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Wellness is becoming popular as the human factor is realised in terms of empowering employees to perform through wellness initiatives and in the long-term gaining financial success of an organisation. Wellness is bound to be of growing importance in the future, as it is a business prerequisite and has far greater significance for the organisation, employee’s managers and society as a whole. The real challenge is implementation of wellness initiatives and to gain employee and management participation. The main objective of this research was to determine conceptualisation of wellness in the minds of employees, and to identify wellness expectations in a telecommunications organisation. This study was qualitative and explorative in nature with a total of 30 participants. Of the 30 participants, 15 were on a managerial level and 15 were in non-managerial positions. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. The data analysis was carried out by using the content analysis method to explore the meaning, events and states experienced by the participants. The results indicated that participants viewed general health, physical and mental health; work-life balance; perceived organisational support and work environment as the 6 themes that describe wellness, with general health being the core element. Therefore, dividing general health into 4 main areas specifically; physical health, mental health, work-life balance and work health (perceived organisational support and ergonomics). Ranking the main aspects of wellness identified by participants from the highest to the lowest, the most frequently mentioned aspects not getting sufficient attention in this organisation were: ergonomics and perceived organisational support. Recommendations were made for workplace interventions. / MA, Industrial Psychology, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2012

A Thesis submitted to The University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Medicine. / Previous studies have shown that Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients are at an increased risk for a variety of complications impacting health related quality of life (HRQoL). Additionally, these various complications often lead to increased healthcare utilization. Wellness intervention in PD has shown to be effective in improving HRQoL and objective measures of disease burden such as motor functioning. What has not been demonstrated to date is whether patients who are given the opportunity to participate in regularly administered classes in these modalities will continue to attend and whether benefits will continue to be realized outside the strict confines of a controlled trial. This study examined whether intervening early in PD with a comprehensive Wellness Program is feasible and promotes lasting habits that will continue to provide sustained benefit. It was hypothesized that intervening early in PD with an intensive program involving structured exercise, socialization and PD specific education would serve to maintain or improve subject’s quality of life while decreasing healthcare utilization. Twenty‐one consenting ambulatory adult subjects diagnosed with PD within the last five years completed various screenings at baseline and following a required 6‐month Wellness Program intervention. Subjects were assessed at 12 and 18 months if they continued to participate. Patient demographics, disease specific quality of life, objective mobility, healthcare utilization and falls were assessed. Data were collected at Banner Sun Health Research Institute, located in Sun City, Arizona. All p‐values were 2‐tailed and P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. All data analyses were conducted using STATA‐14. Twenty of twenty‐one subjects completed the required 6‐month intervention. Continued participation was 70% at 12 months and 60% at 18 months. Overall HRQoL was stable at 18 months. Significant improvement was seen in patient reported mobility and emotion sub‐areas at 12 months. Communication specific HRQoL was significantly worsened at 12 months. Subjects demonstrated a stable level of physical activity while fatigue was significantly decreased. All objective measures were significantly improved from baseline. Healthcare utilization was decreased by 18 months. A total of 5 falls were reported by 3 subjects during the 6‐month interventional period. This pilot study demonstrates that comprehensive wellness intervention in early PD is feasible, effective, safe and valuable in establishing long‐term beneficial habits while potentially reducing healthcare utilization. The significant long‐term subject participation observed in this study establishes that wellness intervention may be practical for large scale implementation. The results also highlight the importance of addressing communication specific symptoms early in the course of the disease. Ultimately, this study will aid the design and implementation of future PD wellness interventions.

UA Open Access Publishing Fund / Background: Medical residency can be a time of increased psychological stress and sleep disturbance. We examine the prospective associations between self-reported sleep quality and resident wellness across a single training year. Methods: Sixty-nine (N69) resident physicians completed the Brief Resident Wellness Profile (M17.66, standard deviation [SD] 3.45, range: 017) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (M6.22, SD 2.86, range: 1225) at multiple occasions in a single training year. We examined the 1-month lagged effect of sleep disturbances on residents’ self-reported wellness. Results: Accounting for residents’ overall level of sleep disturbance across the entire study period, both the concurrent (within-person) within-occasion effect of sleep disturbance (B 0.20, standard error [SE]0.06, p0.003, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.33, 0.07) and the lagged within-person effect of resident sleep disturbance (B 0.15, SE0.07, p0.037, 95% CI: 0.29, 0.009) were significant predictors of decreased resident wellness. Increases in sleep disturbances are a leading indicatorof resident wellness, predicting decreased well-being 1 month later. Conclusions: Sleep quality exerts a significant effect on self-reported resident wellness. Periodic evaluation of sleep quality may alert program leadership and the residents themselves to impending decreases in psychological well-being.

Master of Science / Department of Kinesiology / Emily Mailey / Background: Many adults spend a majority of their time at work engaging in primarily sedentary behaviors. Creating a health-promotion program can increase awareness of the importance of physical activity as well as provide benefits to the employee and employers. The main purpose of this study was to compare physical activity, motivation and support levels between participants and non-participants of a workplace movement challenge. Additionally, we examined factors associated with average steps and reasons for participating and not participating in the challenge.   Methods: Information about the four-week movement challenge was sent by email to all employees. Steps were monitored by personal activity trackers (e.g. pedometer, Fitbit, etc.) and self-reported at the end of each week. Steps were averaged within departments and a departmental leader board was posted weekly to encourage competition across campus. All individuals who participated in the program were invited to complete a brief follow-up survey one month later. Non-participants of the program were invited to complete a similar survey at the same time. To analyze the data we used t-tests and correlation tests. Results:  Of the 6,798 employees who received an email about the Movement Challenge, 650 (9.6%) submitted at least one survey and 376 completed all four surveys. Results of the follow-up survey showed employees with a departmental team leader accumulated significantly more steps than employees without a team leader (p= 0.03). Additionally, average steps were significantly associated with both social support (r=.21; p<.01) and motivation subscales including identified regulation and intrinsic regulation. Those who enrolled in the program reported they liked the tracking/accountability and departmental competition best. Participants of the program reported greater total physical activity (p< .001), total social support (p< .001), introjected regulation (p< .001), identified regulation (p< .002) and intrinsic regulation (p< .01) levels compared to those who did not enroll in the program. Conclusion: Worksite wellness campaigns can increase physical activity among employees, but additional strategies are needed to increase participation. The results of this study suggest future programs should increase competition and increase contribution from team leaders. They should also include team support across departments to build support within the program.

Hälsa är ett omfattande begrepp som kan ses utifrån olika perspektiv. Olika delar kan ingå i begreppet så som sjukdom, frånvaro av sjukdom, välbefinnande. Företagen i Sverige har olika resurser att tillgå för att skapa förutsättningar för de anställda när det gäller deras hälsa. Ett exempel på en resurs ett företag kan utnyttja är att betala ut ett skattefritt bidrag i form av friskvårdbidrag. Syftet med studien var att synliggöra hur det samtalas om friskvårdsbidraget på en specifik arbetsplats och studiens diskussion förs bland annat utifrån ett sociokulturellt perspektiv. Författarna gjorde en induktiv studie och sju intervjuer genomfördes för att samla in empirin. Resultatet indikerar på att friskvårdsbidraget skapar möjligheter för att förbättra sin hälsa. Annat som diskuterades var det delade ansvaret mellan arbetsgivare och anställd.De diskurser som framkom var bland annat individens eget ansvar, innebörden av friskvårdsbidraget samt att det samtalades positivt om friskvårdsbidraget. Nyckelord: Friskvårdsbidrag, hälsa, diskurs / Health is a broad concept which can be viewed from different perspectives. Different parts can be included in the term such as disease, the absence of disease and well-being. Companies have different resources available to create benefitial conditions for individuals when it comes to their health. An example of a resource a company can use is a tax-free contributions in the form of a "healthcare subsidy" or "health allowance". The purpose of this study is to highlight the various conversations people have about healthcare subsidies in the workplace and our discussion is viewed partly from a sociocultural perspective. The authors did an inductive study. Seven interviews were conducted to collect empirical data. The discourses that emerged included the individual's own responsibility, the role of health care premium and that the talks were positive about health care.

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how job-related experiences of outdoor education leaders influenced personal health and wellness within and outside the workplace. Guided by an adapted Social Ecological Model (McLeroy, Bibeau, Steckler, & Glance, 1988) and the Six Dimensions of Wellness (Hettler, 1976), five participants who had experience as outdoor education leaders were interviewed. Transcripts of the interviews were analyzed. Five theme clusters emerged from the data: life cycle, relationships, transition, leadership, and health and wellness. This study was an important contribution to the overall outdoor education literature as it provided an opportunity to add the voices of outdoor education leaders to the quantitative literature currently available. / Graduate / 0515 / sfield@uvic.ca

The loss and degradation of our natural environments is increasing at an alarming rate. Within the urban environment there is very little evidence of natural environments left, and what does still exist has been significantly impacted by human activity. Not only is there a need to restore and reintroduce nature back into the urban context for the health of the environment, but as well for the health of the human population. The “biophilia hypothesis” suggests that human beings have an innate connection to nature, and need this connection for their general well-being. The University of Manitoba Fort Gary campus is an everyday environment for many students seeking a post secondary education in Winnipeg, MB. It is a place that students and staff experience on a daily basis, and where high levels of stress and anxiety are ever apparent. This practicum explores how landscape and theories of biophilia can be utilized in the context of a post-secondary institution to mediate the negative impacts stress can have on well-being in this environment. Designing exterior spaces for the well-being of people will encourage a reconnection with nature, wildness, wonder, and awe that we are beginning to lose sight of as we continue to move towards a technology dependent world. An understanding of the various theories surrounding biophilia, wellness, and the environment is outlined in a literature review, resulting from an examination of existing research. Following research, a focused site analysis of the University of Manitoba Fort Gary Campus was conducted and resulted in a design at varying scales and levels of detail incorporating aspects from each stage of the design process.

The loss and degradation of our natural environments is increasing at an alarming rate. Within the urban environment there is very little evidence of natural environments left, and what does still exist has been significantly impacted by human activity. Not only is there a need to restore and reintroduce nature back into the urban context for the health of the environment, but as well for the health of the human population. The “biophilia hypothesis” suggests that human beings have an innate connection to nature, and need this connection for their general well-being. The University of Manitoba Fort Gary campus is an everyday environment for many students seeking a post secondary education in Winnipeg, MB. It is a place that students and staff experience on a daily basis, and where high levels of stress and anxiety are ever apparent. This practicum explores how landscape and theories of biophilia can be utilized in the context of a post-secondary institution to mediate the negative impacts stress can have on well-being in this environment. Designing exterior spaces for the well-being of people will encourage a reconnection with nature, wildness, wonder, and awe that we are beginning to lose sight of as we continue to move towards a technology dependent world. An understanding of the various theories surrounding biophilia, wellness, and the environment is outlined in a literature review, resulting from an examination of existing research. Following research, a focused site analysis of the University of Manitoba Fort Gary Campus was conducted and resulted in a design at varying scales and levels of detail incorporating aspects from each stage of the design process.

Wellness is becoming popular as the human factor is realised in terms of empowering employees to perform through wellness initiatives and in the long-term gaining financial success of an organisation. Wellness is bound to be of growing importance in the future, as it is a business prerequisite and has far greater significance for the organisation, employee’s managers and society as a whole. The real challenge is implementation of wellness initiatives and to gain employee and management participation. The main objective of this research was to determine conceptualisation of wellness in the minds of employees, and to identify wellness expectations in a telecommunications organisation. This study was qualitative and explorative in nature with a total of 30 participants. Of the 30 participants, 15 were on a managerial level and 15 were in non-managerial positions. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. The data analysis was carried out by using the content analysis method to explore the meaning, events and states experienced by the participants. The results indicated that participants viewed general health, physical and mental health; work-life balance; perceived organisational support and work environment as the 6 themes that describe wellness, with general health being the core element. Therefore, dividing general health into 4 main areas specifically; physical health, mental health, work-life balance and work health (perceived organisational support and ergonomics). Ranking the main aspects of wellness identified by participants from the highest to the lowest, the most frequently mentioned aspects not getting sufficient attention in this organisation were: ergonomics and perceived organisational support. Recommendations were made for workplace interventions. / MA, Industrial Psychology, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2012