, Ph.D., study author.
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World rates of disability are climbing due to an ageing population and an increase in chronic health conditions. Disability-field policy makers and researchers from the Asia/pacific region will gather at The University of Sydney to discuss moving forward, following the World report on disability released by the World Health Organisation and the World Bank in June this year. "The Symposium aims to stimulate free, open and vigorous discussion of the report and foster international collaborations to work towards the attainment of human rights and participation for all in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities," states the media release. “For the first time the World report on disability provides a realistic picture of disability based on both scientific evidence and the real life experiences of people worldwide,” says Gwynnyth Llewellyn, Professor of Family and Disability Studies at the University of Sydney. “With this new understanding comes a responsibility for us all – nation states, communities, organisations and individuals – to act. Through this symposium we hope to create the momentum to move this forward and see the potential of the report realised.”
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Experts say the Safe Work Australia's draft code of conduct: Preventing and Responding to Workplace Bullying, may need to be more detailed, in both defining all instances of bullying and protecting employers from unreasonable accusations, reports The Sydney Morning Herald. The final draft of the code will be received by the Workplace Relations Ministers' Council and may inform new workplace bullying laws in NSW. Dan Riley, senior lecturer at the University of New England, said the draft code was a "helpful step" but failed to distinguish between overt and covert forms of bullying. ''Some bullies use the system to shift the focus of the bullying from themselves to the bullying being caused by the organisational expectations within the existing environment,'' he said. Riley suggested that as the code draft stands, employers may also be too open to litigation for failing to act on a verbal complaint that may be as simple as a passing remark. Psychologist and author Evelyn Field said that the emphasis on mediation was of concern. ''There's very little evidence mediation works in cases of bullying because [mediation] relies on the assumption of equal power,'' she said. ''Bullying at work happens when there is unequal power.''
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The incidence of strain injuries arising from smartphone misuse is rising, affecting one in 50 Britons, The Sydney Morning Herald reports. Tim Hutchful from the British Chiropractic Association has suggested people limit their smartphone use to under 40 minutes per day to avoid injury. A recent poll saw 44 per cent of Britons using their mobile phone for activities other than making calls - such as internet use - for between 30 minutes and two hours per day. Some health professionals are linking this smartphone use to higher numbers of "text neck" and "text thumb" injury. ''I had a patient who developed inflamed tendons in her thumb from using her smartphone and was unable to use her hand for weeks due to pain,'' said Hutchful. Sammy Margo of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy said, ''the phones are far too small, with keys that are too small," and human bodies are ''not designed to be used like this.'' Hutchful said while not wanting to demonise smartphones, he suggested people should limit their daily use and be aware of a proper posture, which involves an imaginary vertical line drawn through your ear, shoulder, hip, knee and ankle.
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A new WorkCover WA workers' compensation dispute resolution system comes into effect today. The new system – characterised by separate Conciliation and Arbitration Services – will be more accessible and will provide a quicker means of resolving disputes. This change is a result of stakeholder feedback obtained during a 2009 legislative review and subsequent implementation of the Workers' Compensation and Injury Management Amendment Act 2011. For more information, download the ‘What happens if there is a dispute?’ brochure or see the Conciliation & Arbitration section of the WorkCover WA website, which includes: an overview of the new system; the Conciliation Service, profiles of the Director and Conciliation Officers, and the Conciliation Rules & Forms; the Arbitration Service, profiles of the Registrar and Arbitrators, and the Arbitration Rules & Forms; and answers to many Frequently Asked Questions.
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Reading Shakespeare's plays could help doctors better understand the link between petients' emotional states and their physical illnesses, BBC News reports. In his research, Dr Kenneth Heaton argues that many doctors fail to recognise the way psychological problems impact on physical conditions, and that a broader view of patients would improve their outcomes. "Shakespeare had an extraordinary insight into the psychology of human beings, extending to the emotional effects on the body," said Dr Heaton said. Heaton's research focuses on physiological symptoms stemming from underlying emotional distress. He argues that many modern doctors are reluctant to attribute physical symptoms to emotional problems; a problem that ultimately causes delayed diagnoses, and unnecessary tests and treatments. "Some medical schools have more in the way of humanities teaching than others, but many doctors would be able to learn something from Shakespeare," Heaton said.
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Dame Carol Black supports a UK Government review calling for independent medical assessors to sign off on sick notes, HR Magazine reports. Sickness absence costs the UK $13 billion a year, prompting the review to suggest implementation of a new Independent Assessment Service that employers and GPs can refer long-term sickness absence cases to for advice. "GPs alone cannot be expected to reduce employee absence due to ill health," said Henry Goodall, president of the Society of Occupational Medicine. "They should be able to refer to an occupational health specialist." The report argued that too many people with ill-health were being put on Employment and Support Allowance, only to be deemed fit for work after a long delay. "Sickness absence from work can be unavoidable, but when unduly prolonged it is wasteful and damaging," said Dame Carol Black. "We believe we have presented an urgent and compelling case to change the current system so that it unashamedly promotes work for those that can."
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Sucking-up to your boss could actually make you live longer, The Age reports. New research has found that flattery towards bosses and co-workers does more than improve your career prospects or teambuilding, it actually protects against stress. Authors of Coping with Workplace Ostracism: The Roles of Ingratiation and Political Skill in Employee Psychological Distress said that those facing ostracism in the workplace fared better when they ingratiated themselves. This flattery of others made people less likely to experience tension, emotional exhaustion and a depressed mood; improving mental and physical health. "Chief executive officers of companies, for example, have been doing so at increasing rates," said Professor Gerald Ferris. Researchers warned, however, that incorrectly delivered ingratiation could come across as self-serving and manupulating. "They need training to show them how to say it with meaning, sincerity, and conviction. That is, they essentially are being trained to be politically skilled, and in so doing, to inspire confidence and trust in what one says."
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A chromosomal change that reflects biological ageing is quickened in people who are exposed to chronic stress, reports Medical News Today. The telomere - the outermost part of the chromosome - shortens with age due to oxidative stress and inflammation. Scientists have attributed cases of telomere shortening with age-related diseases, unhealthy lifestyle and longevity. New research has found that accelerated telomere shortening also occurs with recurrent depression and exposure to chronic stress. "The test revealed that cortisol levels indicative of chronic stress stress are associated with shorter telomeres in both depressed and healthy individuals," said researcher Mikael Wikgren. This highlights the dangers of disturbed cortisol regulation - brought about via chronic stress and recurrent depression.
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The ABC has a range of tips on staying healthy at work, including avoiding sprains and strains, the dangers of presenteeism, working safely outdoors, taking care of your eyes and ears, diet and exercise, and avoiding the hazards of travel. "The reason your back is tired and sore is probably because your job involves repetitive movement or a sustained posture that has caused a muscle imbalance where one muscle is overworked and becomes tight, while the opposing muscle is unused and remains slack," explains the article. The solution: Alternate your activities, stretch and take a break. As for diet and exercise, try to follow these tips: Increase physical activity before and after work; Go for a walk at lunch; Choose low-GI, low-processed foods for lunch to keep energy levels sustained; Bring your own lunch; and exercise with colleagues.
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Encouraging people to change their unhealthy habits and use preventative health services more frequently may be a matter of incorporating financial incentives, Medical News Today reports. Researchers from the University of Newcastle looked at the effectiveness of personal financial incentives in encouraging smoking cessation and weight loss. "We need effective public health interventions that clinicians can adopt easily to encourage people to change their health behaviors, to produce improved health outcomes for populations and a reduced burden on health care systems," said researchers. They found that while one-time incentives have little effect on long-term behaviour change, regular reinforcement with a range of initiatives was more effective at initiating and maintaining behaviour change. "Financial incentives are not the panacea to all health risk behaviors, but do hold promise for encouraging certain population groups to modify particular health behaviors."
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Australians already work some of the longest hours in the developed world, yet these hours could increase even more, News.com.au reports. A study by the Australia Institute has found that many people who are provided with laptops or smartphones by their employer feel obliged to do extra work outside of their normal working hours. Seven out of eight survey respondents who had an electronic work device supplied by their employer said they worked outside normal hours in the past week, compared to about half of those without a device. Part of their Go Home On Time Day, The Australia Institute's study also found that 23 per cent of people believed working outside hours was expected, while 15 per cent said they often needed to. "What is certain is that some workers who were happy with their work/life balance a decade ago are now less satisfied with the expectations of their job because certain technologies that contribute to polluted time simply did not exist until relatively recently," said Australia Institute director Josh Fear.
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About half of men and a third of women are not eating enough fruit and vegetables, says a NZ Health Ministry adult nutrition survey, Stuff.co.nz reports. Despite evidence that healthy eating improves productivity and reduces sick days, workers are still reporting difficulty eating properly at work. "When I talk to workers from building sites, banks, law firms and IT companies, it still amazes me some eat so little fruit and vegetables," said nutritionist Claire Turnball. A third of the typical adult diet is consumed at work, and many opportunities for healthy eating are lost by eating on the run, workplace morning teas, catered lunches and vending machines. "A lot of people swear they eat five plus a day, but when they write down what they're eating they realise they don't," said Turnball. Research shows that a diet high in fruit and vegies can reduce the risk of cancers, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure and osteoporosis.
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Workplace smoking bans are saving a significant number of lives, Minnpost reports. A Mayo Clinic study found that the incidence of heart attacks and sudden cardiac deaths in Minnesota's Olmsted County was halved during the past decade, following two smoke-free ordinances. Before the first workplace smoking ban, the incidence of heart attacks was 212.3 cases per 100,000 residents. Following the ban, that figure dropped to 102.9 cases per 100,000. The incidence of sudden cardiac death also fell from 152.5 residents to 76.6 per 100,000 over the same period. Similar results were seen in Scotland in 2008, when researchers noted a 17 per cent drop in heart attack related admissions to hospitals following a ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces.
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A joint initiative between The University of Queensland and Chronic Pain Australia aims to study how the internet, social media and apps can assist people who are living with chronic pain. "We want to discover how and why people use ICT (Information and Communication Technology) in relation to their pain, and how these technologies could be improved to provide better pain information and support in future." All chronic pain sufferers who use the internet are invited to take the anonymous online survey. "We hope that the information you provide will help us gain a better understanding of how ICT can improve the lives of people living with chronic pain." You can read more and take the survey by following this link.
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One in 10 people usually use alcohol when then are at work, The Age reports. A new study by The National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction at Flinders University surveyed more than 9800 workers about drug and alcohol use in the workplace. While almost 9 per cent of people said that "usually" used alcohol at work, only 5.6 per cent of people admitted to being "under the influence." ''Because they don't think they are at .05 or are drunk...they don't think it's influencing their performance,'' said Dr Ken Pidd. "For a long time, workplaces have used alcohol...as a morale and team building exercise." Pidd warned that, "while that sounds pretty innocent, the fact still remains that injuries and fatalities that occur while you are travelling to and from work are often still covered by insurance." The study also found that about 2 per cent of people admitted to being under the influence of drugs - other than alcohol - at work, and 1 per cent admitted "usually" taking those drugs at work.
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At work even though you're sick? Maybe you should think again. New research on the drivers behind presenteeism has shed light on why people are compelled to attend the workplace while sick, despite the productivity losses it brings, Daily Mail reports. Researcher Gary Johns from Concordia University in Canada surveyed 444 workers and found each had an average of three presenteeism days, compared with 1.8 absenteeism days. This suggests that the practice of employees 'soldiering on' at work while ill may actually be twice as costly to an organisation as someone simply taking a sick day. "Often, a person might feel socially obligated to attend work despite illness, while other employees feel organizational pressure to attend work despite medical discomfort," said Johns. "Secure employees don't fear retribution for an occasional absence because of sickness..."A worker's absence — or presence — during illness can have both costs and benefits for constituents."
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A controversial counselling method employed in Japan following disasters earlier this year is seeing surprisingly positive results, ABC News reports. Medical personnel arriving on the scene following Japan's earthquake and tsunami were discouraged from offering all survivors counselling, instead only offering to people with existing mental health conditions - or those showing visible signs of distress. Eight months on, Japan's hospitals have reported no increase in the number of patients with depression or PTSD. "Acute intrusive intervention such as psychological debriefing has been proved to be not effective or sometimes harmful," said Yoshiharu Kim, director of adult mental health at the National Institute of Mental Health in Tokyo. "So in acute phase we should not touch the deep layer of traumatic experiences of the victims. And such a...concept of doing acute intervention will cause more confusion than benefit. To have anxiety in disaster situation is a kind of normal response. So most of those anxiety are not the target of medical treatment. It's a natural human response. And 80 or 90 per cent of the people have resilience. They can recover by their own will."
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Improving fitness for it's own sake, rather than simply targeting obesity, should be the focus of public health strategies aimed at reducing chronic disease, ABC News reports. Professor Robert Newton argues that the current focus on obesity is ineffective in curbing rising rates of chronic disease. “Obesity is just a symptom of an underlying disease—sedentary lifestyle,” said Professor Newton. “It is low fitness which is killing us, not being overweight.” Instead, he argues that there should be a greater public health focus on improving fitness. “Exercise is the most effective medicine for the prevention and management of chronic disease, a problem that’s responsible for around 80 per cent of our healthcare expenditure. Cardiorespiratory fitness is the strongest predictor of morbidity and mortality. The risk of mortality of someone who is normal weight but unfit is about 3 times higher than the mortality risk of someone who is obese but fit.”
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Does likeability really matter in the workplace? According to some, it can actually make all the difference, The Age reports. The Harvard Business School found that likeability is closely linked with productivity. The study categorised four personality types: The competent jerk, the incompetent jerk, the lovable star and the lovable fool. Obviously, respondents in the study preferred to work with the lovable star, while avoiding the incompetent jerk. Yet, surprisingly, they also preferred the lovable fool over the competent jerk. "We found that if someone is strongly disliked, it’s almost irrelevant whether or not she is competent; people won’t want to work with her anyway," the researchers observed. "By contrast, if someone is liked, his colleagues will seek out every little bit of competence he has to offer.” But Ray McLean, leadership consultant, warns there's also a limit to the benefits of likeability. “I don’t see likeability as a high criterion. But there needs to be a level of mutual respect where employees engage each other in conversations about performance. It’s not about being liked or disliked. It’s about moving towards respect.”
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The trend of taking a 'mental health day' - or non-genuine sick leave dayt - is increasing in Australia, with one-third of workers who admit taking a 'fake' sick day citing mental strain and stress as the real reason they need a break from the workplace, The Age reports. According to a Galaxy poll of almost 1300 employees, 63 per cent of all workers admitted to taking a non-genuine sick day at least once in their lives. Almost one in four workers who deemed their manager as a 'poor performer' admitted to taking days off when they weren't sick, due to a bad relationship with their boss. "Ineffective management affects productivity in lots of different ways, including staff loyalty and motivation," said researcher Stephanie Christopher. The poll also found that workers who feel they have too much workplace responsibility are more likely to take non-genuine sick days, or 'mental health days'. This finding is in contrast to earlier research suggesting that powerless employees are more likely to call in sick. Family commitments also factored highly in non-genuine sick leave, with 27 per cent of workers taking leave admitting they used it as a way of juggling family responsibilities and emergencies.
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As many as 70 per cent of women and 45 per cent of men have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace, Fox News reports. According to sociologist Amy Blackstone, victims are at risk of a number of serious health conditions, including: 1) Depression: A study found people sexually harassed in their teens and early 20s could experience symptoms of depression into their 30s. 2) Post-traumatic stress disorder: One study found women in the military who are sexually harassed four times as likely to develop PTSD as those women exposed to a traumatic event in combat. 3) Blood pressure: One group of researchers found a "significant correlation" between sexual harassment and elevated blood pressure, which raises the risk of cardiovascular disease. 4) Sleep problems: The stress and anxiety following sexual harassment can cause sleeplessness and nightmares. 5) Suicide: A study found that of women who had experienced frequent unwanted sexual touching, 15 per cent reported making suicidal attempts "often" in the past six months. 6) Neck pain: A large study found that women with neck pain were 1.6 times more likely to report having experienced unwanted sexual attention.
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WorkCover NSW is more than $2b in deficit, according to NSW auditor-general Peter Achterstraat, and may not collect enough revenue through premiums for long-term sustainability, ABC News reports. Mr Achterstraat said the situation was worsened by workers attempting to maximise claims, as well as a slow return on the scheme's investments. "It does depend to a certain extent on investment returns but last year $4.2 billion in expenses was paid out but only $3.4 billion in premiums and investment income was earned," Mr Achterstraat said. He suggested the potentially necessary step of raising employer premiums. "The actuarial people tell us that the break-even rate for premiums is higher than the premium rate at the moment."
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Do you really understand the impact of your workplace on your health and productivity? Take the ABC's Health IQ: Workplace health test to find out. "Time spent at work can have a real impact on our health: for better or for worse. How much do you know about staying healthy in the workplace?" Follow this link.
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Anti-workplace environmental tobacco smoke lobby group Smoke Free Australia has criticised Safe Work Australia (SWA) for neglecting tighter regulation of second-hand smoke in their draft codes of practice for the national OHS harmonisation, writes Kevin Jones of Safety At Work Blog. Second-hand smoke, states Smoke Free, is "highly toxic [and] carcinogenic" yet "Safe Work Australia has done nothing to prevent it." While SWA had a guidance note on environmental tobacco smoke in 2003, Stafford Sanders of Smoke Free Australia is struggling to understand why the issue has not been given more prominence. Up to 2,000 Australians die every year from exposure to second-hand smoke, alongside the 15,500 who die from active smoking - and the many more who are hospitalised because of chronic illness brought on by smoking. "Controlling the risks of environmental tobacco smoke is a government nightmare that has much to share with the control of problem gambling and the social costs of alcohol abuse," explains Jones. He maintains that while "It may be possible to argue a person’s right to damage their own health through smoking...this argument fails in the realm of OHS and the need for a safe and healthy workplace."
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The number of NSW police on workers' compensation sick leave has increased five-fold over the past seven years, The Sydney Morning Herald reports. That makes the number of officers off sick almost a fifth of those rostered on duty on any given weekday. Figures reveal that 66 per cent of people who leave the NSW police force do so for medical reasons. Seventy-nine per cent of those who leave for medical reasons suffered from psychological injuries alone. Only seven per cent of people leaving for medical reasons left for physical reasons alone. Six years ago, workers' compensation cost the NSW police force $5 million per quarter. That figure soared to $18.3 million in the first quarter of this year. The NSW Government is attempting to push through legislation to slash the police injury management scheme via a new commercial insurance arrangement and restrictions on officers' entitlements to workers' comp top-ups, which are currently unlimited. The Police Association of NSW says the government is trying to quickly "ram" through changes without public consultation.
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UK GPs are being advised by the Department of Work and Pensions to treat a patient's return to work as an "essential" indicator of sucessful clinical treatment, The Telegraph reports. The directive follows General Medical Council guidance that states GPs, "must support patients in caring for themselves to empower them to improve and maintain their health. This may include encouraging patients, including those with long-term conditions, to stay in or return to employment or other purposeful activity." The request from DWP has been met with resistance from some GPs who claim they are being asked to "police unemployment" for the sake of reducing unemployment benefit expenditure. GPs also rejected the suggestion that they ask each patient their "work status" at the commencement of their consultation. “In general, work is good for people,” said Dr Margaret McCartney, a Glasgow GP. “However, it isn’t good, or possible, for all people all the time....The GMC should be more concerned about ensuring that doctors use evidence to treat patients. I’m concerned that doctors will be used to police employment.”
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Despite the benefits of a mobile workforce, the negative health impacts of commuting are largely unknown, Medical News Today reports. New research from Lund University argues that the advantages brought about by daily travel - such as a better paid job or better housing - need to be weighed against the potentially-adverse health effects. The study looked at 21,000 people aged between 18 and 65 who worked more than 30 hours per week and commuted by either car, train or bus, or who were active commuters (walked or cycled to work). Researchers compared 'one way' journey time to participants' perceived general health - including sleep quality, exhaustion and everyday stress. "Generally car and public transport users suffered more everyday stress, poorer sleep quality, exhaustion and, on a seven point scale, felt that they struggled with their health compared to the active commuters," said Erik Hansson. "The negative health of public transport users increased with journey time." Hansson stated that more research needs to be carried out "to identify how exactly commuting is related to the ill health we observed in order to readdress the balance between economic needs, health, and the costs of working days lost."
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A report issued by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare finds obese people more likely to have workplace accidents, falls, tumbles, trips and car accidents, Canberra Times reports. The AIHW report tables the latest evidence on the link between obesity and injury, as well as the major health and economic impacts of obesity in Australia. One study reviewed by the report found that obese people are at a higher risk of both musculoskeletal injuries and heat illnesses in the workplace, and are also more likely to take sick leave and be less productive at work than non-obese colleagues. Another study shows that people with a high body mass index (BMI) are more than twice as likely than normal-weight people to have a car accident. About one quarter of Australian adults are estimated to be obese, costing the country more than $58 billion in 2008.
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A new study links stress early in life to physical ill-health later on, Medical News Today reports. Researchers at the Umea University in Sweden found that young adults who experience social or financial stress face a higher risk of physical problems, including cardiovascular disease, and declines in physical and cognitive functioning. Dr. Per E. Gustafsson and researchers evaluated 822 participants in Northern Sweden aged 16 years-old and tracked their health for 27 years. The researchers measured the impact of a number of adverse social situations, such as isolation, parental illness and loss, exposure to threat or violence, low income, parental unemployment, poor standard of living and financial strain. After analysing the impact these stressors had on 12 sepearate biological factors, researchers concluded that women were most sensitive to stress during adolescence, while men were most sentitive during young adulthood. "Our results support the hypothesis that physiological wear and tear visible in mid-adulthood is influenced by the accumulation of unfavorable social exposures over the life course, but also by social adversity measured around the transition into adulthood, independent of later adversity."
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A study from the University of York has concluded that yoga is more beneficial than usual care for chronic lower back pain, The Guardian reports. 156 patients with chronic lower back pain were given 12 sessions of beginner yoga - specifically designed to be safe for those with lower back pain. A control group of 157 patients only saw their GPs. Participants in the yoga training reported better function, freer from pain. "In the past when you had back pain, you were told to lie down until it passed," said Prof David Torgerson, director of the York Trial Unit at the University of York, who led the study. "These days the main advice is to keep your back active. It seems yoga has more beneficial effects than usual care including other forms of exercise, although we have not carried out a direct comparison...We are still carrying out the economic analysis but it is likely yoga could reduce the costs of back pain both for patients and for the NHS."
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There are a number of factors that influence return to work following an eposide of acute lower back pain, according to a recent systematic review from Canada's Institute of Work & Health. The research all began with the question: “What influences return to work among workers in the early phase of a disability due to low-back pain?” The research found strong evidence that the following factors influenced RTW for those with acute lower back pain: workers’ recovery expectations; interactions with health-care providers (e.g. type of provider); workers’ self-reported pain and functional limitations; presence of radiating pain; and work-related factors, including physical demands, job satisfaction, and the offer of modified work. When the IWH presented these findings to a panel of RTW experts, they found discrepancies between the shared professional knowledge and latest research. This has implications for changing how RTW professionals view acute low-back pain. “People working in practice have heard, over the last decade, how important psychosocial factors are,” said Institute for Work & Health Associate Scientist Dr. Ivan Steenstra. “Unfortunately, it is not very clear what those factors are. Through the workshops, we now know what our message for practice should look like.”
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Doctors who feel your pain are not necessarily going to have better outcomes for their patients, writes Lisa Rosenbaum M.D. for NY Times. Rosenbaum warns that while the latest fad of "breeding nice doctors" may be well-intentioned, it may in-fact have unintended negative consequences. Rosenbaum cites a recent $42m grant to the University of Chicago Medical Center to improve the doctor-patient relationship, as well as a number of medical schools who are not selecting candidates with poor communication skills. While this movement is intended to create physicians with a balance of competence and compassion, Rosenbaum warns that there is no data to suggest that medical students who exhibit more interpersonal skills make less mistakes than their less-communicative counterparts. Studies also show that groups of extroverts are less productive and effective than more introverted people. Rosenbaum argues that we must examine this latest doctor-compassion fad with the same scrutiny of all other medicine: "The beauty of clinical medicine is that we constantly question our latest wisdom."
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A recent Gallup poll highlights the direct link between healthy employees and greater productivity, Daily Finance reports. Conversely, the research also shows the dangers of not improving worker health and wellbeing: "Overweight or obese workers with no other chronic conditions result in $513 million in lost productivity every year; Overweight or obese workers with one or two chronic conditions result in over $32 billion in lost productivity; Obesity is related to more than 20 chronic conditions; All told, the U.S. suffers $153 billion a year in lost productivity costs, more than four times the rate found in the United Kingdom; The above number jumps to $1.1 trillion when you include people who go to work but do an inadequate job due to chronic conditions." A number of companies are leading the way on workplace health and wellbeing, seeing at least a $2 to $3 return on their investment of every one dollar. The news report details some programs from Volkswagen, Sherwin-Williams, IBM, Citigroup and Johnson & Johnson.
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A growing number of physicians are flagging the overuse of MRI scans as a practice that causes misdiagnoses and unnecessary surgery, NY Times reports. Dr James Andrews, sports medicine orthopedist, wanted to test his theory that MRIs were diagnostically misleading. He scanned the shoulders of 31 professional baseball pitchers who had no physical injuries or pain. The scans revealed abnormal shoulder cartilage in 90 per cent of the scans and abnormal rotator cuff tendons in 87 per cent. “If you want an excuse to operate on a pitcher’s throwing shoulder, just get an M.R.I.,” said Dr Andrews. His experiment highlights a growing trend for providing scans ahead of thorough medical exams and understanding a patient's history. Scans almost always find something abnormal, says Dr Bruce Sangeorzan, and can lead to unneccesary surgery. “An M.R.I. is unlike any other imaging tool we use...It is a very sensitive tool, but it is not very specific...It is very rare for an M.R.I. to come back with the words ‘normal study," he said. Another orthopedist, Dr. Sigvard T. Hansen Jr, said MRIs rarely provide useful information. “I see 300 or 400 new patients a year,” he said. “Out of them, there might be one that has something confusing and might need a scan.” A combination of factors is driving the over-use of MRIs, including pocketed fees for doctors who own MRI machines, to patients who demand scans without understanding their relevance.
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The practice of 'hot desking' - workers sharing workstations instead of having personal desks - may be increasing, however the impact of this trend on productivity may be a negative one, Workplace Insight reports. Dr Craig Knight, University of Exeter, investigated 2,000 office workers to gauge how office design and organisation affected them. Knight found that employees with control over their personal workspaces were happier, healthier, identified more with their employers and felt more positive with their jobs. Those with more 'enriching' work environments, such as with plants or artwork, were more than 15 per cent more productive than those in depersonalised environments such as those utilising hot desking. Employee productivity increased 32 per cent when employers involved workers in developing their own work environments. “Space has a massive impact on our comfort, contentment and identity,” said Knight. “When people feel uncomfortable in their surroundings, they are less engaged.”
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A new study has found that men who experience persistently moderate or high levels of stressful events over a number of years face a 50 per cent higher mortality rate, Medical News Today reports. The study concluded that there were only a few protective factors against the effects of these higher levels of stress, such as self-reported good health, being married, or being a moderate drinker - as opposed to a non-drinker. This study of 1,000 men over an 18-year period is the first long-term study to track stress and mortality in an ageing population. "Most studies look at typical stress events that are geared at younger people, such as graduation, losing a job, having your first child," said lead author Carolyn Aldwin. "I modified the stress measure to reflect the kinds of stress that we know impacts us more as we age [such as death of a spouse or putting a parent into a retirement home], and even we were surprised at how strong the correlation between stress trajectories and mortality was...It seems there is a threshold and perhaps with anything more than two major life events a year and people just max out," Aldwin said. "People are hardy, and they can deal with a few major stress events each year...But our research suggests that long-term, even moderate stress can have lethal effects."
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WorkCover SA's unfunded liability has increased by $87 million to a total of $952 million, Adelaide Now reports. This most recent June tally eclipses the figure of $865 million from the end of 2010. "South Australia now has the worst-performing scheme in the nation in terms of return-to-work rates for injured workers and levy rates for employers, as well as an unfunded liability heading back to $1 billion," said Opposition finance spokesman Rob Lucas. Lucas suggested WorkCover had been "caught out" by publishing a media release claiming a $30 million reduction in the level of unfunded liability. This statement omitted reference to the most recent report on WorkCover's unfunded liability as of December 2010, instead referring only to a June 2010 figure. Treasurer Jack Snelling maintained that the increase in unfunded liability is due to market forces. "As Mr Lucas should be well aware, the level of unfunded liability at any time is subject to volatility in the finance market," he said. "It is more important to gauge performance based on long-term trends. The Government remains confident that the reforms put in place will over time improve WorkCover's position."
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Following on from the success of last year, the Return to Work Conference, Expo and Awards once again deliver a must-attend event for people and professionals active in the workers' compensation industry. The Expo features representatives from leading organisations in the workers' compensation industry who will share their knowledge, new initiatives and innovations. Q-COMP's Return to work Conference is in its second year and will build on last year's event to provide inspiration through highly engaging industry speakers and interactive workshops, encouraging debate and discussion on return to work initiatives. The theme for this year's Awards - Onwards Upwards, is all about celebrating the strong return to work culture in Queensland. Presented at the conclusion of the Conference and Expo, the awards have grown to incorporate six categories. This ensures all aspects of the return to work process are recognised, including injured workers, employers, case managers, rehabilitation and return to work coordinators and health providers. For more details visit qcompconference.com.au.
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Researchers have found that people unemployed over the past year are three times more likely to experience mental health issues compared with those employed during the same period of time, Medical News Today reports. "We found that people exposed to long-term unemployment were three times as likely as employed people over the past year to be exposed to their first bout of psychological distress in a clinically defined way," said researchers. "If you're 55 years old, and you've never had a bout of poor emotional well-being that would be described clinically in that way, and have your first bout in the past year when you are exposed to unemployment, it's very unlikely that your poor mental health led to the unemployment rather than your unemployment leading to the poor mental health...When people are exposed to long-term unemployment, they obviously feel that they've lost control of their capacity to earn a living and take care of their families...They worry about their futures."
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Offering financial incentives to employees to participate in workplace wellbeing programs does not provide the best long-term health results, Healthcare Finance News reports. A new report from StayWell Health Management found that employees often participate in a "pay-to-play" model for the economic advantage, not out of a a commitment to their own health. “Paying people to complete a health assessment does result in higher participation rates but does not necessarily get them truly engaged in the process of improving their health,” said co-author David Anderson, PhD. “Research shows that incentives do have a role in workplace health management programs, but that sweet spot may not be where many incentives programs currently reside." The researchers suggest using a progress-based rewards model, rather than an outcome-based approach, to keep employees involved in positive outcomes. “You need a supportive culture, strong messaging and a sense of shared responsibility to get improvement in health. It translates to the bottom line because healthcare costs are directly related to lifestyle risks," said Anderson.
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People who try to tell themselves they've done a great job when they haven't may be more likely to end up depressed, Medical News Today reports. "These findings challenge the popular notion that self-enhancement and providing positive performance feedback to low performers is beneficial to emotional health. Instead, our results underscore the emotional benefits of accurate self-assessments and performance feedback," said lead author Young-Hoon Kim, PhD, of the University of Pennsylvania. The research, by the American Psychological Association, also found that both high and low performers ended up feeling fine when they assessed their achievements accurately. Researchers suggested this may be because high performers recognised their strengths, while low performers acknowledged their weaknesses and their opportunity for improvement in the future. "Distress following excessive self-praise is likely to occur when a person's inadequacy is exposed, and because inaccurate self-assessments can prevent self-improvement," said researchers.
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Understanding mental health issues allows you to help others who may be suffering with a condition, The Stratford Gazette reports. Mental Health specialist Sarah Hilton warns against prejudging people in the workplace, at the risk of not recognising a potential mental illness. “Ask questions, don’t assume,” says Hilton. “Everybody’s experience with mental health or mental illness is going to look different." Terms like "lazy," or, "disruptive," may be quickly branded upon workmates, but these traits can also be the side-effects of a mental health condition such as depression. A change in someone's behaviour can be a warning signal. “Look for change in others. Once you see change go back to communication – ask questions," Hilton says. One of Hilton's past colleagues had bipolar disorder. “She was what I would call disruptive, annoying, challenged me at times ... we couldn’t get things done because she had to put up a block," said Hilton. “Luckily for us we had a manager who tracked her behaviours over time and found the opportunities within the obstacles.” Hilton's manager to allocated the woman her own office and a rewritten job position designed around her skills and talents. This resulted in the woman being a less disruptive presence in the office, and also reduced her amount of sick days.
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The Minister for Sport and Recreation, Michelle O’Byrne, urged Tasmanians to get active to help beat stress at work, as she opened a forum on workplace health and wellbeing that is part of WorkSafe Tasmania Month. Ms O’Byrne said that mental health is emerging as a major issue in Australian workplaces. “Scientific research is indicating a strong relationship between physical activity and mental health, with increased physical activity levels shown to help manage or prevent stress, mild depression and anxiety,” she said. “This suggests that by working to address low levels of physical activity in the workplace we can likely address other workplace health and wellbeing issues, including mental health. “A healthy workplace has positive benefits well beyond the office walls or factory gates, influencing family, friends and the wider community.” Ms O’Byrne said a recent study conducted by Medibank Private revealed that the healthiest Australian employees are almost three times more productive than their unhealthy colleagues. “With international research showing a return of between $3 and $8 for every $1 invested in workplace health and wellbeing programs, getting our workforce active and healthy will significantly improve the state’s bottom line."
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A Greens bill that removes the onus on firefighters to prove their cancers are work-related has moved from the lower house to the Senate unopposed, The Age reports. The bill is a response to recent evidence showing that firefighters have higher rates of cancers including testicular, lung, breast, prostate, brain and leukaemia, which are caused by chemical exposure during firefighting. The bill is co-sponsored by Labour and Liberal MPs, seconded by independent Bob Katter, and supported by law firm Slater & Gordon. The changes cover 2800 firefighters, most of whom are employed by the ACT government. The opposition agreed to not oppose the bill following disagreement in the party room over whether doing so would set a bad precedent. Workplace Relations Minister Chris Evans said the government supports the need to remove unfair barriers to workers' compensation for firefighters.
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Victorian building workers will have to undergo compulsory drug and alcohol testing if required by their employer, following a "landmark" ruling by Fair Work Australia, The Age reports. While unions and employer groups have locked-heads over the issue for decades, Fair Work Australia deemed the request reasonable. "The risks to employee safety posed by drug and alcohol use have long been recognised by this tribunal,'' ruled the full bench of FWA. ''And compulsory drug and alcohol testing is, of itself, not so extraordinary that it could not be argued to be a reasonable employer instruction.'' The CFMEU is considering appealing the decision, stating it is committed to ''helping any of our members who may have issues with drugs or alcohol...That is why we have had a drug and alcohol policy since 1993. We believe the best way to move forward is through consensus in the industry.'' Master Builders Association of Victoria executive director Brian Welch responded: 'It's not only an important but a landmark decision for our industry.'' He said the problem of people turning up for work under the influence of alcohol or drugs was "endemic," while the CFMEU wants "quash" the issue every time is arises.
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Whistleblowing can have serious, long-term effects on peoples' well-being, Medical News Today reports. Published in the Journal of Clinical Nursing, Australian researchers interviewed both whistleblowers and nurses who had been reported by whistleblowers. The researchers found that whistleblowing had a much more intense and long-lasting negative emotional effect on peoples' lives than previously understood. "Whistleblowing is an issue for all sectors, not just the medical profession" said lead author and researcher Dr Kath Peters. "By its very nature it may lead organisations to adopt a defensive stance to protect their own interests and cast those who blow the whistle as troublemakers. This can generate a hostile work environment and even lead to victimisation, ostracism, exclusionary behaviour, hostility and bullying." Key findings included that, "Participants described overwhelming distress, avoided social occasions and reported loss of confidence and insomnia," and that, "the whistleblowing event was all consuming for the nurses who took part in the study." Study co-author Debra Jackson said she hopes the research, "will lead to a much wider awareness of the effects that whistleblowing can have on individuals and the support mechanisms that organisations need to develop."
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New research suggests that there is a downside to always seeing the upside of things, The Australian reports. An experiment by Professor Tali Sharot, of the University College of London, examined peoples' estimates of their own odds of experiencing various unfortunate events. The researchers then asked participants for another estimate, after they were told their actual odds of such events occuring. The researchers found that when people estimated above the real odds of a negative event occurring, they readjusted their estimation - if the real odds of such an event occuring were lower than what they'd guessed. If, however, the real odds were far greater than what they'd guessed, and meant the participants were in more 'danger', they simply ignored the warning. But - only the participants identified as having an overly optimistic personality were likely to do this. "Our study suggests that we pick and choose the information that we listen to," said Sharot. "The more optimistic we are, the less likely we are to be influenced by negative information about the future...Seeing the glass as half full rather than half empty can be a positive thing - it can lower stress and anxiety, and be good for our health and well-being," she said. "But it can also mean that we are less likely to take precautionary action," thus placing optimists at an increased risk of harm.
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Workers who feel unfairly treated or victimised may be at an increased risk of physical and mental health problems, reports The Wall Street Journal. A new survey of 279 workplace research studies found that employees who believed their employer was unfairly handing out pay raises or promotions, or not sticking to commitments such as future job opportunities, were linked to increased stress, strain or chronic physical or mental problems. The mental health ailments included anger, hostility and cynicism, depression and anxiety, while the physical ailments included high cholesterol and heart attacks, higher body mass index and hypertension. These can lead to a range of costly chronic health conditions. US job satisfaction was rated as low as 11.6 per cent below pre-recession levels in 2008. While employees' perceptions of 'fairness' can vary widely - some may believe in a meritocracy, while others may believe rewards should be given to all, or those especially in need - the researchers emphasised the importance of promoting better communication between employers and employees, to avoid an increase in work-related health conditions.
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WorkCover NSW has launched a new online tool to help businesses estimate their annual workers' compensation costs. WorkCover NSW CEO, Lisa Hunt, said the Premium Estimator was designed to provide a service to employers where they were working – online. “With highly mobile workforces, business owners and workers are spending more and more time working online,” Ms Hunt said. “As any business owner will tell you, time is money, and the ability to easily get an estimate of your workers compensation premium will save both time and money. General Manager of Workplace Solutions at the NSW Business Chamber, Greg Pattison, said the Premium Estimator was an important step in improving business understanding of workers compensation. “Workers compensation premiums can be complex and difficult to understand,” Mr Pattison said. “The Premium Estimator gets inside the black box of workers compensation premiums which isn’t generally available to the average employer." Ms Hunt added that, “the Premium Estimator makes it easier for start-ups, businesses looking to diversify or those looking to expand, to check their workers compensation premium and is part of WorkCover’s customer-focused approach to helping NSW employers."
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A new study finds Australian workers among the hardest-working in the world, yet they are also among the least productive, The Age reports. An annual loss of $109 billion per year was attributed to this productivity slump. While Aussies work an average of 44 hours per week, the Ernst & Young survey of almost 2500 workers and bosses found that 18 per cent of the working day is spent on "work that wasted time and effort." Ernst & Young partner Neil Plumridge said that while, "we are not a nation of slackers," our productivity was the problem. ''The hours are good and the intentions are good, but we found an incredible wastage once we all get to work.'' The top reasons for this were found to be down to management issues (54 per cent), organisation structure (23 per cent), lack of innovation (15 per cent) and outdated technology (8 per cent). Alongside this comes the revelation that a seemingly-low 68 per cent of Australian workers felt, "proud to work for their employer," while 68 per cent believed their work was valued.
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Mental health experts say that boring jobs and dealing with the public can be just as stressful as having a job in the emergency services, The Border Mail reports. Boring and repetitious jobs can be just as stressful as more high-profile, high-stress occupations. “People believe police, ambulance, fire, health workers — people generally dealing with emergencies need support with work-related stress,” said Paul Terrell, Team Leader at Albury Wodonga Health's mental health service. “But boredom and repetition in the workplace can produce its own stresses as well, often just dealing with the public. And you don’t just stress less by deciding to stress less, you have to take steps to do something about it." Some tips for stressing-less include: going for a walk in your lunch break; sending an email to a fellow worker on a job well done; thinking of three positive things that happen each work day; avoiding too much caffeine; keeping a note pad to write down thoughts and stresses; and getting physical by exercising regularly. “There are [many] ways of doing it and its not a one size fits all approach, some people will get more stressed by not doing things but for someone else it is getting that job over and done with," said Terrell. “Finding ways of exercising, doing things differently or taking a break are just as important for your head as your heart.”
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Some back and neck specialists have coined the term "text neck" for the increasing number of cases of neck and back pain brought on by overuse of smartphones and laptops, Daily Mail reports. Technological improvements in mobile phones to allow internet, email and games applications have led to an increase in the amount of time people use these devices. This has led to posture issues with potentially damaging effects. "Imagine sitting on your ankle sideways for 10 minutes. It would feel stiff and sore when you returned it to its natural position. That is what people are doing with their necks," said chiropractor Rachael Lancaster. "We are not built to be sitting down hunched over screens," said physiotherapist Nicola Hunter said. "However, that is exactly what people are doing with their necks. If people continue to put their necks in these positions, the body will gradually adapt to the stresses. Because the head and neck move forwards, it will eventually lead to a reversal of the natural curve of the neck. Postural changes will then occur, which can lead to serious problems in this area." People can avoid such problems by taking regular breaks from texting; looking straight ahead every few minutes while using smartphones; rotating shoulders while keeping their arms by their sides to increase blood-flow to the shoulders; sitting up straight every time they text; and holding their phone a little higher when texting.
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Work-related stess is a significant risk factor for musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), according to a new study, Work Health Safety Matters reports. The study also found that 'job control' reduced a worker's likelihood of reporting pain. Researchers at the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health found that work stress was one of the variables with the strongest influence on reported back and arm pain, with workers with arm pain particularly likely to report they were, 'sometimes', 'often', or, 'always' stressed. Interestingly, workers who were able to decide how to do their work were much less likely to report arm pain. Workers who reported having enough time to get their work done also resulted in fewer reports of back pain. The study, based on two "quality of life" surveys of 1564 working adults, found that like likelihood of arm and back pain increased when work stress, repetitive hand movements and heavy lifting were combined. Researchers said their findings will contribute to identifying targeted ergonomic and workplace interventons for MSDs.
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Our personal lives are the real victims of the gloomy economic climate, The Independent reports. Preliminary findings from a British report reveals that amid a culture of downsizing and long working hours, family life is being caught up in a vicious cycle of stress. The goverment funded report, by the Working Families and One Plus One charities, found that one in four workers "constantly" does more than their contracted hours, with a further one in five doing so "frequently." Nearly a third of employees suffer from anxiety or panic attacks directly caused by work stress, and more than half of workers admit to being exhausted and irritable at home. Almost a third of workers report "frequently" or "constantly" sacrificing family time because of work. One in thee workers don't get to eat with their family more than twice a week, and 86 per cent say they have lost out on time with their children. Half of workers often sacrifice exercise as a consequence of work stress, while a third blame the relentless pressure of work for drinking and smoking too much. The result? Twenty-seven per cent of employees feel less productive, 33 per cent are less engaged at work and 34 per cent are regularly distracted at work due to stress at home. "The interaction between family relationships and work can be a vicious cycle, with stress from each crossing over and damaging the other," said Sarah Jackson, chief executive of Working Families. "It's a picture of a way of working that isn't doing us any good, either personally or with family relationships," she said.
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Referring patients with mental health problems to talking therapies potentially cuts the use of sick leave and healthcare services, Medical News Today reports. Evaluation of routinely collected healthcare data of over 152,000 patients examined the impact of mental health problems such as depression and anxiety on health service use and sick leave. The study compared people with and without mental health problems, and those that received talking therapies, focusing on the number of sick notes family doctors issued, antidepressant prescriptions, the number of people who used emergency care and outpatient clinics, and the length of hospital stays. The study found that people with common mental health problems were issued with ten-times more sick notes compared with those with no mental health problems. Those referred to talking therapies - in this case the UK's Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) scheme - used fewer hospital services and were issued with less sick notes. "There were marked differences between those with [common mental health problems] and people referred to IAPT and the rest of the registered population," noted the authors. "At a time when there is pressure to control increasing health costs, this study suggests that IAPT may contribute to reducing health service usage."
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The SA Government has moved to end WorkCover's sole provider system, with the claims management contract now being put to tender with likely multiple providers, ABC News reports. Employers Mutual Limited has been WorkCover's sole claims agent since 2005, when the switch to a single manager from four was hoped to cut claims liability by up to $100 million per year after two years. Janet Giles of SA Unions supported the move away from a sole manager, saying, "I think it's universally accepted by everyone who has anything to do with workers compensation in this state that EML has not been a good performer, particularly in the way they've treated injured workers." Treasurer Jack Snelling has recommended the, "Government's preference [to] be a minimum of two providers." Independent MP Ann Bressington, however, has doubts increasing competition will improve the WorkCover system. "In the past we've had more than one insurance company handling WorkCover claims and injured workers have still been put through the wringer and the system has still worked against them," she said. The Government is also reportedly looking at the option of opening up WorkCover's legal services to competition.
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Keeping older Australians in the workforce is the only way to avoid an 'explosion' in the cost of the age pension, reports The Sydney Morning Herald. Age Discrimination Commissioner Susan Ryan is calling for age restrictions on workers' compensation and income insurance to be scrapped. ''Most people in their 60s and 70s would like to be in work, probably part time, but if people can keep a job after 65 they can't get workers compensation or income insurance,'' she said. "People don't want to employ people they can't get cover for.'' NSW and Western Australia are the only Australian states that don't have age limits on workers' comp. ''Although we hear a lot about the health issues for very old people we shouldn't forget there are plenty of people in their 60s, 70s and beyond who want to work and there shouldn't be these impediments,'' said Ms Ryan. ''Most people live healthy, vigorous lives until close to their time of death. Most people don't get dementia. Most people don't go into residential care. We have got this idea that when you're in your 60s and 70s you're a huge burden.'' Treasurer Wayne Swan said the government is committed to ''better incentives to work for students, single parents and pensioners to boost workforce participation and strengthen our economy."
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A new study has found that individuals in roles of power, but lacking status, have a tendency to engage in activities that demean others, Medical News Today reports. The study involved an experiment on groups of students in which one was a high-status "idea producer", while another was the low-status "worker." The high-status delegate was then asked to select activities from a list of 10 for the others to perform - some tasks were more demeaning than others. Researchers found that, "individuals in high-power/low-status roles chose more demeaning activities for their partners (e.g., bark like a dog three times) than did those in any other combination of power and status roles." This has implications for the workplace: especially middle management and RTW. "We predicted that when people have a role that gives them power but lacks status - and the respect that comes with that status - then it can lead to demeaning behaviors," noted researchers. "Put simply, it feels bad to be in a low status position and the power that goes with that role gives them a way to take action on those negative feelings." In order to counteract this effect, researchers suggested fostering respect for all. "Respect assuages negative feelings about their low-status roles and leads them to treat others positively."
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Further evidence against sitting all day has appeared, with a new study from The University of Sydney's school fo public health suggesting that the longer people sit down each day, the greater their chances of going to an early grave, reports The Age. A new study of over 200,000 people in NSW has found that those who sat for more than 10 hours per day had a 48 per cent greater risk of an early death, compared with more active people who sat for less than four hours per day. "If you think about a few hours of TV every day and driving to and from work and at work mostly sitting, it's not hard to get into that 10-11 hour-a-day range," said study co-author Professor Adrian Bauman. "What we have to do is work quite hard to undo that...People doing high amounts of physical activity, and that's an hour a day, are mostly offsetting the effects of sitting but few of us can get to that and struggle to reach the Australian recommended levels of half an hour (of exercise) a day," Professor Bauman said. "The more you sit in the day the more you should try and build in a few extra minutes of physical activity by walking to the bus stop or to the sandwich shop at lunchtime and using the stairs instead of the lift."
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It has been long held that shift work may increase the risk of cancer for workers, however new research suggests that modern shift work patterns may not be as potentially harmful as previously thought, Medical News Today reports. "Our study indicates that the now common rotating shift pattern of day-day-night-night may not disrupt circadian rhythm or melatonin production significantly," said lead author Anne Grundy. The hormone melatonin is linked to anti-oxidant and tumour-suppressant properties. The study tracked peak and overall melatonin levels of 123 female hospital shift workers during alternate day and night shifts, and found that overall dim light levels in the hospital at night caused little difference in peak melatonin levels in shift workers during the day or night. There were, however, recordings of raised melatonin levels as hospital lighting levels increased. "We've already seen a shift away from the older patterns of two weeks of days, two weeks of nights, and a short time off to more humane patterns of day-day-night-night then five days off, so it's possible that an intervention to combat the health risks of shift work has already occurred," said Ms Grundy. "However, the overall change in melatonin levels that we found may still be a concern."
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A new study has found that women who smoke heavily may experience more chronic musculoskeletal pain than their nonsmoking counterparts, Science Daily reports. Over 6,000 women were surveyed on their smoking habits and symptoms of chronic pain. Results showed that women who were daily smokers had more than double the odds of reporting at least one chronic pain syndrome, compared with non-smokers. Former smokers showed a 20 per cent increase, while occasional smokers showed a 68 per cent increase. Researchers suggested that smokers' acute pain may be more likely to develop into chronic pain in smokers because their normal protection and mechanisms are damaged by exposure to smoke. "It's possible that patients experiencing chronic pain could benefit from smoking cessation treatment in addition to the treatment for their pain," said researchers. "Similarly, it's possible that appropriate treatment of chronic pain could increase a smoker's chances of successfully quitting. Right now, more research is needed on these interventions."
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Internationally renowned RTW expert Dr Richard Pimentel is calling for employers to be more 'agressive and proactive' in RTW of people with disability, Work Health Safety Matters reports. Addressing last week's Comcare conference, Dr Pimentel suggested it is a myth that managers' reluctance to hire people with disabilities stems from their uncertainty as to whether the applicants would be able to adequately perform a role. Rather, Dr Pimentel said that, "employers lack confidence in their own ability to work with [people with disability]" and consequently must fill the "holes in their knowledge," of RTW for people with disability. "There's nothing wrong with people with disabilities, there's just something wrong with the way you react to them," he added. Dr Pimentel is an American veteran of the Vietnam war who was depicted in the 2007 film, Music Within. He suffered a severe brain injury that caused him to lose most of his hearing. His return to the US as a person with disability began his experience of disability discrimination and subsequent advocacy for people with disabilities.
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Fly-in fly-out workers are placing an unsustainable strain on essential services in local mining communities, potentially accelerating the spread of contagious illnesses, Brisbane Times reports. Senior medical officials in mining town Moranbah have warned of the trend in a submission to a new federal inquiry. “Continuing to mistakenly assert that non-resident workers do not place pressure on health care and other essential services is dangerous and short sighted in the extreme," said Drs Johann Scholtz and Reyno Nieuwoudt. The doctors state that the influx of FIFO workers as new patients has limited services available to regular patients, with one estimate suggesting there is a ratio of one doctor to as many as 2750 patients in Moranbah. “A further impact of the travel associated with non-resident mobile shift workers relates to the quick spread of diseases and viruses from far afield," warned the doctors. "Communal living at close quarters is another factor to bear in mind – contagious conditions such as conjunctivitis, influenza, gastroenteritis and whooping cough are easily spread through places where many people live closely together...In the past such outbreaks have wreaked havoc with the availability of appointments for the local community and the ability of medical services to cope."
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Deakin University researchers claim to have found a link between poor diet and a higher risk factor for mental health problems in adolescents, Science Alert reports. In a study of 3000 Australian adolescents, researchers "found that diet quality and mental health were linked, with healthier diets associated with better mental health." According to researchers, three-quarters of psychiatric illnesses begin before the age of 25 and the average age that depressive illnesses start is 13 years old. "We believe that diet may be an important environmental factor influencing the development of mental health problems during adolescence, when rapid growth makes good nutrition particularly important," researchers noted. The study also noted that this link wasn't explained by changes in physical activity levels or weight, nor by 'reverse causality' - i.e. the suggestion that diet is merely a reflection of the mental health states of adolescents. "We tested this idea, but did not find any evidence that this was the case," noted researchers.
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A new study found that patients with acute low back pain who were told to stay active - despite the pain - fared better than those who were told to limit their activity in line with their pain, reports Medical News Today. Researchers from the University of Gothenburg randomly advised 109 patients with acute severe low back pain to either "stay active even though it hurts," or, "adjust your activity to the pain." The participants kept a diary to record pain levels, day-to-day activities, levels of depression and a step-count. Despite having more pain, the active group recovered more quickly and did not feel depressed at the follow-up. "The other category, who had been advised from the very start to adjust their activity to their pain, were less mobile and felt slightly depressed compared to the patients who were active," says researcher Olaya-Contreras. This may be down to a number of things, including that some people with depression may experience pain more acutely. "I think that if you're suffering with acute low back pain you should try to remain as active as possible and go about your daily business as well as you can," said Olaya-Contreras. "If you don't keep moving, it's easy to get locked into a downward spiral, as inactivity combined with pain can, in a worst case scenario, turn into long-term disability and an inability to work that, in turn, can lead to depressed mood and more pain."
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A positive workplace culture is the key to employee engagement, Reuters Workplace Insight reports. “Happy employees are better employees – they look out for each other more,” said Dr Timothy Sharp, psychologist and founder of The Happiness Institute. Addressing Comcare's national conference in Melbourne on Septembner 12, Dr Sharp explained the link between happy employees and productivity, as well as good health. “Happy and positive workplaces are less likely to experience frequency and intensity of injuries than those that are not," he said. Stressful workplaces, said Dr Sharp, can create employee mental health deterioration that causes problems in the future. “We don’t cope well when we experience severe levels of stress." Dr Sharp warned against self-defeating attitudes and the "hedonistic teadmill" as sources of deep dissatisfaction, instead suggesting that “if we build on our strengths...you get a greater return on your investment."
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"Wellbeing workplaces" understand the link between employee "perks" and employee motivation, retention and productivity, The Herald Sun reports. Swisse Vitamins in Collingwood, Victoria, offer staff a range of perks for their 60-strong team, including muesli and toast, organic meals - such as seafood or vegetable risotto and rocket, pumpkin and sun-dried tomato salad, an espresso machine and weekly massages. This promotion of healthy lifestyle has had reportedly great results. "Our productivity is exceptional, and one part of the reason revenue was up substantially last year,"said Swisse cheif Radek Sali. Melbourne Business School leadership program director Clarance Da Gama Pinto, however, said such programs were rare due to the aftermath of the global financial situation creating "toxic" workplaces, focused on short-term results. The benefits of workplace wellbeing initiatives were further supported by Dr Tony Grant, Sydney University coaching psychologist, who said that depressed employees worked at only 40 per cent capacity and took more sick days.
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The Governor in the Executive Council has proclaimed 1 October 2011 for the commencement of the first stage of the Workers' Compensation and Injury Management Amendment Act 2011 (the Act). The first stage: removes all aged based limits on workers' compensation entitlements; extends the safety net arrangement for workers awarded common law damages against uninsured employers; and includes various amendments of an administrative nature. The proclamation of the changes to the dispute resolution process is planned for 1 December 2011. This will allow time for administrative processes to be put in place to enable the implementation of the new dispute services. Changes to the calculation of weekly payments of compensation provisions in sections 123(2) to (7) of the Act have not been proclaimed at this stage. This decision was based upon concerns that the proposed amendments could result in unintended detriment to some workers. For more information please see the legislative review page on our website or contact Chris White on 9388 5512 or chris.white@workcover.wa.gov.au.
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Unhealthy and overweight workers are up to 12 per cent less productive than their healthy counterparts, costing companies millions of dollars, The Independent reports. At least one expert says that being an overweight worker should become as socially unacceptable as being unsafe or slack at work. "Health is an economic issue. It is a business strategy about being able to stay healthy and pick up the pace," said Professor Dee Edington, from the University of Michigan. "I bet nobody in a workplace says it's OK not to be safe or it is OK not to do quality work. What we have to get is health up to the same level, to say 'it is not OK not to be healthy around here because we need you working at 95 to 100 per cent efficiency'." But simply rather than telling staff to shape-up or ship-out, Edington says companies need to improve wellbeing in the workplace so as to encourage change. His suggestions include providing healthier eating options, more exercise opportunities and flexible work arrangements. "I think individual coaching is really the right way to make these things happen."
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New research has found potential cellular pathways by which racial discrimination exacerbates cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other age-related health problems, Science Daily reports. The US National Institute on Aging and the National Institutes of Health put forward a new hypothesis on why there were racial differences in disease prevalence. They found that African-Americans who suffer psychological symptoms from racial discrimination have higher levels of oxidative stress. Oxidative stress involves free radicals damaging cellular components including DNA, proteins and lipids. In this way, racial discrimination can lead to high blood pressure, obesity, cardiovascular problems, poor self-reported health and premature disease-related disability. "This is a preliminary report of an association between racial discrimination and oxidative stress," said researchers. "It is a first step to understanding whether there is a relationship between the two. Our findings suggest that there may be identifiable cellular pathways by which racial discrimination amplifies cardiovascular and other age-related disease risks. If increased red blood cell oxidative stress is associated with experiencing racial discrimination in African Americans, this could be one reason that many age-associated chronic disease have a higher prevalence in this group."
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Restorative justice - involving direct emotional expression between disputing parties - may be a superior process to mediation in the workplace, The Sydney Morning Herald reports. Restorative justice is focused on the needs of victims and offenders, rather than solely on punishing the offender or satisfying legal principles. Guy Hall, associate professor from Murdoch University law school said that mediation was less effective than resorative justice in the workplace because restorative justice airs peoples' emotional responses to conflict, rather than requiring parties to 'put to bed' past greivances. "One of the downsides of our [workplace] is that we are so punitive," said Hall. "We focus so much on punishment we make it extremely difficult for anyone to admit wrongdoing, to take responsibility and say sorry. Because an admission of guilt will probably get you sacked.'' Hall said that poor leadership is often to blame for most workplace conflicts. 'We are probably all guilty at times of acting as innocent bystanders … but if you've got good, strong, healthy leadership, there's usually very little conflict. The culture of a workplace really is based on the behaviour of the employees' immediate supervisor.''
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The Community and Public Sector Union has responded to allegations of bullying within WorkSafe Victoria, alongside several past and current WorkSafe staff interviewd by The Age. Various current and former WorkSafe staff reflected on the recent allegations of bullying: "'We think the culture's rotten. I would welcome an inquiry and I would be prepared to give evidence...How can we tell other people how to deal with bullying in their workplaces when we don't?'' The CPSU has called for an inquiry into WorkSafe's culture, highlighting alleged widespread distrust of WorkSafe's approach to internal complaints. State Secretary Karen Batt said, "The current process means WorkSafe is unaccountable. When the regulator has the problem, where do you go? The staff at WorkSafe should have the same rights as other workers to have their health and safety rights addressed independently.'' WorkSafe chief executive Greg Tweedly denied WorkSafe had a bullying problem, suggesting employee complaints were more to do with recent restructuring. "It's a tough thing to change people's jobs and we try to do it with as much empathy as possible, but we are here to serve Victorians and so change is something we are always going to do," he said.
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"Unless they're out on a stretcher," says Professor Kim Burton, injured workers should be accommodated at work as soon after their injury as possible, Adelaide Now reports. Professor Burton addressed WorkCover SA's annual conference yesterday, explaining the need for injured workers to be allowed to heal on the job. "It's not so much how serious the injury is, it's how seriously it's perceived that may be the obstacle itself," Burton said. "Once it's in the workplace and in the workers comp context, there needs to be something done right at the beginning to help that person stay at work if they can...what we need to do is say...'what can we do to help you stay here?" Seventy per cent of workplace injuries are common health conditions, such as musculoskeletal injuries or mentall illnesses, which can become much worse when somebody puts work off for an extended period of time.
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Walking 10,000 steps a day and doing three gym sessions a week can make employees $2500 more productive for employers every year, The Age reports. Australian researchers measured components of brain function in workers who were required to walk 10,000 steps per day, plus undergo three resistance training sessions per week. Brain functions that were measured included the ability to plan, remember, simulate future scenarios and make decisions. Employee alertness and energy, anger and stress levels were also measured. After eight weeks, the study found a link between vigorous physical activity, and improved brain function and reduced stress levels. Improvements in brain function and physical health were translated into a dollar value using Harvard's Productivity Questionnaire, which showed that those who walked both the 10,000 steps and visited the gym contributed an additional $2500 extra productivity value to their workplace.
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More than 3,000 delegates from over 100 countries have gathered to discuss how to ensure a culture of safety and health at work amid uncertain global economic times, UN.org reports. The XIX World Congress on Safety and Health at Work is a week-long meeting that will address the latest International Labour Organisation report on occupational safety and health, which shows an increase in the overall number of fatal work-related accidents and diseases increased between 2003 and 2008. "While it is too soon to tell what long-term effect [the global economic recession] has had on rates of accidents and ill-health, there is evidence that some of the recent advances in terms of promoting OSH [occupational safety and health] are being lost as enterprises struggle to remain productive," said ILO Director-General Juan Somavia. Topics discussed at the forum will include: comprehensive and proactive approaches to safety and health at work, social dialogue and partnerships on occupational safety and health, and new challenges in a changing world of work and an uneven global economic recovery.
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Walking is a cheap, simple way to exercise more and de-stress - and it also doubles as transport! The Age reports on Australian Bureau of Statistics figures showing that more than one in five Australians prefer to walk as exercise, making it the most common form of physical activity. "All you need is two legs - you don't need expensive equipment or facilities," says Professor Adrian Bauman, of the school of public health, University of Sydney. Walking improves mood and brain function, blood pressure and cardiovascular health, while also reducing obesity, diabetes and some forms of cancer. Professor Bauman says that for walking to have a real effect, it should be continuous; at least an hour at a moderate pace. To lose weight, walking should be for an hour or more. ''The best way to increase activity is to habituate walking,'' he says. ''It's about building activity into your day and walking happens to be the activity most of us can do.'' Walking to work can be a great way of improving health and fitness - if your house is too far away, catch public transport some of the way.
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"Hunched shoulders, angled necks and wrists, and hands twisted like claws" may be one unintended outcome of the increase in prevalence of smartphones, laptops and tablets, New York Times reports. The fact that these devices don't meet the ergonomic requirements of a traditional computer system means that people using them face a greater risk of eye strain, tendinitis and carpal tunnel syndrome. The repetitive actions involved in using this new technology can lead to overuse of muscles and tendons, inflaming them and leading to pain in hands, shoulders, neck and back. There is also a further risk using touch screens for typing, because of the lack of cushioning available with a traditional keyboard. Excessive texting even has it's own dangers: De Quervain's tenosynovitis is an inflammation of the thumb tendons that inhibits peoples' ability to hold things. Ergonomics professor Alan Hedge offered some advice for using new electronic technology. "Match the technology to the task you want to perform,” he said. “If what you’re doing is a lot of typing, you need a keyboard. Don’t try to type ‘War and Peace’ with your thumbs.” Perhaps the most important advice for anybody using machines is: take breaks regularly.
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Work Health Safety Matters reports on seven ways to stay healthier at work, via Work Health Safety Matters. "Spending an average of 40 hours per week at work can be physically and mentally draining, but the workplace can also be unhealthy in other ways as well," says the report. "Experts say there are numerous things people can do to make their workplaces healthier." 1) Take a walk in the park: people can improve their working memory span by about 20 per cent after a 50-minute nature walk. 2) Surf the Web: those who use the Internet during a 10-minute break were found to be more productive and effective at their tasks. 3) Make your desk area a mini-gym: available space, desks and office furniture can double as exercise equipment. 4) Keep moving: deliver messages or packages in person and walk to things like copiers and the furthest bathroom. 5) Watch your posture: sit close to the workstation, keep monitors at eye-level, keep keyboard and mouse low and in front, and sit with legs at a 90-degree angle. 6) Plan ahead: bring your own meals and healthy snacks and eat at least every four hours. 7) Practice good hygeine: wash hands and prepare food properly.
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One in five public health workers have reported quitting their jobs because of "nasty bosses, workplace stress, or bullying and harassment," reports Perth Now. WA Health Department exit surveys dated from October 2010 to June 30 (obtained by The Sunday Times) said that of the 244 departing workers surveyed, 7.4 per cent reported quitting because of their "relationship with their manager/supervisor". Fourteen per cent said they would never work for the department again. Just over seven per cent reported leaving because of "workload and workplace pressure," while 5.4 per cent quit over, "harassment, discrimination and workplace bullying." Dissatisfaction with pay and conditions was cited as the definitive factor for a further seven per cent of staff who quit. "(I) had no performance reviews in five years, passive aggressive avoidance behaviours from line manager," reported one worker in their exit survey. "I often felt bullied by the Medical HOS [head of service] and not supported by the DON [director of nursing)]" said another. Eighty-six per cent of departing workers said they'd "consider" returning to the department, which Acting Health Minister John Day inferred as meaning, "overall, exiting employees have a positive working experience with WA Health."
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The 2010-11 Return to Work Monitor results are in: South Australia still has the lowest return to work rate in the nation and has the highest number of workers receiving compensation, Adelaide Now reports. The report shows SA with the lowest proportion of injured workers returning to work in 2010-11, at a rate of 80 per cent. This is the same as SA's rate last year, and compares with this year's national average RTW rate of 86 per cent. "[South Australia] performed poorly in keeping injured workers in paid employment once they returned to work, and employees also took longer to return after an accident than in other states," reports Adelaide Now. Return to Work Matters will be reporting on the recently released 2010-11 RTW Monitor data over the coming weeks.
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The first long-term study of the health impacts of the World Trade Center attacks and subsequent building collapse has found significant and chronic mental and physical health problems among first responders and recovery workers, Science Daily reports. The Mount Sinai Medical Center research evaluated over 27,000 police officers, construction workers, firefighters and municipal workers over the nine years since 9/11. It found a high incidence of conditions including asthma, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, sinusitis and gastroesophageal disorder. More than one in five of the responders had mustiple physical and/or mental health problems. "Several studies have evaluated the health impacts of 9/11, but this is the first long-term study to demonstrate the lasting burden of disease experienced by the brave men and women who responded in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center," said Juan Wisnivesky, MD, DrPH, Vice-Chair for Research in the Department of Medicine and lead author on the study. "Our findings underscore the importance of long-term monitoring and treatment of the rescue and recovery worker population."
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A number of Australia's top work health and safety experts have suggested the option of a single national insurance and compensation body, reports Kevin Jones of Safety At Work Blog. The speakers appeared at a recent Safe Work Australia workshop on recommendations for the next ten-year OHS strategy. Alongside this main OHS focus were suggestions for a combined insurance/compensation system similar to that of New Zealand's Accident Compensation Commission (ACC). "The argument was put that OHS laws and workplace obligations are blurring the regulatory delineation between work-related injuries and illnesses and those that occur outside work, particularly in the area of psychosocial issues," reported Jones. "This blurring should be reflected in one insurance/compensation claim being lodged regardless of where the incident occurred and that claim being processed by a body similar to New Zealand’s ACC." Jones said audience members agreed that this model would "result in considerable cost savings to small business, in particular, a sector which employs almost 95% of Australian workers." This model would also reduce government costs by utilising existing national social security services, and minimising claimants' stress-levels thanks to a centralised claims process.
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Minister for Industrial Relations Russell Wortley today announced a new round of scholarships to supplement ongoing research into the prevention of workplace injuries and illness in South Australia. A total of up to $70,000 will be made available through two scholarships this year in what will be an annual program. Mr Wortley says the scholarships are designed to encourage PhD candidates to focus their research projects on the prevention of work-related injury and illness.
As such, only applicants who have already been approved to pursue a higher degree by research (HDR) will be eligible. "The successful researchers will be able to access the workplace injury and illness claims data currently used by SafeWork SA to assist in their projects,” Mr Wortley says. "Firstly, they must meet the selection criteria set by the SafeWork SA Research Committee, which comprises representatives of the agency’s main Advisory Committee and three universities.” The deadline for applications is Monday, 7 November 2011, with details available from the SafeWork SA website.
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"Mobbing" - an emotional assault on a single worker by a group of others - should be a better-recognised form of bullying and needs to be referred directly to the Human Rights Commission, says the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, The Canberra Times reports. The ACT's public sector has reacted to recent workplace harassment claims by encouraging staff to speak out against bullying, but AMWU spokesperson Jane Timbrell said the act of mobbing also needs similar attention. The Canberra Times describes mobbing as, "recognised by experts as an emotional assault beginning when an individual becomes the target of disrespectful and harmful behaviour." Ms Timbrell referred to the case of whistleblower Debbie Scattergood, who was the victim of a mobbing campaign after reporting waste and mismanagement in a multimillion-dollar Territory and Munucipal Services contract four years ago. ''Nobody should have to put up with what Debbie had to put up with,'' sais Ms Timbrell. ''Therefore the AMWU requests that incidents of mobbing be taken out of the department and referred to the Human Rights Commission.''
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A recent SafeWork Australia report shows South Australian workers' compensation employer levy rates are the highest in the nation, Adelaide Now reports. The average South Australian employer levy rate for WorkCover is 3 per cent of payroll, compared with 1.3 per cent in the nation's cheapest states of Queensland and Victoria. Last month, Safe Work Australia released its charter for working South Australians, calling for the restoration of fairness to injured SA workers. This is, in part, a rebuttal to changes made by the Rann Government in 2008 that saw a reduction in injured worker benefits, in an attempt to lower employer levy rates. Opposition industry spokesman Martin Hamilton-Smith, said, "The costs of our system are crushingly uncompetitive with every other jurisdiction...We should not be surprised that SA manufacturers and other ... businesses are struggling to compete."
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Former WorkSafe employee Jillian Ramsden was allegedly sacked just hours after lodging a compensation claim for bullying, The Herald Sun reports. Ms Ramsden was fired the next morning at 8am after lodging the claim, pertaining to what she described as, "a toxic environment at WorkSafe," and, "a wider cultural issue there." Ms Ramsden, who was the former WorkSafe health adviser, was told she was dismissed for "performance accountability," despite the fact that she had received no warnings and was promoted after just one month at WorkSafe. "I was warned by a colleague about how bad she [the alleged abusive colleague] was and I was told she will either love me or hate me," Ms Ramsden said. "I had no support. There is a total culture of fear there. God help you if you speak up to complain." Maurice Blackburn lawyer Josh Bornstein said, "This case will be a long, instructive and difficult journey for WorkSafe...If there is to be fundamental cultural change at WorkCover, it will be first necessary to expose its behaviour in this case to sustained external scrutiny by Fair Work Australia and the Federal Court."
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Nearly four in 10 sufferers of mental illness don't discolose their condition to their employers, reports The Australian. The SANE Working Life and Mental Illness study surveyed 520 sufferers of mental illness, gauging their opinion of workplace support for their conditions. Less than half (43 per cent) of peoples' managers were said to understand how mental illness affected people in the workplace, while only 30 per cent of sufferers reported having flexible working conditions. "Many people with a mental illness do not disclose their condition to employers, fearful they will lose their jobs, thus making it harder to access support," said the report. "This also applies to employees who are caring for a family member with a mental illness." "People with mental illness are already employed all around Australia, and if they aren't recognised and given support, good staff can be lost," said SANE Australia executive director Barbara Hocking. Bipolar disorder sufferer Nicci Wall highlighted the benefits of flexible working arrangements: "If I come in and can't focus, I can say to my boss I'm not functioning and she's quite happy for me to go home and make the time up. I tend to make time up rather than use sick leave, which I think should be for other standard illnesses like the flu and so forth."
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Say goodnight to the nightcap: new research shows that even a small amount of alcohol before bed can reduce the quality of sleep, ItsMyHealth.com.au reports. US and Japanese researchers found that alcohol interferes with the restorative sleep phase, leading to insomnia and other negative health effects. Participants took up to a single dose of alcohol 100 minutes before sleep and were monitored for eight hours. Researchers noted that, "although the first half of sleep after alcohol intake looks good on the EEG, the result of the assessment regarding the autonomic nerve system (both parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems) shows that drinking leads to insomnia rather than good sleep." This challenges the widely-held belief that alcohol can aid sleep or sleep initiation. The full paper, "Alcohol Has a Dose-Related Effect on Parasympathetic Nerve Activity During Sleep" will be published in the November 2011 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.
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Much time and effort has been put into researching the connection between the mind and the body when it comes to pain. There is now no doubt that psychological health plays a large part in injured workers remain at or return to work outcomes. Dr Lorimer Moseley and Associate Professor Eoin Killackey will discuss different aspects of psychological health as it relates to the work place in their sessions at the sixth annual WorkCover conference, Staying Connected, to be held in Adelaide next month. With a focus on how pain works in the brain, Dr Moseley will explore the difference between pain and actual tissue damage, and the ways in which pain can hinder a successful return to work. He will share what he has discovered through his studies into pain and the body, and offer a new approach to return to work, which involves retraining the body after an injury. Associate Professor Killackey will then explore mental illness and the ways in which people with mental illness can be supported in their return to work. He also looks at the barriers to participation in the workforce for people with a mental illness. An important aspect to the rehabilitation of someone with a mental illness is reengaging them in the workforce in a meaningful capacity.
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The UK’s Spinal Research Unit Director at the University of Huddersfield, Professor Kim Burton, is in Adelaide next month for WorkCoverSA’s sixth annual conference Staying Connected, as a keynote speaker presenting ‘Recovering better at work – overcoming the obstacles’. Professor Burton is a well respected osteopath, with a keen interest in the way attitudes of injured workers, their colleagues, managers, families and friends affect successful return to work outcomes. The better connected the injured worker the quicker and better the recovery in most instances. Burton’s studies suggest that workers who remain connected with their workplace and others in their social circle are more inclined to recover and return to or remain at work. Burton's session demonstrates ways managers and employers can help injured workers get back to work quickly and safely. Delegates will leave the conference with a better understanding of some of the elements that combine to achieve best possible return to work outcomes. Staying Connected, WorkCover’s annual conference will be held at the Adelaide Convention Centre on 14 September.
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The cost of workplace bullying reaches far beyond the immediate impact on a worker’s productivity and feelings of self-worth. While falling victim to bullying is not a physical injury, the psychological effects can be devastating. While the bullied worker feels the effects most immediately, its impact is far more widespread: individual’s families, co-workers and employers can all be affected by it. So it is important for organisations to take steps to ensure bullying does not occur. Trainer and mediator Sheila Freeman is in Adelaide next month to present an interactive and entertaining workshop that deals with managing bullies and those who are bullied in the workplace. With real-life examples, Sheila will discuss the various definitions and costs of workplace bullying. They also highlight some of the reasons that it is important for organisations have bullying policies in place. They identify types of bullying and discuss the effects bullying has on victims. This session is for anyone wanting to ensure their workplace is free from bullying, and for those seeking techniques for managing bullying in the workplace. Staying Connected, WorkCover’s sixth annual conference will be held at the Convention Centre on 14 September. More details at www.workcover.com/conference
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Closing the gap between male and female workforce participation would boost economic growth by at least 13 per cent, reports The Age. The economic benefit of this would be about $180 billion, highlighting the error in considering equal pay, parental leave, childcare, flexible working hours, female career paths and political and executive representation as simply women's or social policy issues. ''Australia is only two-thirds of the way to unlocking the hidden value of the female labour pool," said Goldman Sachs chief economist Tim Toohey. Despite this, Australia's pay gap is as wide as it was two decades ago - a discrepancy that cannot be explained by gaps in ability nor education. In fact, Australian women are more likely than men to graduate from university and Australia ranks highest in world women's educational attainment. "Much of the national investment in education and training is effectively wasted at a time when employers are crying out for skilled labour," comments The Age Opinion editorial. Scandinavian countries that have higher female workforce participation have done so through investing in provisions for parental leave, childcare, family-friendly work conditions and female leadership roles.
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Be a non-smoker, eat well, exercise regularly and don't overdo the alcohol - you'll not only enjoy fewer chronic health problems, but live longer too, Medical News Today reports. A new study from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that neglecting these four healthy lifestyle factors is the major cause of illness and death related to chronic illness. The CDC used health survey data of 16,958 people and found that those who practiced all four healthy lifestyle factors were 66 per cent less likely to die early from cancer, 65 per cent less likely to die early from a major cardiovascular disease and 57 per cent less likely to die early from other causes - compared with people who practiced no low-risk lifestyle behaviours. The CDC suggests: avoiding tobacco - either not starting smoking, or quittting ASAP; limiting alcohol to no more than two drinks per day for men, or one drink per day for women; improving diet to include more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fat-free and low-fat dairy, and seafoods, and cutting down on salt and foods high in sodium, saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, added sugar and refined grains; and increasing exercise: do at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise (e.g. brisk walking) five days per week, or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise (e.g. jogging, race walking) three days per week.
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New research contradicts the suggestion that working night shift may raise a pregnant woman's risks of preterm labor, or giving birth to an underweight baby, Reuters reports. In a meta-study of 23 studies - each involving anywhere from 700 to more than 35,000 women - researchers found that overall, shift work was not strongly linked to the risk of preterm labour, compared with a standard 9 to 5 shift. Night work did slightly increase the risk of having an underweight baby, but researchers believe this risk is "likely to be small." Prior studies of the relationship between womens' shift-work and their reproductive function have had conflicting findings. This may be partly to do with the fact that women who do shift work also make less money, have higher smoking rates and generally less healthy lifestyles than women in a standard work week. "The evidence currently available about the investigated birth outcomes does not make a compelling case for mandatory restrictions on shift-working in pregnancy," said researchers. "In the meantime, we suggest that, it would be prudent...to permit pregnant women who wish to do so, to reduce their exposure to shift and night working."
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The WA state parliament has passed important amendments to the Workers' Compensation and Injury Management Act 1981. Changes include: the removal of age-based limits on workers' compensation entitlements; an extension of the workers' compensation safety net to enable workers employed by uninsured employers to receive common law entitlements (under certain circumstances. The amendments also make it mandatory for all employers to have insurance covering both statutory and common law liabilities); a restructure of the dispute resolution system; and addressing legislative anomalies and inefficiencies. Most of the amendments come into effect on 1 October, 2011. Changes to the dispute resolution process will take effect from 1 December, 2011. More info.
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According to NT News, four recommendations of a 2009 internal review of NT WorkSafe have been kept "secret" by the authority. The review made 17 recommendations for improvement, yet only 13 were publicly acknowledged by WorkSafe - until prompted by NT News. WorkSafe's executive director Laurene Hull maintained that the four recommendations were "not released to staff as they were either irrelevant, fell outside the scope of the consultancy, compromised staff privacy or were based solely on the author's point of view." Yet, NT News suggests the four recommendations were ignored because they, "found executive director Laurene Hull should get coaching to be a better boss, apologise to staff for a door fiasco and relinquish power over "independent'' reviews into her decision making." According to NT News, one of the report's recommendations stated Ms Hull was, "driven and dedicated, she tended to micromanage, could be intimidating, and made 'barbed comments'." CLP politician John Elferink suggested WorkSafe was dysfunctional and questioned Ms Hull's management, but Attorney General Delia Lawrie's spokesman Patrick Hastwell responded to this as a "witch-hunt."
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Many people assume narcissists are natural-born leaders - thanks to their confidence, dominance, authority and self-esteem - yet researchers think the opposite is true, Mecical News Today reports. Narcissists are often promoted because of their percieved leadership attributes, yet researchers of a recent study say narcissists lack an essential element of sucessful group decision-making and performence: the free and creative exchange of information and ideas. "The narcissistic leaders had a very negative effect on their performance. They inhibited the communication because of self-centeredness and authoritarianism," said author Barbora Nevicka. "Narcissists are very convincing. They do tend to be picked as leaders. There's the danger: that people can be so wrong based on how others project themselves. You have to ask: Are the competencies they project valid, or are they merely in the eyes of the beholder?"
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Uncivil colleagues have a negative impact reaching much further than just their own workplace, Science Daily reports. This behaviour affects not only the family of an employee who is poorly treated, but their partner's workplace as well. "Employees who experience such incivility at work bring home the stress, negative emotion and perceived ostracism that results from those experiences, which then affects more than their family life - it also creates problems for the partner's life at work," said study author Merideth J. Ferguson, Ph.D. "This research underlines the importance of stopping incivility before it starts so that the ripple effect of incivility does not impact the employee's family and potentially inflict further damage beyond the workplace where the incivility took place and cross over into the workplace of the partner."
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More employers should be offering job candidates with a disability "a real opportunity to demonstrate capacity", says federal Disability Discrimination Commissioner Graeme Innes, reports HR Daily. Presenting to the 19th Annual Labour Law Conference and the Australian Network on Disability Conference, Mr Innes said that labour force participation among people with disability is about 54 per cent, compared with 90 per cent for people without disabilities. He suggests employers positively discriminate in favour of people with disability in order to redress the workforce participation imbalance. Among a range of suggestions for employers, Mr Innes advises that "merit selection" criteria should only relate to the inherent requirements of a job. He uses the example of a talented computer programmer with Asperger's syndrome who couldn't get a job because his poor communication skills let him down in an interview. "But how many interviews do computer programmers do during their day-to-day job? Why test him on something he'll never have to do again?" asks Innes.
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The prospect of a High Court challenge to SA WorkCover legislation concerning injured workers' rights to appeal has stalled, Indaily reports. As RTW Matters' Sean Gleeson previously explained, injured workers are currently denied the ability to have legal representation at medical review panels, which can terminate their entitlements after 130 weeks. However, two recent decisions by the Full Bench of the SA Supreme Court has upheld WorkCover's position, for now. In one case (Davey), writes Den Ryan, the Supreme Court, "upheld WorkCover’s power to terminate a worker’s entitlements after 130 weeks on compo without allowing an opportunity to plead a case for their continuance." In Yaghoubi & Campbell, Ryan writes, "the Full Bench found WorkCover had the power to refer cases to a medical panel but the panel’s opinion about a “capacity to work” was not binding on the Workers Compensation Tribunal." The likelihood of an appeal is low, said Stephen Dolphin, lawyer for Yaghoubi & Campbell. WorkCover CEO Rob Thomson also said, “There is no basis for WorkCover to appeal in either case [in the High Court]."
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Constant bitterness can affect a person's health, according to new research, Medical News Today reports. Concordia University researchers examined the relationship between failure, bitterness and quality of life. "Persistent bitterness may result in global feelings of anger and hostility that, when strong enough, could affect a person's physical health," said professor Carsten Wrosch. Wrosch has recently identified failure as one of the most frequent causes of bitterness, which is often associated with anger and recrimination. While regret is about self-blame, bitterness that is harboured for a long time, "may forecast patterns of biological dysregulation (a physiological impairment that can affect metabolism, immune response or organ function) and physical disease." If an individual who experiences failure can find other ways to fulfil their goals, they can avoid bitterness and it's potential health effects. "In order to deal with bitter emotions there may need to be something else required to enable a person to overcome the negative emotion - that something is forgiveness," said Wrosch. This has important implications for injured workers and their relationships with employers, claims agents and treaters.
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WorkCover NSW is conducting a series of webinars to inform businesses of the impending implementation of national OHS laws, Australasian Bus News reports. Five interactive webinars will be held, each focusing on different aspects of the new laws, including the role of health and safety representatives, officers and volunteers, changes for small business and amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act. “From 2012, new health and safety legislation will be introduced in NSW. Under the new arrangements, all jurisdictions are harmonising their work health and safety laws and these webinars will help business develop a greater understanding of their impact,” said John Watson, General Manager of WorkCover's Work Health and Safety division. “All you need is a computer with an internet connection to participate in the webinars, so we’re encouraging all employers and workers wanting to learn how the new laws affect their workplace to go online and register.” Webinars will be held at 11am, between August 11 and September 7. You must preregister to take part - at this link.
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Sex discrimination complaints made by men have reached a higher number than those made by women, reports The West Australian. Figures from the State's Equal Opportunity Commission reveal an increase in sex discrimination allegations lodged by men last financial year. Equal Opportunity Commissioner Yvonne Henderson put this trend down to men becoming increasingly aware of their treatment by employers and service providers. "Since the 1991-1992 financial year, complaints made by men in general have increased from 29 per cent to 46 per cent while complaints by women have dropped slightly," said Ms Henderson. "Men are now more likely to say 'No this is wrong and I am going to lodge a complaint about it'." However, there were still more women alleging sexual harassment in 2010-11, but sexual harrassment complaints by men had also increased by 4 per cent. Ms Henderson said common complaints from men involved those who felt they'd been discriminated against in job applications, or had been denied access to a bar on the basis of their sex. Paul Pule, secretary of Men's Advisory Network put this change down to an "increased emotional vocabulary of men."
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The number of Tasmanians injured at work last year increased by around 5 per cent, reports The Mercury. 448 more workers were injured last year compared with the previous year, putting the final tally at 9721 workplace injuries. Half of the injuries were traumatic joint, ligament, muscle and tendon injuries, and about 70 per cent of those were soft-tissue injuries such as sprains and strains. WorkCover Tasmania board member Kevin Harkins noted the increase and emphasised the need for workers to attend "WorkSafe Tasmania Month" training activities to help prevent injuries. Mr Harkins said it was employers' responsibility to give workers the time off to attend training sessions. "All Tasmanians are encouraged to get involved by signing up to attend one of the many free workplace health and safety-related workshops," he said.
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Figures reveal public servants are taking more than twice as much sick leave compared with the average Australian worker, The Mercury reports. The Australian Public Service Commission State of the Service report found that 30 per cent of federal agencies had an average absence rate above 12 days in 2009-10, compared with 9.8 days for the average Australian. One agency reported empoyees taking an average of 23.5 days leave. According to the report, around 75 per cent of unplanned leave is sick leave, followed by carer's leave (13 per cent), compensation leave (6 per cent) and miscellanious other leave (4 per cent). Paul Dundon of Direct Health Solutions - who provide absence management services for government agencies - alleged there is, "a culture of entitlement and sick leave abuse in the public sector," and that, "it's a scandal because they're not managing it." He puts this down to a "failure of leadership," which costs the economy $30 billion a year.
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In a recent survey of 2,250 employers, only 56 per cent agreed that the financial benefits of investing in worker health and wellbeing outweighed the costs, Health Insurance Magazine reports. The UK Department for Work and Pensions Research Report No 750 – "Health and well-being at work: A survey of employers" - also found that two-thirds of employers had not taken any actions to assist employees with health problems to stay in, or return to, work. Only a quarter of employers recognised sickness absence as a barrier to productivity, while 21 per cent still had no system for measuring sickness absence. 61 per cent of employers did offer flexible working arrangements, such as flexi-time, work from home and job sharing. 83 per cent of employers did not provide stress management advice and support, with half thinking their employees would not want them to intervene in health and wellbeing matters. When asked to rate the importance of various priorities, employers listed "improving employee health and wellbeing" second-to-last. The report can be found on the DWP website.
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Projections show that over the next 70 years, the growth rates of people with a severe disability will be between two and three times population growth, The Sydney Morning Herald reports. The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) would allow all people with a diagnosed disability to access funding and administer it independently - without the need for a third party organisation. "An NDIS would ensure people living with disability will have barriers to participate in the workplace removed and gain opportunities for social participation," writes John Della Bosca. If we do nothing, he warns, "we condemn tens of thousands of Australians with a disability to poverty, missed opportunities and unfulfilled potential. And the nation will miss out on the productive potential of people with a disability and their families. Disability will ultimately cost the community far more as other systems such as health, mental health, housing, welfare and the criminal and juvenile justice services bear the brunt of a leaderless, short-sighted approach."
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One in three rural and regional workers take at least one day off work every few months because they feel stressed, overwhelmed, anxious or depressed, reports Australasian Transport News. Research by Medibank Health Solutions reports one of the major drivers of this stress leave as due to unrealistic work and a lack of work-life balance. While almost one in five workers take a day off every month, less than a third of employers were reported to have a support program for workers dealing with mental health issues. “While a lot of time and money is invested in providing a safe physical work environment, the effect that workplace pressures have on an employee’s mental health is being overlooked at a huge cost to employers,” said Matthew Cullen, Medibank General Manager. The repercussions of stigma are also a barrier, Cullen says. “The fear of colleagues finding out is big concern for employees as there is still a negative stigma associated with mental health issues and people think that admitting to suffering from depression or anxiety may harm their chances of career progression...As a result, we now see many companies outsourcing their workplace support programs to assure staff that their confidentiality will be protected and that they have access to a quality service.”
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People with symptoms such as pain, weakness or diziness that can't be explained by an underlying disease may be helped by a new type of therapy, Medical News Today reports. "People with these symptoms make up one-third of all clinic visits, but the outcomes are poor," said study author Michael Sharpe, MD. While intense cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) can reduce symptoms, distress and disability in people with these symptoms, people often resist referrals to mental health services. Researchers developed a self-help style workbook that was based on CBT. Patients were given the workbook and had up to four half-hour sessions guiding their use of the book, over three months. After this period, those who received the workbook were twice as likely to report improvements in their overall health than those who did not receive the book. "Cognitive behavioral therapy-based guided self-help may be a new and potentially useful first step in improving the management of these challenging symptoms," Sharpe said. "This approach needs further evaluation but can be a potentially effective and cost-effective first step toward providing more help for these often neglected patients."
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Despite setting aside time for regular exercise, people who lead a predominantly sedentary lifestyle face an increased risk of chronic diseases, Medical News Today reports. A recent study found that regular movement throughout the day, even for those who regularly exercise at allocated times, will reduce peoples' risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity and fatty liver disease. "If people spend the majority of their time sitting, even with regular periods of exercise, they are still at greater risk for chronic diseases," said author John Thyfault. "If people can add some regular movement into their routines throughout the day, they will feel better and be less susceptible to health problems." "Everyone should try to take at least 10,000 steps a day," said assistant professor Scott Rector. "It doesn't have to happen all at once, but 500 to 1,000 steps every few hours is a good goal. Small changes can increase the number of steps people take in their daily routines. Changes might include taking the stairs instead of the elevator, walking to a coworker's office rather than calling, or planning time for short walks throughout the day."
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New research shows that workers' financial and domestic problems become inceasingly worse in the years following settlement of their claims for painful work back-injuries, particularly for those on lower incomes or under 35 years of age, Medical News Today reports. The research examined 10 years of court records - five years prior to claim settlements and five years after - to study the impact of claim settlement on major life disruptions. "Regardless of the settlement that you receive, if you continue to experience pain, our findings indicate you will often get worse over time - worse in ways that can lead to the loss of a home, lead to family disruptions, and even lead to divorce," said author Raymond Tait, Ph.D, professor of psychiatry at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. "Taken together, the pattern of results raises ethical, medical and legal questions regarding the social justice implications of the current workers' compensation processes."
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WorkSafe has launched its new return to work campaign, entitled, "Returning to work sooner can be the best medicine." Promoting the campaign, WorkSafe emphasised the growing body of evidence finding, "long-term work absence, work disability and unemployment harmful to physical and mental health and wellbeing," and that "for most individuals,
working improves health and wellbeing and reduces psychological distress." RTW statistics cited show that the chance of a person ever returning to work following an injury are 70 per cent if off work for 20 days, 50 per cent if off work 45 days and 35 per cent if off for 70 days. A new RTW site features tools and resources, campaign videos, information on RTW awards, and interviews with campaign faces Michael Klim (swimmer) and Robert Murphy (AFL footballer).
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A child who experiences a psychological adversity or a mental disorder has a higher chance of developing a chronic physical condition later on, Medical News Today reports. New research from the University of Otago, New Zealand, found that childhood mental disorders anxiety and depression were linked to one of three chronic pain conditions in adulthood: frequent or severe headache, chronic spinal pain, or osteoarthritis. Physical abuse in childhood was linked with chronic spinal pain, headache, diabetes mellitus, osteoarthritis, asthma and heart disease. "These results are consistent with the hypothesis that childhood adversities and early-onset mental disorders have independent, broad-spectrum effects that increase the risk of diverse chronic physical conditions in later life," researchers noted.
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Australia's first Age Discrimination Commissioner, Susan Ryan, wants to change the "cultural stereotype" that older people are no longer useful to society, The Australian reports. "We all know older people who are capable of making a huge contribution to both work and society in general," Ms Ryan said. "Older people's health and wellbeing improves when they are engaged in the workplace." The Age Discrimination Commissioner explained that employing older workers has far-ranging benefits. "Enabling them to work for longer is a win-win. Employers retain their skills, the government gets national participation and productivity levels up, and the people themselves are ready and able to contribute."
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People who employ strategies such as hunour to cope with the challenges in life are less likely to suffer from mental ill-health, Canberra Times reports. A study divided 6382 people into different age groups: 28 to 32, 48 to 52 and 64 to 68. Those in the 20s and 40s brackets using "positive reframing or humour" were less likely to experience mental health impairment. ''These effects seemed stronger for the 28-32-year-olds, where, for example, 14.9 per cent of users of positive reframing experienced moderate to severe mental health impairment, compared to 34.8 per cent of persons who used it little or not at all," said researchers. Using alcohol or other drugs to assist in coping were found to be detrimental. "In the 20s cohort, where 37.1 per cent of persons using substances to cope experienced mental health impairment, compared to 16.6 per cent of persons using this style little to not at all." The report will be used to help develop government mental health policies and programs.
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Recent amendments to the medical tables that determine the severity of a person's disability will see an end to obesity being a claim option, Daily Telegraph reports. Instead, people will be assessed on how the condition affects their ability to work. "The new tool will make sure people applying for the disability support pension will be assessed based on what they can do and not what they can't do," said Community Services Minister Jenny Macklin. "I want to see people who have some capacity to work doing so. Work provides purpose and dignity and a greater sense of achievement and pride." A Centrelink study of claims shows that the new tables would have found 38 per cent of applicants from the first half of this year ineligible. People now deemed ineligible for disability support will be directed to Newstart assistance, where more of those with "mild" disabilites will be encouraged to work.
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Mental health conditions are behind the longest work absences, The Age reports. Recent ABS Australian Social Trends data reveals that 55 per cent of people suffering stress or other mental conditions take an average of 5 or more days off work in a row. Safe Work Australia figures suggest workers with work-related mental health problems take more days off, estimating an average of 10.8 weeks off a year. A recent study by the Centre for Applied Psychological Research at the University of South Australia found that workers with "mild levels" of depression take twice as many sick days off as their colleagues. About 20 per cent of surveyed workers were found to be suffering mild depression. Centre director Professor Maureen Dollard said the "relentless drive" of productivity increases is causing stress conditions, and managers need to be more aware of their workplace's psychosocial safety climate. "The quantity of work, rather than the quality of it...It's taking its toll. Managers are after short-term productivity gains and don't really value the worker any more.''
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The majority of NSW smokers and non-smokers would support a ban on cigarette breaks at work, and banning smoking outside building entrances, reports The Canberra Times. A Cancer Council NSW study found that 85 per cent of people supported bans on smoking during work hours, including 74 per cent of smokers themselves. Study co-author Raul Walsh said that in the future, smokers would likely be allowed to smoke in their lunch breaks - provided they are away from the work premises entrance - but that "the idea that having special breaks to go out and smoke [will be seen as] a bit bizarre.'' Professor Walsh said workplace smoking bans helped lower general cigarette consumption and improve quit rates. One study he cited found smokers spent about 64 minutes per day on smoking breaks. About 4.9 million people worldwide die every year as a result of smoking.
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Is stress the scourge of modern times or an ailment invented by therapists to medicalise normal human reactions? That's the question being asked by BBC News in the debate over whether measuring stress levels is useful or makes matters worse. "Stress is one of the biggest factors in absenteeism. We distinguish between pressure which can be a positive, motivational factor to you doing your job well, and stress which is the adverse reaction that people have to excessive pressure," said Helen McGill, for the UK Health and Safety Executive. But will being able to measure their own physiological stress levels with consumer kits really help people get to the root of their stress problem? "Stress is a clinical diagnosis," says Dr Mark Porter. "It's similar to the way you don't have a blood test for depression. These kits may tell you something in isolation but they need to be interpreted properly." Angela Patmore, author of "The Truth About Stress", believes all stress testing is harmful. "The whole thrust of stress management is to medicalise what is a normal human emotion. It makes people become hyper-vigilant and anxious, and display all the symptoms of fear. They begin to examine themselves and start thinking they have a mental illness."
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There has been a 54 per cent increase in mental stress claims since 2006-07 according to Comcare, reports Kevin Jones of Safety At Work Blog. "Clearly this trend could have serious consequences for employees and employers through serious health issues and a significant loss in productivity," said Work Health and Safety General Manager Neil Quarmby. "The analysis shows that while work pressure was previously the main cause of serious mental stress claims, in the last 12 months, the proportion of serious mental stress claims related to harassment or workplace bullying has increased to a level equal to that of work pressure." While an increased awareness of workplace bullying is partly responsible for the increase in claims, Jones writes that, "much more analysis and much broader analysis is required...The complexity of the issue of workplace mental health is illustrated by the connections above between workplace bullying, workplace stress, work pressure (workload), and harassment. Each of these elements are different, occur from different sources and are managed in different ways. It is a trap for these issues to be grouped under a collective term that may misrepresent them."
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Multinational corporations plan to implement a greater range of workplace health programs within the next few years, reports Edmonton Journal. Research company Towers Watson reported three-quarters of surveyed companies saying workplace health and promoting health and wellbeing is earmarked as a strategic priority this year and next. 87 per cent said it will be a higher priority in the next couple of years. 54 per cent of companies said their health programs are designed to demonstrate their continued interest in employee wellbeing, resiliency and stress management. 52 per cent said the initiatives also help control rising healthcare costs. "Given the variety of health systems and market practices around the world, the need for a global workforce health strategy has never been greater," said Francis Coleman, senior global consultant at Towers Watson. The ageing workforce also factored: "Employers want to keep those people at work more and more, doing phased-in retirement as opposed to getting them out (of the workforce)," said work health expert Wendy Poirer. "The general rule is that about 20 per cent of the workforce drives 80 per cent of the health, drug and disability costs...It's also making sure that those gen X-ers and Y-ers are paying some attention to their health . so they don't become the next wave of chronic problems."
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New research suggests that blue-collar workers are much more likely to work past 65 than white-collar workers, and are much more likely to suffer from conditions such as arthritis, reports Medical News Today. Researchers found that at all ages, blue-collar workers are in worse health than white-collar workers. By age 65, 22 per cent of blue-collar workers with arthritis remain in the workforce, compared with 19 per cent of white-collar workers. 16 per cent of blue-collar workers are over 65, while 14 per cent of white-collar workers work past 65. Blue-collar workers also have more severe disease than their white-collar counterparts, and also have 11 fewer years of healthy life compared with 14 for white-collar workers. "The increasing age of the U.S. workforce presents new challenges for government, employers and working families," said researcher Peter Muennig, MD, MPH. "As the population ages in the face of expanding budget deficits, we face politically difficult choices if the U.S. is to prevent significant declines in its standard of living."
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An alliance of 50 charities has criticised the UK government's 'Welfare for Work' policy, claiming it feeds a negative attitude towards people with disabilities and will incite violence towards them, reports The Guardian. In an open letter to the work and pensions secretary, the charities questioned the government's quarterly release of statistics detailing the numbers of claimants on diability benefits who've been turned down because they have been deemed able to work. "The language portrays disabled people as scroungers, as lazy – a drain who are not playing their part and making a contribution. It has led to an increase in hate crimes against disabled people, victimisation and reinforcement of very old stereotypes and prejudices," said Jaspal Dhani, cheif executive of UK Disabled People's Council. The charities said four out of 10 of those denied disability benefits are granted it on appeal, but this fact is not widely publicised by the government. The letter claims the government, "highlights the people whose applications failed – implying high levels of fraud and unnecessary claims...The fact is that eligibility criteria for this benefit are set incredibly high, while flaws in the assessment mean many people with a significant level of impairment are declared fit for work....This partial picture feeds the tabloid media's negative narrative on 'benefits scroungers', and these releases in turn have an impact on the public – and therefore employers' – perception of disability and disabled people."
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The number of complaints of bullying reported to WorkSafe Victoria have more than doubled in the past year, reports The Sydney Morning Herald. A spike in complaint numbers followed immediately after the Brodie Panlock case finding, yet despite this surge, WorkSafe figures suggest that there's not been an increase in the incidence of bullying. Only 10 per cent of the 6000 bullying complaints were referred on to the bullying response unit, and of those referrals, one in 10 resulted in further inquiries. However, many of the complaints were referred to other organisations such as Fair Work Australia and the Australian Human Rights Commission. "We are seeing the term bullying used quite loosely...to describe something that has 'gone against me' or 'that I haven't liked,'' said WorkSafe's Ian Forsyth. "We're certainly not saying that these people aren't suffering from some form of ill treatment or some form of injustice or that they're not genuinely feeling that they've been disadvantaged or put under pressure. But in the vast majority of incidents these types of behaviours which they might describe as bullying are not going to meet the criteria for us to investigate or prosecute.''
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The term 'workplace culture' often invokes visions of management lectures and corporate-speak, which risk turning people away from the real issues, writes Jenna Price, for The Canberra Times. Yet, workplace culture remains a very important factor that has far-reaching ramifications. "One of the fascinating aspects of the whole News of the World fiasco is the way that we have all sought to find the one person who can take responsibility," writes Price. "And it's true, you can always chase an individual act down to, yes, an individual...But the entire group of people involved in the decision making acts the way it does because of the culture." Brian Martin of the University of Wollongong says there are three ways people act when something is wrong with workplace culture: bystanders, those who join-in and those who act to change things. Martin blames our inability to act partly on our "highly individualistic" society.
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Women who make the most of maternity leave are financially penalised for doing so, according to recent research, The Age reports. The Australia Institute found that women returning to the workforce post-maternity leave receive a lower hourly pay rate than those female workers who had no career break. After one year back at work, women who took maternity leave earn 4.4 per cent than their previously equally-paid colleagues. By the third year, they could earn up to 12.3 per cent less. The Australia Institute's report, "The wage-penalty effect: The hidden cost of maternity leave" , found that women paid an average 'wage penalty' of $1566 in 2009 because of slower wages growth after returning from maternity leave. ''In effect, due to the wage penalty women will be receiving just 15 weeks of paid parental leave, not 18,'' said David Baker, A.I. research fellow. "The paid parental leave scheme is very welcome," said Baker, "but complementary policies need to be developed, like keeping women more connected to to the workforce during leave.''
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The line between work and home-life is becoming increasingly blurred, writes psychologist Eve Ash, for SmartCompany. "There was once a time when people could leave the office and their work behind, forget about it until the following day when they arrived at work refreshed and ready to put on their work hat," said Ash. "That is no longer the case. We finish work, make calls on the way home, answer a few emails before dinner and if we’re lucky we will sit down for an hour or two in the evening before doing it all again the next day." Though this may appear to be a boon for business, Ash warns that this can lead to home-life invading work. "Instead of calling up a few friends at night or even spending time with them we tend to be doing a little bit of catch-up work. The next day if we can slip in an unobtrusive email or Facebook message to some friends we do." "People who [attempt to perform all their life-roles simultanteously] for extended periods often report a form of malaise – a sameness that occurs from lack of distinction between times where they need to be “on” and focused on work and times whent they can be “off” and focusing on fun and rejuvenation," said Ash.
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60 per cent of employees say the benefits they receive are a major reason why they stay with their employer, The Age reports. According to an annual employee benefit survey by Metcash, when employees are satisfied with the benefits they get at work, they are more than three times as likely to say they're satisfied with their job. The survey involved interviews of over 1500 employers and 1400 employees. The most sought-after health benefits included: health insurance, gym memberships, smoke-free work environments and corporate exercise programs. Also rated highly on the benefits list was flexible work hours, workplace training, time off work and having a financial share in the business. The article suggests low-cost ideas for company benefits including work from home days, complimentary lunch or breakfast in the office, recognition of good performance, and head and shoulder massages.
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Simply replacing a lacklustre staff member with a new recruit may not be as straightforward as it seems, reports The Sydney Morning Herald. Terminating underperforming staff instead of addressing their issues directly can actually cost businesses far more in terms of recruitment, induction, training, the 'wearing-in' period and morale. "Realistically, it may be several months before a new starter’s confidence, productivity and efficiency levels match those of the underperforming employee who they replaced," says Anthony Fogarty. "And there’s no guarantee you won’t end up back at square one." Employers can examine the alternatives to dealing with underperformance, which include identifying the problem, analysing the severity of it, discussing the problem with the employee, jointly devising a solution, and monitoring the employee's performance, providing feedback and encouragement.
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An overly procedural approach to sickness absence can backfire when compared with a more personal, pragmatic approach, said Dr Mary Wyatt to HR Daily. Many employers have "this very strong focus on productivity and... rules and regulations, so sometimes the line managers get wound up in the rules and regulations," said Dr Wyatt. This can lead to employees being treated with less care and respect, which may actually increase absenteeism and reduce productivity. "An employee who senses their manager looks after them is likely to look after their manager and not take inappropriate sickness absence," she said. "It should be the line manager who's the first point of contact, because the worker knows the line manager and the line manager knows the worker... The closer you can make it to the key relationships at work, and good communication between those key relationships, the better your outcomes are going to be."
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A landmark Administrative Appeals Tribunal finding in Queensland could threaten the future of flexible working arrangements, Human Capital Magazine reports. Telstra has been forced to pay multi-million dollar legal, medical and lost-income compensation costs in a suit initiated by an employee who slipped down her stairs while working from home. Dale Hargreaves, 42, alleged she injured her shoulder after slipping down her stairs twice in two months while working on marketing campaigns for Telstra. The implications of this case may force employers to undertake WHS audits in the homes of telecommuters, which would increase costs and potentially disincentivise the work option. “It’s a shame because current flexible working arrangements help employees and employers alike,” said Dr. Paul Lanthois, director of the Work Life Balance Foundation. “Research clearly shows that providing the option of working from home for employees helps to improve employee happiness and work-life balance. Businesses benefit through improved productivity and staff retention."
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WorkCover NSW has announced a number of initiatives and reforms to improve return to work outcomes. “The NSW Government is committed to ensuring both employers and employees are provided with incentives and assistance to ensure longer-term injured workers can re-join the workforce,” said Minister for Finance and Services Greg Pearce. Initiatives for employers include udpating the JobCover Placement Program wage subsidy from $3,600 over 12 weeks to $27,400 over the first year; increasing from one to two years the period that an injured worker's wages are exempt from premium calculation; increasing the protection period against further costs from existing injury from one to two years; and reducing red tape for the agent managing a worker's claim. Injured workers will receive: a "transition-to-work payment" of up to $5,000 for costs that pose a significant barrier to return to work such as childcare or relocation; equipment funding for tools; and extension of the work trial period several weeks beyond the current 12 week limit.
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The Bligh Government has formed a special reference group to establish whether Queensland bullying laws adequately protect workers. "I am establishing a workplace bullying reference group to look into the incidence of bullying and strategies to prevent bullying in Queensland workplaces," said Industrial Relations Minister Cameron Dick. "The reference group will consist of senior worker and employer representatives, as well as legal and academic experts [and] will ensure that Queensland’s framework for dealing with workplace bullying remains valid and effective in modern-day workplaces." One of the group's tasks will be to provide advice on current legislation from other states and countries. "It is appropriate to undertake a review and consider any issues that exist and any contemporary responses needed to address workplace bullying," said Mr Dick.
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Going beyond the minimum parental leave requirements can help employers boost productivity, reports The Sydney Morning Herald. "Employers with parental leave policies that make employees feel valued can benefit from having more committed and productive staff," said Fair Work Ombudsman Nicholas Wilson. "They will also improve staff retention, resulting in lower recruitment and training costs." The FWO has released a best-practice parental leave guide that suggests employers go beyond minimum legal obligations to develop tailored policies that will boost productivity. Good communication arrangements can help an employee on leave feel attached to the workplace, their career and their colleagues," Mr Wilson said. "Best-practice policies also detail the support strategies an employer will use to ensure the employee has a smooth transition back into the workplace on their return from parental leave."
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An "alarming" number of people are experiencing high stress levels at work and home according to a recent Newspoll study, reports The Canberra Times. The poll found that one in two Australians are so stressed it could make them unwell. 93 per cent of Australians reported being stressed, up from 90 per cent last year. Around 48 per cent of people reported experiencing high" levels of stress, compared with 43 per cent last year. Work was attributed to 75 per cent of stress cases, while other causes included throughts of the future, finances, health and personal relationships. Women were generally more stressed than men, as were people living in cities, compared with those in the country. Part-time workers were more stressed than full-timers, and 60 per cent of 18-19 year-olds were stressed. Lifeline is promoting "Stress Down Day" on July 22.
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30 per cent of Australians are affected by chronic pain, according to the recent Pfizer Health Report on Chronic Pain, and one in five of these people regarded their pain as so stressful that they've considered suicide, reports The West Australian. Chronic Pain Australia president Coralie Wales said these figures confirmed the need for the Federal and State governments to implement the National Pain Strategy. "Australians need access to an improved network of pain management options, which is what the National Pain Strategy focuses on," said Ms Wales. "It is time we took more co-ordinated action to relieve the suffering associated with chronic pain...The National Pain Strategy provides clear guidance on how this can be achieved. The first step is recognising chronic pain as a separate condition so healthcare professionals can give it the time and attention it deserves," she said.
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The recurrence of sickness-absence happens much sooner when caused by mental health conditions, as opposed to physical conditions, reports Medical News Today. A new study by Canada's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health shows that most workers who take leave from their jobs for a mental health condition remain free of disability leave for at least two years, while in contrast, most who have had a physical health disability leave have almost four years before a second episode. "It’s important to be aware that although workers who have had one mental health disability leave are at risk of having a recurrence, it doesn’t happen immediately," said study lead Dr. Carolyn Dewa. "These workers want to be back at work, but unfortunately, sometimes supports to help maintain their health are not available." It is important to do return-to-work planning to help employees transition back after a leave. Workplace resources can be very valuable in sustaining worker well-being and help them remain on the job longer.
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A bill introduced to Federal Parliament will make it easier for firefighters who have contracted cancer to access workers' compensation, ABC News reports. Greens MP Adam Bandt explained that for firefighters who contract certain types of cancer, the Commonwealth legislation means these cancers will be presumed to be work-related - giving firefighters clearer access to workers' compensation. "Firefighters start out being 20 per cent healthier than the average member of the public but after five years the average firefighter will have twice the risk of contracting leukemia," said Bandt. "After several years in the job male firefighters can find themselves up to 10 times more likely of contracting testicular cancer." Labour MP Maria Vamvakinou said that, "while we all very often acknowledge the life-saving work of our firefighters...we also need to acknowledge the human cost that their profession bears on their health and wellbeing as well as the cost to their families."
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21 per cent of working Australians consider themselves overemployed, working an average of 46.9 hours per week, The Australian reports. The most recent ABS social trends data, released last week, reveals 27 per cent of 45 to 65 year-olds described themselves as overworked, while 7 per cent of 15-24 year-olds also place themselves in this category. On the other hand, 14 per cent of the workforce wanted more hours of work. The figures also suggest a trend of individualism: only one in five Australians who want to work fewer hours would spend the extra time with family, while 35.7 per cent would use their extra time for social and recreational activities. 70 per cent of white-collar professionals reported their health as excellent or good, while only 50 per cent of blue-collar workers rated their health as good.
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Nominations for the annual BRW Great Places to Work list are now open. Companies are selected primarily on the basis of their employees' responses to the Great Place to Work Trust Index, a proprietary employee survey developed by the Great Place to Work Institute. Further information used for selection process is provided by completion of the Great Place to Work Culture Audit, a two part management questionnaire, also developed by the Great Place to Work Institute. All companies who participate in the process receive: a survey of their employees by Great Place to Work Institute, Australia; a Feedback Report – showing their organisation-wide results to each of the 58 statements of the Trust Index survey; 5 subscriptions to BRW magazine; the opportunity to partner with Great Place to Work Institute to take a more in-depth look at employee survey results; the opportunity to benchmark the quality of a company’s workplace practices with those of the nation’s "Best" employers; the opportunity to benchmark the company with similar organisations around the globe.
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South Australian university-based or independent researchers can apply for Work Health and Safety (WHS) Commissioned Research Grants to undertake applied research that helps expand the body of knowledge on the prevention of workplace injury and illness in this state. A total of $412,000 is available for successful applications. The 2011 call for applications opens on Monday, 4 July 2011 and closes on Friday, 26 August 2011. Applications must be relevant to one or more of the Priority Research Areas identified by the SafeWork SA Advisory Committee or the MAQOHSC Priority Research Areas identified by the Mining and Quarrying OHS Committee. Applications should also address one or more of the broad research priorities identified in the OHSW Research Strategy for South Australia. To assist potential applicants in preparing grant applications, a free Information Session will be held at Keswick on Monday, 11 July 201. A major aim of this session is to provide advice on developing applications that are relevant to the priority research areas. Contact Ms Bev Hodge on 8204 9587, or email hodge.bev@dpc.sa.gov.au, by COB on Thursday, 7 July 2011.
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The U.S. Institute of Medicine has called for a "cultural transformation in how the nation understands and approaches pain management and prevention," in the face of widespread prevalence of chronic pain, Medical News Today reports. Chronic pain costs the U.S. between $560 billion and $635 billion annually, prompting the committee to declare it a major public health problem in America. "All too often, prevention and treatment of pain are delayed, inaccessible, or inadequate," stated the committee. "Patients, health care providers, and our society need to overcome misperceptions and biases about pain. We have effective tools and services to tackle the many factors that influence pain and we need to apply them expeditiously through an integrated approach tailored to each patient." The committee's recommendations include suggestions for various state and private healthcare schemes, and workers' compensation schemes, to support interdisciplinary pain care programs.
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Sitting for longer than six hours per day will likely shorten peoples' lives, reports CNN. A large study conducted by the American Cancer Society found that women who sit for more than six hours per day were around 40 per cent more likely to die, while men sitting longer than six hours per day were about 20 per cent more likely to die. Recent research points to a number of health conditions linked with a seduntary lifestyle, and alarmingly suggests that even significant and regular exercise cannot undo these risks of excessive sitting. The American Cancer Society of 123,216 people over a 14-year period has highlighted the fact that public health policy focuses on promoting an increased activity level, while erroneously making little or no reference to reducing the amount of time spent sitting. Endocrinologist Dr. James Levine said, "Sitting is not bad for you in moderation, but in excess it is addictive and harmful...Of concern is that for most people in the developed world, chair-living is the norm."
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The popular practice of "hotelling" office space - requiring employees to book workstations, meeting rooms or offices in advance - may help companies utilise space and reduce rent costs, but it can also lead to employee job dissatisfaction, feelings of powerlessness and identity issues, The Age reports. The practice, otherwise known as "hot-desking," reportedly allows businesses to accommodate 20 to 40 per cent more staff. Workplace psychologist, George Mylonas, suggests that hotelling can negatively impact on employees' job commitment and satisfaction, and even trigger an identity crisis. "Employers shouldn't blindly follow the trend like we did with open-plan offices in the 1980s," he said. "Companies need to think about the type of work that is done and the impact it has on their staff." However, Mr Mylonas pointed out the benefits of hotelling, including employees getting to know members of other teams and departments, as well as having more flexibility.
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Age is one of the greatest barriers to employment, says the outgoing Age Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick. Ms Broderick says the new benchmark for a mature age worker is age 45, at which point employment options recede. "Before I came into this job three years ago I would never have imagined that,'' said Ms Broderick. ''If I was to go for a job and they said terrific skills and experience but we are looking for a man I would be justifiably outraged. But if they said something like terrific skills and experience but we have a bit of a younger team around here, not only is it more acceptable to say, it is often more accepted.'' In her final speech as Age Discrimination Commissioner, Ms Broderick warned that, ''for reasons that have nothing to do with skill, ability, capacity or merit, people who want to work are unable to,'' she said. ''And the very common outcome … is poverty in older age - in fact, at an age that is not old at all.''
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Contrary to popular belief, a team in the workplace is only as efficient as its least motivated member, The Sydney Morning Herald reports. New research upsets the common assumption that a team of colleagues generally work to the capacity of its average member. PhD student, Benjamin Walker, created an experiment wherein 158 undergraduate students were sorted into teams and assigned a task. Walker psychologically assessed their respective levels of conscientiousness, then separated the participants into 33 teams. They were informed that all members of a team would receive the same mark for their work. Walker's experiment found that one 'bad apple' actually did reduce a group's overall performance, which the other team members' efforts could not compensate for. "These findings show the person who contributes the least has a huge impact,'' said Walker. ''Even if on average the rest of the team is pulling their weight, they won't be able to compensate for that member and they won't be happy about it."
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Workplace bullying not only affects the targeted individual, but also significantly those who witness the behaviour, The Australian reports. A new study found that "the greater exposure a person had to bullying, both directly and indirectly, the more negative their perception of the work environment was," according to researcher Dr Helena Cooper-Thomas. The study of more than 1700 workers found that bullying was associated with lower wellbeing at work and poorer work attitudes. "Often people tend to think of bullying as being just between individuals - a bully and a target," said Ms Cooper-Thomas. "[But] when you think of the ripple effect across a workforce from all those who are touched by bullying, the impact is significant." Researchers noted that bullying was most reported by people working in an environment with less constructive leadership and a "more relaxed, laissez-faire management style."
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People who have survived cancer are less likely to be employed and work fewer hours when they are - even two to six years after diagnosis, Medical News Today reports. A study focused on cancer survivors in their prime working years - between 28 and 54 years old - who are often less able to consider retirement an option following cancer treatment. "There are reasons to be especially concerned about younger workers who, on average, have less money saved and who probably view retirement as a less attractive option than those in the 55 to 65 age group," said researcher John Moran. Employment rates of cancer survivors were 8 to 9 per cent lower than among similarly aged individuals, and cancer survivors worked between three and six hours per week less. The study also revealed that even cancer-free surviviors were 4 to 5 per cent less likely to be employed, working two to four fewer hours per week. "We don't know if the reductions we observed are voluntary, perhaps reflecting people's changing priorities in the face of a serious illness, or if they are the result of forces beyond their control, such as employment discrimination or inadequate workplace accommodations," said Mr Moran.
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WorkCover Queensland has released the industry premium rates for 2011-12, resulting in the average rate of 1.42 per cent - up 9 per cent from an average of 1.3 per cent in the current financial year. "It is important for Queensland workers and employers, that WorkCover has a stable and financially viable fund. The premium rates for 2011–2012 help maintain that stability," said WorkCover Queensland Chairman Ian Brusasco. The increase moves Queensland from first to second lowest average premium rates in the country, edged out now by Victoria. "We have a solvency rate above 100 per cent, which means our assets exceed our liabilities and the new premium rate will help us maintain our solvency and the viability of the fund," said Brusasco. "It [the new rate] is also well below the rate for employers in South Australia, which has an average premium of $2.75 for $100 of wages. It is also below New South Wales, which has a rate of $1.66 (most current published rate), and Western Australia, which is increasing its premium to $1.547. This enables Queensland employers to remain competitive."
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Unions are planning industrial action next month over WorkCover amendments that cut benefits and give medical panels the power to remove people from benefits with no right of appeal, Adelaide Now reports. SA Unions sent a letter to all MPs calling for amendments to the WorkCover law, describing it as a "failed social experiment," that has "taken away the rights of injured workers, destroyed the balance between the interests of workers and the interests of employers, and has left our scheme in a weak financial position with the worst return to work rates in the country." SA Unions secretary Janet Giles said that when Premier Mike Rann, and MPs Kevin Foley and Patrick Conlon changed the laws in 2008, "They skewed the laws against injured workers and in favour of employers in a failed social experiment that has not improved return to work rates or significantly improved scheme performance." She said she did not have faith that Patrick Conlon would overhaul the law.
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Men are using health services 30 per cent less than women, according to men's health advocate, Foundation 49, and are dying prematurely from a range of preventable diseases, reports It's My Health. Men are at an elevated risk of developing certain serious illnesses, yet many visit the doctor too late - after problems have already started to develop. From age 20, men should be checking blood pressure regularly and cholesterol every couple of years. After age 40, regular diabetes checks should be given, and bowel cancer checks from age 50. All men over 50 should have their prostate checked annualy - or age 40 for those with a family history. Prostate cancer is as common as breast or cervical cancer. Attempting to break the stoic male culture of reduced GP visits, the campaign reiterates that, "there is nothing heroic about premature death or disability from preventable diseases."
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With up to a quarter of Canadian workplaces considered "mentally injurious," The Mental Health Commission is now establishing a voluntary national set of best practices to improve workplace mental health, The Vancouver Sun reports. Canada has seen an increase of up to 700 per cent in damages awarded for workplace mental health injury, said Mental Health Commission chair Micheal Kirby. "What this says is that the courts are now recognizing that conditions in the workplace can precipitate mental illness," which are affecting one in five workers and costing $51b each year, he said. Conservative MP Kellie Leitch said that once the standards are released, businesses will see a decrease in productivity and a boost in productivity.
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Former Victorian premier Steve Bracks has urged the states to, "forget about tactics; think about the long term," in the lead up to implementing uniform national OHS laws, The Australian reports. "The public discourse in this country is tactical, not strategic. It is not pursuing good, long-term policy, and the Victorian scheme is good, long-term policy," said Bracks at a private function in Melbourne. "It may not benefit every stakeholder involved, but it has a significant economic benefit to the state. That is the message to other governments around the country." Though Victoria now has the lowest average employer premium, a recent Ombudsman's report strongly criticised WorkSafe's performance and the performance of its insurers responsible for claims management.
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Positive psychologist Robert Biswas-Diener gives us a new perspective on the popular act of procrastination, suggesting that many practitioners actually create superior-quality work in the eleventh-hour, having legitimately mentally prepared, The Age reports. Biswas-Diener differentiates these people - deemed "incubators" - from true procrastinators, who will still produce mediocre work after a long period of stalling. Incubators' working style has long been a source of workplace conflict, but the difference is simply in how they are motivated, Biswas-Diener explains. "People hate to work with incubators because they want the project done now or ahead of time and the incubator is saying, 'Well just wait till the last possible moment, trust me and I'll have it done." He advised incubators to build trust with colleagues, so they know that great work will always be done by the deadline.
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The life expectancy rate of Australians is up, with 42 indicators linked to chronic disease suggesting that efforts to prevent and manage chronic disease are proving effective, The Australian reports. A report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has found that the number of people dying from chronic illness has dropped by almost 20 per cent in the decade preceeding 2007. This boosted life expectancy by 3.5 years for males and 2.3 years for females. "The indicators were developed as a first step to consistent reporting, which will over time be able to provide information about progress with preventing and managing chronic disease in Australia," said Ilona Brockway of the AIHW's Population Health Unit. Brockway said that smoking rates had declined to less than 18 per cent of adults, compared with over 24 per cent in 1991. However, the prevalence of obesity was found to be increasing, with almost a quarter of children currently overweight or obese, while for adults that figure was at 60 per cent - and rising.
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Concern over changes to the title of New Zealand Accident Compensation Corporation managers has raised concerns of a focus away from injury and illness prevention, Scoop.co.nz reports. ACC managers will see their title change from Injury Prevention Managers to Insurance Product Managers. The move follows ACC Minister Nick Smith's announcement that the ACC Workplace account will be opened up to competition. But secretary of the Council of Trade Unions, Pat Bolster, raised concerns over the new direction. "It appears that the plan is to undermine ACC, wait for it to ‘have an accident’ while trying to pick up the pieces of a previously extremely well working system, and then privatise it completely," said Bolster. “We know that for every dollar invested in Health & Safety, N.Z’s economy saves $5; that the premiums paid here are much lower than in Australia; that the failed top-down only approach to workplace health & safety is being re-emphasised with union representation being cut out of tri-partite arrangements; and with funding for training workplace Health & Safety Reps being discontinued from next April...This won’t stop the worrying incidence of workplace bullying...or reduce the numbers of those catching the bus off to work in the morning, but coming home in a hearse," Bolster said.
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Research published in the Journal of Labor Research has suggested that a significant number of disability benefit applicants may be more motivated by financial factors ahead of physical need, Eurekalert reports. The research, "adds to a growing literature suggesting that financial factors may be a driving factor in a large number of disability applications," said economist Seth Giertz of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. "Federal disability programs have undergone tremendous growth in recent decades and appear to be discouraging able-bodied adults from staying in the labour force." The research found that male disability applicants who were rejected for federal benefits tended to have lower earnings and labour force participation rates over the preceding decade before applying for disability benefits. Rejected applicants also worked less, despite being in better health than accepted applicants. On average, those rejected for benefits made 8.5 per |