Biomedical subjects

L Biener

Publications and source records attributed to L Biener.

39 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

Durability and diffusion of the nutrition intervention in the Working Well Trial.

BACKGROUND: The Working Well Trial (WWT) emphasized employee participation in the planning and implementation of the health promotion intervention. These participatory strategies were intended to promote institutionalization of the health promotion program and thereby encourage maintenance of the intervention activities. We used data from 107 worksites in the WWT to test whether the nutrition intervention activities were maintained after the research program (i.e., durability) or were adopted by control sites (i.e., diffusion). METHODS: At baseline, upon the completion of the 2-year intervention, and 2 years later, we conducted organization surveys regarding worksite health promotion activities. A nutrition activity score from 0 to 3 was calculated based on availability of nutrition-related programs, self-help manuals or guides, and videos, tapes, brochures, or posters. RESULTS: From baseline to the end of the intervention, there was a significant increase in the nutrition activity score in intervention worksites compared with the controls (P < 0.001). However, 2 years later, there was no difference between intervention and control worksites. In addition, there was no significant increase in the nutrition activity score in control site 2 years after they received the intervention protocols and materials. CONCLUSIONS: Research is needed to develop and test worksite-based interventions to promote institutionalization, durability, and diffusion.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Researching and preventing alcohol problems at work: toward an integrative model.

PURPOSE OF PROPOSAL. A consolidated framework is proposed to highlight modifiable factors in work organizations that may contribute to alcohol-related problems. This research model serves to organize existing knowledge, highlight pathways for new research initiatives, and offer insights into the design of primary and secondary preventive strategies. CONTRIBUTING INFLUENCES. Current research on problem drinking in the workplace either locates problems in individual drinkers or looks to the social environment to understand how drinking problems unfold. There is a clear need for a more complete theoretical model which incorporates social, cultural, organizational, and personal factors. PROPOSAL SUMMARY. This article elaborates on a model for examining problem drinking at work which integrates policy, normative, and psychosocial influences. It emphasizes the structures within which health-related decisions and actions are contained and constrained. The focus here on the connections between alcohol use and work builds on the premise that health is socially produced.

Alcoholism↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The impact of organizational characteristics on smoking policy restrictions in midwestern hospitals.

Purpose. The relationship between hospitals' organizational characteristics and adoption of restrictive smoking policies was examined. Design. Self-administered questionnaires and telephone interviews were conducted prior to and following the target date for policy implementation. Setting. The Director of Regional Medical Services of a community network of hospitals requested in the summer of 1989 that the 57 member hospitals voluntarily implement a policy prohibiting all smoking in hospital buildings as of January 1, 1990. Subjects. Subjects were the 49 hospital CEOs (86%) who provided data at both time points. Intervention. The Director of Regional Medical Services made a personal request of the CEO during a routine visit at each hospital. Measures. Measures included structural aspects of the hospitals (e.g., number of employees, number of beds, presence of chemical dependency and psychiatric units); orientation toward employee health; support for smoking restrictions among various groups; and extent of CEO authority to set smoking policy. Results. Fifty-one percent of hospitals increased the restrictiveness of their smoking policy; 35% adopted a complete indoor smoking ban. Stepwise multiple regression analysis demonstrated that adoption of additional smoking restrictions was related to CEOs' and perceived board of directors' support of smoking restrictions, absence of a chemical dependency unit, and experience of financial difficulties in the previous two years. Conclusions. It is important to educate top decision makers as to the necessity of restrictive smoking policies. Barriers to smoking restrictions in organizations with chemical dependency units deserve particular attention from health promotion practitioners and researchers.

Hospital Administration↗