Journal of Health Management

Women’s dietary behaviour and physical activity have changed as they have entered the workplace in developed and developing countries around the world. Women now manage dual roles, one at work and one at home, resulting in less time for traditional meal preparation and housekeeping, and hence less physical activity. Technological innovations such as kitchen gadgets and other labour-saving devices have also eliminated much of the strenuous physical activity associated with performing household chores. As a result of these social changes, there has been a transition in dietary behaviour and physical activity. Specifically, many women now lead more sedentary lifestyles and eat higher calorie diets than ever before, which in turn is fuelling the obesity epidemic—one of the risk factors for many diseases, such as diabetes and probably breast cancer, now one of the most prevalent cancers among women. This paper describes the epidemiology of breast cancer and the probable role of physical inactivity, diet and obesity in its development.

This paper explores nurses’ occupational stressors and coping mechanisms. In nurses occupational stress appears to vary according to individual and job characteristics, and work-family conflict. Common occupational stressors among nurses are workload, role ambiguity, interpersonal relationships, and death and dying concerns. Emotional distress, burnout and psychological morbidity could also result from occupational stress. Nurses’ common coping mechanisms include problem solving, social support and avoidance. Perceived control appears to be an important mediator of occupational stress. Coping and job satisfaction appear to be reciprocally related. Shift work is highly prevalent among nurses and a significant source of stress. The effects, moderating influences, coping mechanisms and risk factors associated with shift work are considered in detail here. Prophylactic and curative measures are important for nurses at both personal as well as organisational levels.

The Indian workplace is rapidly changing in accordance with the economic conditions, technology, corporate employment practices and demographic trends of the country. Globalisation has had strong implications on the attitudes of women, their work and health. This paper provides a profile of work-related health status that arises from a mixed pattern of employment, work processes and social support system. Major social, biological and chemical hazards are likely to be encountered in traditional female employment. Empirical studies have indicated that global stress perceived by women at the workplace include psychological and physical work demands, job control, anticipation of job loss, assessment of work associates, fear of abuse, family functions and stressful life events. It is difficult for working women to manage and balance their responsibilities. Social support at the family level is fading away due to increasing nuclear family norms, and at the organisational level due to automation systems. Most women muddle through, worrying and fighting with their problems in isolation. This leads to psychological and emotional stress, thereby increasing psychosomatic complaints. Support from the organisation, family and friends has increasingly been recognised as useful in reducing stress, protecting health and enhancing quality of life. The paper speaks of techniques of improving the social support network.

This study examines the work posture of women workers (experimental group) engaged in small-scale industries who have to maintain a constant seated position (squatting cross-legged) on the floor. Along with the worker group, an equal number of housewives belonging to the same socio-economic status were also studied as a control group. The latter group never maintained such kinds of posture for prolonged periods. To ascertain the effect of work posture, qualitative and quantitative assessment procedures were followed for both groups, in the field and in laboratory studies. It was observed that there was a significant difference in body pain and discomfort among the experimental and control groups, which can be attributed to the prolonged sitting postures. The results of various other assessment procedures were considered and recommendations for suitably designed workstations were given.

Working women compose a large proportion of the workforce today. Interestingly, the attitude of society towards working women is also rapidly changing. There is a definite difference between male and female managers as well as between women managers and women who are not working. For women to be working as manager is really a challenge to them in India. This paper discusses the responses of a qualitative survey on stress and health aspects of women managers, and how they cope with work challenges. The data for this survey was collected from 100 women managers using in-depth interviews in and out of Mumbai from diverse organisations.

Self-concept is an important indicator of personality. The working woman, being an earner in the family, is easily accepted and respected. Hence, it was thought that working women would have a more positive self-concept as compared to non-working women. To assess this, a Q-sort technique developed by Butler and Haigh (1954) was used for 137 working and 99 non-working, all graduate, middle-class, married women in the age range of 25 to 45 years. However, it is amazing to note that no significant difference between working and non-working women was found. All women had a devaluated self-concept. The study was also aimed to note the differences among women working at different occupational levels. There is also no significant difference in their self-concept. However, in item-wise analysis, more confidence, ambition and assertiveness were seen in the case of working women as compared to non-working women.

This study attempts to identify the different coping strategies forest officers use while facing multifarious role stressors. Thirty-four forest officers from Bhopal and surrounding areas were selected to participate in this study. Data was collected through personal visits to the residences of different officers during their free time. The study utilised the subjective, objective and projective (Role PICS) techniques as per their suitability for extracting different types of information. The results suggested that there was a positive and significant relationship between stress, avoidance strategies and type A personality. Forest officers having type A personality experienced more role stress and used more avoidance-based strategies to cope with it. Overall, 23.5 per cent of the sample was found to be experiencing high stress and ineffective coping. The officers found to be under stress were further asked to participate in the EMG biofeedback-induced relaxation training session.

This study was undertaken to assess the occupational health status of women workers in the construction industry by evaluating incidences of occupational health disorders. One thousand and fifty-two workers were selected by stratified random sampling, medically examined and subject to relevant interviews, examinations and investigations. Over three-fourths of the women and almost all men reported working for 10 to 12 hours daily. A majority of the women reported headaches and backaches, as well as pain in the limbs. Fifty-six per cent of women and 16 per cent of men reported injuries resulting in work loss. They had no social security or other workers’ benefits. Most women and men said that they would prefer to do some other work. Respiratory, eye and skin disorders and noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) were found to be prevalent amongst workers exposed to hazards like dust, noise, heat and cold, non-ionising radiation, and exposure to dry cement, glass and adhesives, tar and paint. About 76 per cent women reported gender-specific work stress factors, such as sex discrimination, and balancing work and family demands, above and beyond the impact of general job stressors such as job overload and skill underutilisation. Discriminatory barriers to financial and career advancement were found to be linked to recurrent physical and psychological symptoms and more frequent visits to the doctor among women workers.

The survival of a species depends on the integrity of its reproductive system. Damage by physical or chemical agents to the sperm, ovum or fertilised ovum may cause infertility, spontaneous abortion and birth defects, or may result in mutations that are passed on to future generations. When considering occupational exposures that may damage reproductive processes, the hazard to both men and women must be examined. Disorders of reproduction and hazards to reproductive health have become prominent public health issues now. Rubella (German measles) was recognised as a major cause of birth defects in the 1940s. In the 1960s the use of thalidomide sensitised the public to chemically induced birth defects. Early in the 1970s young women whose mothers had taken diethylstilbestrol during pregnancy were found to have vaginal problems. Later in the decade, it was discovered that men occupationally exposed to dibromochloropropane (DBCP) were subject to varying degrees of testicular toxicity, potentially culminating in infertility. More than 100 years ago, lead was discovered to cause miscarriages, stillbirths and infertility in female pottery workers. These have heightened sensitivities to potential occupational, therapeutic or environmental hazards to reproduction.