| 1. |
- Barchitta, Martina, et al.
(författare)
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The "Obiettivo Antibiotico" Campaign on Prudent Use of Antibiotics in Sicily, Italy : The Pilot Phase
- 2020
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Ingår i: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. - : MDPI AG. - 1661-7827 .- 1660-4601. ; 17:9, s. 3077-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The issue of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a focus of the World Health Organization, which proposes educational interventions targeting the public and healthcare professionals. Here, we present the first attempt at a regionwide multicomponent campaign in Sicily (Italy), called "Obiettivo Antibiotico", which aims to raise the awareness of prudent use of antibiotics in the public and in healthcare professionals. The campaign was designed by an interdisciplinary academic team, and an interactive website was populated with different materials, including key messages, letters, slogans, posters, factsheets, leaflets, and videos. The campaign was launched in November 2018 and, as of 21 December 2018, the website had a total of 1159 unique visitors, of which 190 became champions by pledging to take simple actions to support the fight against AMR. Data from social media showed that the audience was between 18 and 54 years of age, with a high proportion of female participants (64%). Interestingly, the LinkedIn page received more than 1200 followers, and Facebook 685 followers. The number of actions taken (pledges) by the audience was 458, evenly divided between experts (53%) and the general public (47%). Additional efforts are needed to reach more people, thus future efforts should focus on further promotion within the Sicilian region to sustain the engagement with the campaign.
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| 2. |
- Bälter, Olle, et al.
(författare)
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Walking Outdoors during Seminars Improved Perceived Seminar Quality and Sense of Well-Being among Participants
- 2018
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Ingår i: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. - : MDPI. - 1661-7827 .- 1660-4601. ; 15:303
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Low levels of physical activity and sedentary behaviour are a growing health problem globally. Physical inactivity is associated with increased risk of numerous ailments, cardiovascular disease and mortality. Our primary aim was to perform a feasibility study on how to incorporate physical activity among students and teachers in regular teaching activities. The second aim was to investigate how students and teachers perceived the differences between outdoor walking seminars and regular indoor seminars. By transforming an on-campus course into a blended course, we were able to conduct seminars outdoors in nearby nature while walking. These walking seminars were evaluated among 131 students and nine teachers leading the walking seminars. The responses to the student survey and teacher interviews indicate that discussions, sense of well-being and the general quality of the seminar improved, regardless of how physically active participants were the rest of the time. The study shows one way to increase physical activity with small means; in our case, a reorganization of how we prepared for the seminars which allowed for walking discussions.
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| 3. |
- Dong, Yidan, et al.
(författare)
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Study on the Associations of Individual and Work-Related Factors with Low Back Pain among Manufacturing Workers Based on Logistic Regression and Structural Equation Model
- 2021
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Ingår i: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. - : MDPI. - 1661-7827 .- 1660-4601. ; 18:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Work-related musculoskeletal injuries are one of the major occupational health issues of the workers, especially low back pain (LBP). The aim of this study was to survey the prevalence of LBP among manufacturing workers and to identify associations of individual and work-related factors with LBP. A cross-sectional questionnaire study was performed with 1173 participating manufacturing workers. The questionnaire included individual factors, psychosocial and physical exposures, and musculoskeletal discomfort. It was analyzed by logistic regression and structural equation modeling (SEM). The 1-year prevalence of LBP among Chinese manufacturing workers was 33.6%. Logistic regression analysis showed that job tenure, awkward postures, vibration and job demand were positively-while social support and job control were negatively associated with LBP (p < 0.05). The SEM results indicated that, as shown in other studies, job types, job tenure, postural load, high job demand, low job control and vibration were directly associated with LBP, but also that job types, high job demand, low social support and vibration may have indirect effects on LBP-mediated by postural load.
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| 4. |
- Egidi, Gianluca, et al.
(författare)
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Unraveling Latent Aspects of Urban Expansion : Desertification Risk Reveals More
- 2020
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Ingår i: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. - : MDPI AG. - 1661-7827 .- 1660-4601. ; 17:11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Urban expansion results in socioeconomic transformations with relevant impacts for peri-urban soils, leading to environmental concerns about land degradation and increased desertification risk in ecologically fragile districts. Spatial planning can help achieve sustainable land-use patterns and identify alternative locations for settlements and infrastructure. However, it is sometimes unable to comprehend and manage complex processes in metropolitan developments, fueling unregulated and mainly dispersed urban expansion on land with less stringent building constraints. Using the Mediterranean cities of Barcelona and Rome as examples of intense urbanization and ecological fragility, the present study investigated whether land use planning in these cities is (directly or indirectly) oriented towards conservation of soil quality and mitigation of desertification risk. Empirical results obtained using composite, geo-referenced indices of soil quality (SQI) and sensitivity to land desertification (SDI), integrated with high-resolution land zoning maps, indicated that land devoted to natural and semi-natural uses has lower soil quality in both contexts. The highest values of SDI, indicating high sensitivity to desertification, were observed in fringe areas with medium-high population density and settlement expansion. These findings reveal processes of land take involving buildable soils, sometimes of high quality, and surrounding landscapes in both cities. Overall, the results in this study can help inform land use planers and policymakers for conservation of high-quality soils, especially under weak (or partial) regulatory constraints.
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| 5. |
- Furberg, Anna, 1990, et al.
(författare)
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Live and Let Die? Life Cycle Human Health Impacts from the Use of Tire Studs
- 2018
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Ingår i: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. - : MDPI AG. - 1661-7827 .- 1660-4601. ; 15:8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Studded tires are used in a number of countries during winter in order to prevent accidents. The use of tire studs is controversial and debated because of human health impacts from increased road particle emissions. The aims of this study are to assess whether the use of tire studs in a Scandinavian studded passenger car actually avoids or causes health impacts from a broader life cycle perspective, and to assess the distribution of these impacts over the life cycle. Life cycle assessment is applied and the disability-adjusted life years indicator is used to quantify the following five types of health impacts: (1) impacts saved in the use phase, (2) particle emissions in the use phase, (3) production system emissions, (4) occupational accidents in the production system, and (5) conflict casualties from revenues of cobalt mining. The results show that the health benefits in the use phase in general are outweighed by the negative impacts during the life cycle. The largest contribution to these negative human health impacts are from use phase particle emissions (67–77%) and occupational accidents during artisanal cobalt mining (8–18%). About 23–33% of the negative impacts occur outside Scandinavia, where the benefits occur. The results inform the current debate and highlight the need for research on alternatives to tire studs with a positive net health balance.
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| 6. |
- Henriksson, Greger, et al.
(författare)
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Environmentally Reformed Travel Habits During the 2006 Congestion Charge Trial in Stockholm-A Qualitative Study
- 2011
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Ingår i: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. - : MDPI AG. - 1661-7827 .- 1660-4601. ; 8:8, s. 3202-3215
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Policy measures that reduce or replace road traffic can improve environmental conditions in most large cities. In Stockholm a congestion charge was introduced during a test period in 2006. This was a full-scale trial that proved to meet its targets by reducing traffic crossing the inner city segment during rush hours by 20%. Emissions of carbon dioxide and particles were also substantially reduced. This study, based on in-depth interviews with 40 inhabitants, analyses how and why new travel habits emerged. The results show that particular, sometimes unexpected, features of everyday life (habits, resources, opportunities, values, etc.) were crucial for adjustment of travel behaviour in relation to the policy instrument. One example was that those accustomed to mixing different modes of transport on a daily basis more easily adapted their travel in the targeted way. On a more general level, the results revealed that the policy measure could actually tip the scales for the individual towards trying out a new behaviour.
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| 7. |
- Jaldestad, Ellen, et al.
(författare)
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Factors Influencing Retirement Decisions among Blue-Collar Workers in a Global Manufacturing Company-Implications for Age Management from A System Perspective
- 2021
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Ingår i: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. - : MDPI AG. - 1661-7827 .- 1660-4601. ; 18:20
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The maintenance of older workers and determining the appropriate age for retirement are growing issues related to the fact that fewer people, still active in working life, have to provide for more non-working people due to increased life expectancy. As a result, retirement age has started to rise in many countries, and employers need to find ways to maintain an older and healthy work force, not least to avoid the loss of important experience. The aim of the current study was to increase the knowledge of factors influencing the retirement decisions among blue-collar workers in different national settings. A survey and semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample of 100 blue-collar workers in Sweden, the Netherlands, and France, aged 55 years and older, within a global manufacturing company. Based on the results, implications for companies' age management strategies were discussed from a system perspective. Factors contributing to both retirement and to a prolonged work life were found on individual, organisational, and societal levels. This indicates the importance of a system perspective when planning for age management interventions.
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| 8. |
- Jutengren, Göran, Docent, 1965-, et al.
(författare)
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The Potential Importance of Social Capital and Job Crafting for Work Engagement and Job Satisfaction among Health-Care Employees
- 2020
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Ingår i: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. - : MDPI AG. - 1660-4601 .- 1661-7827. ; 17:12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- (1) Background: Both employees and organizations benefit from a work environment characterized by work engagement and job satisfaction. This study examines the influence of work-group social capital on individuals' work engagement, job satisfaction, and job crafting. In addition, the mediating effect of job crafting between social capital on the one side and job satisfaction and work engagement on the other side was analyzed. (2) Methods: This study used data from 250 health-care employees in Sweden who had completed a questionnaire at two time points (six to eight months apart). Analyses of separate cross-lagged panel designs were conducted using structural regression modeling with manifest variables. (3) Results: Social capital was predictive of both job satisfaction and work engagement over time. The results also indicated that higher degrees of social capital was predictive of more cognitive and relational, but not task-related job crafting over time. There was no clear evidence for a mediating effect of job crafting for social capital to work engagement or job satisfaction. (4) Conclusion: It would be beneficial for the health-care sector to consider setting up the organizations to promote social capital within work groups. Individual workers would gain in well-being and the organization is likely to gain in efficiency and lower turnover rates.
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| 9. |
- Kahlmeier, Sonja, et al.
(författare)
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Assessing the Policy Environment for Active Mobility in Cities—Development and Feasibility of the PASTA Cycling and Walking Policy Environment Score
- 2021
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Ingår i: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. - : MDPI AG. - 1661-7827 .- 1660-4601. ; 18:3, s. 986-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The importance of setting a policy focus on promoting cycling and walking as sustainable and healthy modes of transport is increasingly recognized. However, to date a science-driven scoring system to assess the policy environment for cycling and walking is lacking. In this study, spreadsheet-based scoring systems for cycling and walking were developed, including six dimensions (cycling/walking culture, social acceptance, perception of traffic safety, advocacy, politics and urban planning). Feasibility was tested using qualitative data from pre-specified sections of semi-standardized interview and workshop reports from a European research project in seven cities, assessed independently by two experts. Disagreements were resolved by discussions of no more than 75 minutes per city. On the dimension “perception of traffic safety”, quantitative panel data were used. While the interrater agreement was fair, feasibility was confirmed in general. Validity testing against social norms towards active travel, modal split and network length was encouraging for the policy area of cycling. Rating the policy friendliness for cycling and walking separately was found to be appropriate, as different cities received the highest scores for each. Replicating this approach in a more standardized way would pave the way towards a transparent, evidence-based system for benchmarking policy approaches of cities towards cycling and walking.
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| 10. |
- Ma, Yan, et al.
(författare)
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Implications of Projected Hydroclimatic Change for Tularemia Outbreaks in High-Risk Areas across Sweden
- 2020
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Ingår i: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. - : MDPI AG. - 1661-7827 .- 1660-4601. ; 17:18
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Hydroclimatic change may affect the range of some infectious diseases, including tularemia. Previous studies have investigated associations between tularemia incidence and climate variables, with some also establishing quantitative statistical disease models based on historical data, but studies considering future climate projections are scarce. This study has used and combined hydro-climatic projection outputs from multiple global climate models (GCMs) in phase six of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6), and site-specific, parameterized statistical tularemia models, which all imply some type of power-law scaling with preceding-year tularemia cases, to assess possible future trends in disease outbreaks for six counties across Sweden, known to include tularemia high-risk areas. Three radiative forcing (emissions) scenarios are considered for climate change projection until year 2100, incuding low (2.6 Wm−2), medium (4.5 Wm−2), and high (8.5 Wm−2) forcing. The results show highly divergent changes in future disease outbreaks among Swedish counties, depending primarily on site-specific type of the best-fit disease power-law scaling characteristics of (mostly positive, in one case negative) sub- or super-linearity. Results also show that scenarios of steeper future climate warming do not necessarily lead to steeper increase of future disease outbreaks. Along a latitudinal gradient, the likely most realistic medium climate forcing scenario indicates future disease decreases (intermittent or overall) for the relatively southern Swedish counties Örebro and Gävleborg (Ockelbo), respectively, and disease increases of considerable or high degree for the intermediate (Dalarna, Gävleborg (Ljusdal)) and more northern (Jämtland, Norrbotten; along with the more southern Värmland exception) counties, respectively.
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