Total Worker Health


It's Tick Time: Mayo Clinic Offers Tips for Avoiding, Spotting Tick-Borne Diseases

Physicians are seeing new cases of tick-borne illness several weeks earlier than usual, likely because a mild winter in much of the country made life easier for ticks and their offspring.

To Live Longer, Sit Less

An Australian study to determine the independent relationship of sitting time with all-cause mortality tells us a lot.

Today's Live-Tweeting: Library of Congress Stress Conference

Hvaing made the list of Time's 140 best Twitter feeds of 2012, the library invites its 300,000+ followers to "see the latest in stress research and join the conversation" March 26-27.

Journal Explores Mental Health Burden of Deafness

Poor communication persists between deaf people and mental health professionals, according to a review and an editorial published by the influential medical journal The Lancet.

Walking May Lessen the Influence of Genes on Obesity by Half

"In our study, a brisk one-hour daily walk reduced the genetic influence towards obesity, measured by differences in BMI by half,” said said Qibin Qi, Ph.D., study author and a post doctorate research fellow in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.

London Fire Brigade Outsources Emergency Call Operations

The 10-year contract with Capita plc makes it the first fire brigade in Britain to outsource its emergency call handling.

Aetna Rolls Out MyBrainSolutions Wellness Site

Calling it a new wellness and behavioral health benefit, the insurer says the games, videos, and trackers will improve stress management, memory, and attention.

Obese Workers Have Higher Health Care Costs than Smokers, Study Says

Smoking and obesity place a growing strain on an already stretched health care system. Employers are evaluating wellness programs—such as quit-smoking and fitness programs—in an attempt to lower costs by reducing health risk factors.



WHO Focuses on Aging Population for World Health Day

Between 2000 and 2050, the proportion of the world's population over 60 years will double from about 11 percent to 22 percent.

Funding Supports Studies on Coordinating Health Care Services

Aetna and the Aetna Foundation awarded $750,000 in grants for three studies, including one analyzing the communication between home health nurses and physicians caring for recently hospitalized Medicare patients with congestive heart failure.

WHO, UNICEF Say Safe Drinking Water Access Goal Met

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said it is "a great achievement for the people of the world" and one of the first Millennium Development Goal targets to be achieved.

AHA: 12 Percent of Americans Regularly Practice Healthy Habits

Of those that listed an excuse for not following through with healthy habits, the most common culprit is said to be a lack of time.

Sam's Club Launches Wellness Magazine

With a total circulation of 8 million members, "Healthy Living Made Simple" might be able to help them reduce their health care costs, as a Sam’s Club executive predicts.

Health professionals should be aware of the health risks posed by unclean cellphones.

Mobile Phones in Hospital Settings: A Serious Threat to Infection Control Practices

Health professionals need to help raise awareness about the health risks of using an unclean cell phone.

Monsanto Settles Nitro, WV Agent Orange Cases

A judge granted preliminary approval to a settlement involving activities done 40-60 years ago at the company's former plant in the West Virginia city, an industrialized suburb of the state capital, Charleston.

Phone Counseling Program Helps Workers with Depression, Study Says

The Work and Health Initiative program improved depressive symptoms along with a number of work-related outcomes, including increased productivity and fewer missed work days.

Apple's Foxconn Factories Being Audited

The president of the Fair Labor Association, a nonprofit the manufacturer joined a month ago as its first technology company member, began the first "special voluntary audit" at Foxconn City in Shenzhen on Feb. 13.

Nine in 10 Adults Eat Too Much Sodium Every Day: CDC

The most common sources of sodium include breads and rolls, luncheon meat such as deli ham or turkey, pizza, and poultry.

AMA Offers Weigh What Matters App to Promote Health

Enabling users to track their weight, eating, and activity by making daily entries, it could be very useful to the general public and may indirectly help employers.

American Airlines' Pension Battle Begins

The head of the PBGC, John Gotbaum, said the airline must show that terminating its pension plans is the only way it can reorganize.

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