This study examined the association between level of physical activity and changes in dietary behaviors of 3,945 employees after a 10-week work-site physical activity program. Fifty-seven percent of the participants met the CDC/ACSM standard for physical activity sufficient for a health benefit. Physical activity was not significantly related to increased fruit and vegetable consumption, decreased dietary fat and calorie intake, and participants acquiring new nutrition skills. Physical activity was negatively associated with increased food label awareness. Participants who exercised sufficient for a health benefit were less likely to increase their food label awareness. Physical activity and dietary behaviors are generally not associated. Interventions to improve these behaviors should be behavior-specific.

Thesis (M. A.(Nursing Science)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / In this study, the working conditions of nurses in the public clinics are assessed as the nurses are not satisfied with their working conditions. The dissatisfaction on nurses working conditions by nurses was identified and observed by the researcher at certain clinics in the Sekhukhune District. Strategies are suggested to improve nurses’ working conditions in the selected public clinics of the Limpopo Province, South Africa. The study aims to develop strategies to improve nurses’ working conditions in selected public clinics of Limpopo Province, South Africa. A qualitative exploratory and descriptive research approach, using a phenomenological design has been used. Data were collected from professional nurses from the selected public clinics, using semi-structured interviews. Data were audiotaped and field notes were taken. The eight Steps of Tesch’s inductive, descriptive open coding technique, described by Creswell was used, followed by independent coding. Purposive sampling recruited 20 professional nurses from seven selected clinics in the Limpopo Province. The Turfloop Research Ethics Committee gave ethical clearance. The Department of Health gave permission for the study to be conducted in the selected clinics. Ethical considerations and measures to ensure trustworthiness have been observed. The results show that nurses’ working conditions are affected by the shortage of human and material resources, poor health clinic structures, unacceptable duty schedules, large numbers of clients which to lead to nurses’ burnout. In addition, there is the challenge of the different roles played by nurses, which impede the provision of quality patients’ care. The nurses suggested that the Department of Health should be transparent regarding any information regarding issues of the health system. Furthermore, strategies to improve patients’ awareness regarding the nurses’ working conditions have been developed from the themes that emerge from this study. The findings of the study cannot be generalized to other clinics of the Limpopo province and of other provinces.

Employer-sponsored wellness programs are important tools for keeping employees healthy, reducing an organization's healthcare expenses, mitigating risk factors, and promoting health and well-being. Little research is available on the factors associated with employees' participation in wellness programs in rural hospitals. Pender's health promotion model was used to determine how employees who participated in a rural hospital's wellness program differed from those who did not participate in terms of demographics, perceptions of personal health, general health behaviors, health locus of control, self-motivation, and situational barriers. A descriptive, correlational replication with the Hallion and Haignere questionnaire was used to survey employees. Of the survey's 186 participants, 29% participated in the wellness program. The reasons for not participating were scheduled program times (n = 51, 33.6%) and lack of interest (n = 31, 20.4%). As shown by logistic regression analysis, overall employee wellness and employee payment status were statistically significant predictors of participation. The Pearson chi square showed a statistically significant difference between program participants and nonparticipants in terms of responsibility for children/elders (p = .047) and shift worked (p = .016). These findings suggest that, when developing and implementing a comprehensive wellness program, the characteristics and needs of employees, along with organizational culture, must be considered. The successful implementation and engagement of staff in an employer sponsored wellness plan improve health through lifestyle change and risk reduction, thus promoting positive social change and leading to healthier communities. The findings of the study were incorporated into the recommendations for the hospital's wellness program.

A research report submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree Master of Arts in Social and Psychological Research by coursework and research report in the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2016 / Linking health and productivity to organisational advantages, this study explores the benefits that health screening may provide organisations in South Africa. Health was evaluated in this research as the amount of lifestyle factors (physical inactivity, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption and BMI) and biometric factors (high blood pressure, high cholesterol and high glucose) employees were at risk for. The study aimed to investigate whether increased health leads to the experience of negative health consequences, which may negatively impact on productivity in the workplace. Productivity was assessed firstly by a person’s ability to be at work, and secondly by their ability to significantly contribute to their organisation while they were at work. As such, workplace productivity loss was evaluated in terms of the direct, and indirect, organisational costs that ill-health results in. Workplace productivity loss was measured using the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire: General Health V2.0 (WPAI-GH). Participants were 409 employees from an organisation in the financial service sector (Mage = 41.86, SD = 9.3). Multiple regression analysis found one lifestyle factor (physical inactivity) and one biometric factor (cholesterol) to significantly predicted work productivity. Cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, BMI and blood pressure did not significantly predict workplace productivity loss. Significant relationships were found between physical inactivity and BMI, blood pressure and cholesterol. Alcohol consumption was significantly related to cigarette smoking and blood pressure, while BMI and blood pressure had a significant relationship. The findings contribute to knowledge on how workplace productivity can be promoted through healthy lifestyle behaviours and biometric risk factors. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed in terms of how organisations can design, implement and evaluate appropriate workplace programmes that are related to the specific health needs of their employees. This was positioned as an essential business practice that positively relates to organisational effectiveness by increasing workplace productivity. Keywords: workplace productivity loss, lifestyle risk factors, biometric risk factors, organisational advantage, South Africa / GR2017

Thesis (MPH.) -- University of Limpopo, 2023 / Background: Employee Wellness Programmes (EWPs) is a comprehensive health initiative which is a strategy to maintain and improve the well-being of employees. EWPs are profoundly helpful in ensuring that the wellbeing of employees is taken care of. The programme can be assessed by the programme developers to ensure that the programme remains responsive to rapidly changing educational and healthcare settings. The evaluation of EWPs has greater potential to influence its utilisation by employees. This study sought to understand and document employee wellness programme utilisation in the Department of Transport and Community Safety. Objectives: To explore and describe employee wellness programme utilisation in the Department of Transport and Community Safety in Limpopo Province. Methods: The study used the qualitative research approach. Participants of the study were full-time employees at the Department of Transport and Community Safety. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and the sample size was 15 participants which was determined by saturation of data. Data was analysed through Thematic Content Analysis. Results: Lack of wellness programme utilisation among employees and identified cases of chronic illness, insufficient physical activity and those case that are stress related amongst employees which were received at EWP component are associated with lack of understanding for the programme. The study provides a useful qualitative enquiry of employees at Department of Transport and Community Safety about the programme utilisation. Conclusion: Many employees have concluded that Employee Wellness Programmes intent to enhance and maintain the well-being of employees. However, in Department of Transport and Community Safety (DTCS), there is a serious need for strengthening the implementation of EWPs to improve utilisation.

The purpose of this research is to investigate the interactions between organizational effectiveness, quality culture, and employee health. The system dynamics modeling approach is used in order to reveal the complex and dynamic behavior of the system under investigation. Understanding system behavior facilitates policy analysis and management decision-making. The relationships between the three constructs: organizational effectiveness, quality culture and employee health are non linear and during the research a number of dynamic hypotheses were investigated. For example, illness is the main cause for absenteeism, loss of productivity, ineffective learning, which in turn causes even more stress and eventually more illness. As part of the system dynamics approach a conceptual (qualitative) model and a formal (quantitative) model were built. The conclusion from analyzing the dynamic hypotheses of this model was that quality culture had a great impact on the performance of the whole system, especially on employees’ health and on organizational effectiveness. Furthermore, employees’ health and organizational effectiveness concurrently impact each other. However, this research could not show a considerable impact of the employees’ health and organizational effectiveness on the organization’s quality culture. The research contributes to the general understanding of complex production systems, since the three constructs investigated in this research face similar issues, i.e., the trade-off between long-term and short-term goals, consequences of managerial actions that are far apart in time and space, and conflicts between measurable outcomes and subjective outcomes. The research adds to the design of effective social systems, where the products and the services are created in a quality fashion, and individuals experience an environment that is conducive to their well-being. / Ph. D.

The increased pace of life can create difficulties for individuals to manage their time efficiently and sustainably, this in turn could lead to more stress. As a result of this, work- life balance has become a frequently used term to describe the relation between work and life. Since the increased awareness regarding work-life it has also been important for organizations to apply strategies to provide employees with the tools necessary to withhold a balanced lifestyle to become an attractive employer. Factors that can influence work-life balance that an organization can implement are to give the ability to work remotely and have more flexible conditions. The employee attitudes we set out to find if they have relation with work-life balance were: Organizational commitment, job satisfaction, employee engagement and employee health. These were chosen due to the fact that there had been little research connecting work-life balance influence on these topics. Furthermore, these employee attitudes have been found to create a better organizational performance and overall create better employee well-being. As found in earlier studies, work-life balance has shown to increase employees' life and job satisfaction. Furthermore, it also showed that it had some influence on employees' well-being, meaning reduced stress, risk for burnouts, depression and anxiety due to the fast pace of life and work (Haar, 2013, p. 3319). Furthermore, it also indicates that work- life balance is defined as having a balance between professional and personal interests (Kelliher et al., 2019, p. 98; Hall et al., 2013, p. 548). This research set out to answer the following question: “How does work-life balance influence different employee attitudes?”. To be able to answer our research question we conducted qualitative research and gained a deeper understanding of the reality of the subject. Furthermore, our data was gathered using six semi-structured interviews. Furthermore, this study provides practical implications which might be of use to managers and organizations. First, this study showed that work-life balance does in fact have an influence on different employee attitudes. Secondly, the study also provides insights into which attitudes relate to each other and what factors influence work-life balance. This could be taken into consideration of managers and organizations when planning to implement new policies or strategies to better increase organizational performance and retention rates.

<p>A global prospecting and mining leader recognizes HIV/AIDS as a threat to the company and its employees. The management has committed them to have a proactive approach trying to minimize the impact of this killing disease by putting in place effective workplace programmes. However, programmes can only be successful if the employees&rsquo / needs regarding knowledge, attitudes and sexual practices have been thoroughly researched identified. The aim of this study was to do an explorative descriptive study of the knowledge, attitudes, perceptions and behaviours of the employees of a mining company in Namibia on HIV/AIDS. The objectives were:<br /> &diams / To measure the overall knowledge levels as well as attitudes and sexual practices of DBMN employees on HIV and STD&rsquo / s.<br /> &diams / To determine whether there was a difference in the knowledge levels, attitudes and sexual practices of employees in different job categories, age groups, marital status, religion and education level.<br /> &diams / To measure risky sexual behaviours of participants.</p> <p><br /> All employees (550) of this mining company were invited to participate in the survey and 226 employees responded. A self-constructed questionnaire was used to collect data administered in a group setting. The questionnaire was regarded as having content validity and the SPSS program was be utilized for descriptive statistics. Utilizing the ratio data developed through the indexes, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to determine significant difference between the means of the groups in comparison. Because multiple comparisons were done, a post hoc test (Fisher LSD) was used to determine significant differences between group means.</p>

This study examined whether or not it is in the financial best interest of public school districts, as employers, to promote the health of its employees.

A report on a research study presented to the Department of Social Work School of Human and Community Development, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in Social Work by coursework and research report in Occupational Social Work , August 2017 / In 2004 the Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) introduced a health and wellness Programme to manage human risks that negatively influence work performance and the wellness of employees. A qualitative research study was conducted using phenomenology design to explore in-depth experiences of 13 EHWP Coordinators on the implementation of wellness management as one of the four pillars of the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) integrated Employee Health and Wellness Strategic Framework (EHWSF), (2008). The EHWSF was created to rapidly transform the nature of holistic support to employees so as to mitigate individual and organisational risks within the public sector. The method of data collection utilised was face to face interviews, with the use of a semi-structured interview schedule as a tool to gather data. Purposive sampling was utilised and the sample selected from a population of twenty nine (29) GPG EHWP Coordinators based on an inclusion criteria. The collected data was analysed utilising thematic analysis to identify themes and patterns in the data, to contextualise and describe the findings. The main findings were the inconsistent understanding in terms of the implementation of the DPSA EHWSF wellness management among participants, which suggest that the programme is not fully implemented in GPG. The lack of capacity, dedicated budge, inconsistent structure and positioning of the programme as well as management support were some of the deterrents in implementing the full scope of the wellness management pillar. Although DPSA EHWSF promotes the integration of four pillars, the study found gaps with the practical implementation of the framework in particular the wellness management pillar which was the focus of the study, there was less emphasis on organisational wellness. The study concludes that the findings will contribute towards review of policy, framework and programme development. / XL2018