Preventive Care Utilization: Association with Individual- and Workgroup-Level Policy and Practice Perceptions

Details

• Personal Author:
  Boden LI ; Hashimoto D ; Hopcia K ; Sabbath EL ; Sorensen, Glorian ; Sparer EH ; Wagner, Gregory R.
• Description:
  Preventive medical care may reduce downstream medical costs and reduce population burden of disease. However, although social, demographic, and geographic determinants of preventive care have been studied, there is little information about how the workplace affects preventive care utilization. This study examines how four types of organizational policies and practices (OPPs) are associated with individual workers' preventive care utilization. We used data collected in 2012 from 838 hospital patient care workers, grouped in 84 patient care units at two hospitals in Boston. Via survey, we assessed individuals' perceptions of four types of OPPs on their work units. We linked the survey data to a database containing detailed information on medical expenditures. Using multilevel models, we tested whether individual-level perceptions, workgroup-average perceptions, and their combination were associated with individual workers' preventive care utilization (measured by number of preventive care encounters over a two-year period). Adjusting for worker characteristics, higher individual-level perceptions of workplace flexibility were associated with greater preventive care utilization. Higher average unit-level perceptions of people-oriented culture, ergonomic practices, and flexibility were associated with greater preventive care utilization. Overall, we find that workplace policies and practices supporting flexibility, ergonomics, and people-oriented culture are associated with positive preventive care-seeking behavior among workers, with some policies and practices operating at the individual level and some at the group level. Improving the work environment could impact employers' health-related expenditures and improve workers' health-related quality of life. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Behavior Delivery Of Health Care Ergonomics Health Personnel Occupational Health Preventive Medicine Safety Workplace
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Preventive Health Care Cost Reduction Costs Employee Health Health Care Health Care Utilization Health Care Workers Health Protection Medical Care Medical Services Medical Surveys Organizational Policies Policy Preventive Medicine Psychosocial Factors Quality Of Life Total Worker Health TWH Work Environment Work Operations Work Organization Workplace Studies Work Practices

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• ISSN:
  0091-7435
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement ; Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  235-240
• Volume:
  111
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20053628
• Citation:
  Prev Med 2018 Jun; 111:235-240
• Contact Point Address:
  Erika L. Sabbath, Boston College, School of Social Work, McGuinn 202, 140 Commonwealth Ave, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, United States
• Email:
  erika.sabbath@bc.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2018
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction ; Healthcare and Social Assistance
• Performing Organization:
  Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20070901
• Source Full Name:
  Preventive Medicine
• End Date:
  20260831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:0e9724e9f225ec8f07e14f1227158b0fabaf7eca1d8fcbd1617649ded3ae98e99226962f16ad282bc08fb51c52968c496e35efd0fbe0d0b581df23a3d03c9caa
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/216352/cdc_216352_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 163.18 KB ]