Mental health nurses' encounters with occupational health services

This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Occupational Medicine following peer review. Under embargo until 16 June 2019. The version of recordJ. Oates, J. Jones, and N. Drey, ‘Mental health nurses’ encounters with occupational health services’, Occupational Medicine, kqy084, (2018), is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqy084.Background: Staff wellbeing is vital to the functioning of the UK National Health Service (NHS). Mental health nurses with personal experience of mental illness can offer a professionally and personally informed insight into the occupational health service offered by their employer. Aims: To investigate mental health nurses’ views of occupational health provision in the NHS, based on their personal experience. Methods: A qualitative interview study using a purposive sample of mental health nurses with personal experience of mental illness. Results: Twenty-seven mental health nurses met the inclusion criteria. Thematic analysis identified three themes: comparisons of ‘relative expertise’ between the mental health nurse and the occupational health clinician; concerns about ‘being treated’ by a service at their work; and ‘returning to work’. Conclusion: Occupational health provision in mental health settings must take account of the expertise of its staff. Further research, looking at NHS occupational health provision from the provider perspective is warranted.Peer reviewe

Occupational Health

Health at work and healthy work environments are among the most valuable assets of individuals, communities and countries. Nowadays, new broader approach is promoted, recognizing the fact that occupational health is a key, but not a unique element of workers’ health. Workers health is a public health approach to resolving the health problems of working populations including all determinants of health recognized as targets of risk management. It focuses on primary prevention of occupational and work-related diseases and injuries, protection and promotion of the health of workers. The major component of occupational safety and health system or infrastructure is occupational health service. The Basic Occupational Health Services (BOHS) are an essential service for protection of people's health at work, for promotion of health, well-being and work ability, as well as for prevention of ill-health and accident. BOHS should provide the services available to all workers, addressing to local needs and adapted to local conditions and existing resources. The development of occupational health system and policy requires strengthen governmental stewardship and ensure continuous political commitment to occupational health. OH policy should provide the development of legislation and standards in the field as well as effective mechanisms for financing of occupational health services. The expected results should be ensuring access to basic occupational health services for all workers with establishing essential requirements for service provision and providing the quality assurance systems for occupational health services

Human resource development for future basic occupational health services in Malaysia

A guideline on Basic Occupational Health Services (BOHS) has been established jointly by ILO/WHO/ICOH in response to poor achievements of the Occupational Health Services (OHS), especially among workers in small and medium enterprises at the global level. Malaysia. The international guideline describes competent and skilled human resources as an essential strategy for BOHS implementation. This commentary will discuss the challenges faced by current occupational health personnel providing OHS in Malaysia and proposes improvements of human resource development for future BOHS in Malaysia to ensure fair and better OHS coverage for Malaysian workers

Nursing care of patients with disability in the sheltered workplace - a case study

The worldwide beginner of the occupational healthcare was an Italian physician who lived at the turn of seventeenth and eighteenth century. The establishment date of occupational health care in Poland is 1953. The main aim of occupational health services is to protect health of workers from the adverse effects of the working environment on the health of employees. The tasks of occupational health services may be performed by a nurse. In this study, a case of a 58-old man with moderate disability employed in a sheltered workplace is presented

Occupational Health Services Integrated in Primary Health Care in Iran

Introduction: A healthy workforce is vital for maintaining social and economic development on a global, national and local level. Around half of the world's people are economically active and spend at least one third of their time in their place of work while only 15% of workers have access to basic occupational health services. According to WHO report, since the early 1980s, health indicators in Iran have consistently improved, to the extent that it is comparable with those in developed countries. In this paper it was tried to briefly describe about Health care system and occupational Health Services as part of Primary Health care in Iran. Methods: To describe the health care system in the country and the status of occupational health services to the workers and employers, its integration into Primary Health Care (PHC) and outlining the challenges in provision of occupational health services to the all working population. Findings: Iran has fairly good health indicators. More than 85 percent of the population in rural and deprived regions, for instance, have access to primary healthcare services. The PHC centers provide essential healthcare and public-health services for the community. Providing, maintaining and improving of the workers' health are the main goals of occupational health services in Iran that are presented by different approaches and mostly through Workers' Houses in the PHC system. Conclusions: Iran has developed an extensive network of PHC facilities with good coverage in most rural areas, but there are still few remote areas that might suffer from inadequate services. It seems that there is still no transparent policy to collaborate with the private sector, train managers or provide a sustainable mechanism for improving the quality of services. Finally, strengthening national policies for health at work, promotion of healthy work and work environment, sharing healthy work practices, developing updated training curricula to improve human resource knowledge including occupational health professionals are recommended

Developing occupational health services for active age management

To review current occupational health (OH) approaches aimed at maintaining the health and workability of older workers. A literature review was undertaken to identify articles onOHinterventions focused on maintaining the health of older workers (published since 2000). The inclusion criteria included studies that reported interventions aimed specifically at older workers. A limited number of interventions targeting older workers were identified. A second literature search was therefore conducted that identified types of workplace interventions that, if used with older workers, may benefit their health, well-being and workability. Very few OH interventions have addressed the health and workability of older workers and there is considerable scope for developing OH provision, which accounts for the needs of the older workforce

Occupational Health and Safety in the Expanding Economies: Severe Challenges and the Need for Action Through Education and Training

The occupational health and safety (OHS) situation in expanding economies is not encouraging. As was dramatically demonstrated by the recent epidemic of Ebola virus disease in West Africa in which many health care workers lost their lives, the majority of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are currently not able to adequately prevent occupational diseases. Every year occupational health services in these countries fall farther behind those in high-income countries (HICs). The widening gap in occupational health services between the global north and the global south parallels the increasing gap between high- and low-income countries in national wealth, a gap apparently caused by unbalanced development of globalized markets

Factors Contributing to Trust of Occupational Healthcare Services in Meatpacking Plants

Meatpacking refers to the slaughtering of livestock and processing and packaging it into meat and other byproducts. Meatpacking is a large industry employing thousands of workers from various racial and socioeconomic backgrounds in Nebraska. These workers have experienced disparities in accessing occupational health services such as language barriers, fear of job loss, or deportation due to immigration status if these services were used. The purpose of this study was to investigate how trust in occupational health services varied among employees at a meatpacking plant in Nebraska by demographic characteristics, particularly by ethnicity, gender, and English language proficiency

Basic Occupational Health Services

This publication is a third edition of the guideline produced with the support of the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (FIOH), WHO, ILO and International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH). It is a basic guideline in the series of new tools for the implementation of the decision of the Joint ILO/WHO Committee on Occupational Health to develop Basic Occupational Health Services in collaboration with the International Commission on Occupational Health, ICOH, and as a joint priority during the 5- year period 2004–2008