One in six US public health workers will not come to work during a global flu pandemic
A study published these days by researchers from Johns Hopkins University in the USA and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, shows that approximately 16% of public health workers in the USA will choose not to come to work during a pandemic (global epidemic) of influenza. The study, which was published this week in the scientific journal PloS One, was conducted among 1835 health workers in 3 US states.
When the researchers analyzed the answers, it became clear that the belief in the personal ability to provide a meaningful response to the event is a critical factor in the activity. Employees who defined this ability as "high" were 18 times more likely to express a willingness to come to work during a crisis, even if it would be severe and dangerous for them personally. According to Dr. Ran Blitzer, a senior lecturer in the Department of Epidemiology at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and a leading researcher in the study. This study joins a previous study led by Dr. Blitzer three years ago in the state of Maryland in the USA, in which the employees were willing to report to an even smaller job. Even then, there was the feeling of the importance of the role and the ability to contribute at work, the most important factor in determining the willingness to come to work at one's own risk.
"Emergency preparedness plans often take into account that some of the medical staff will not be able to come to work due to illness or injury, but the willingness of the staff to come to work, at their own risk, is a critical component of preparation that is not always taken into account," explains Dr. Blitzer. This study, which was funded by the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), is the most extensive study to date that has examined this question among public health workers.
The researchers used a unique psychological-social model called the Extended parallel process model, in order to implement the research. The model demonstrated that a group of health workers who assess the level of risk from the threat as significant were actually more likely to declare an intention to come to work. Employees who were, on the one hand, aware of the threat, and, on the other hand, felt ready to perform their duties, were 31 times more willing to come to work during a flu pandemic, regardless of its severity, and this in relation to the reference group who were not worried and had a sense of competence.
The research has many practical implications. The employers must understand that they must carry out information and training among the teams even before the outbreak of the crisis and emphasize to them the importance of their role. Otherwise, they may find themselves facing a broken trough during an event, explains Dr. Blitzer. Appropriate training programs are now being developed at Johns Hopkins University to address this very need.
For an article in the scientific journal PloS One
On the same topic on the science website
Expanding the vaccination policy may be more effective than giving antiviral drugs to flu patients
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Public health was born as a response to our need to improve the quality of our lives by understanding the different types of food we consume. In an age of industrial food and supermarkets filled with plenty of prepared foods, we must know which products are essential for our bodies and which products may endanger our health
All the best for the justice work they are doing, I really understand them, this is a difficult case
You have to deal with it every day, and it's very scary.
Larina:
The power of lethality is first of all a function of an appropriate infrastructure; for example: even a mosquito or a fly can drive a young elephant crazy, who is in a state of exhaustion, after losing contact with his herd, and throw him off balance.
So I wish you a successful vaccination, health and longevity.
I hope that emergency teams are being prepared for this purpose in Israel as well
I understand the medical staff. They are also human and it is legitimate that they would not want to show up for work
Fundamental approaches are right! If we continue to vaccinate against diseases, half of the human population will die of hunger in the future? Thirst as a result of a population explosion!
This is a more deadly flu and we need to deal with it in a more orderly manner and not neglect the issue and ignore the expected dimensions.
If there are no commercial considerations (sale of medicines, etc.), in the context of this Torah flu (in the past its sister was called: bird flu); It would be correct to examine in this case as well, if there is not excessive concern, that if statistical comparisons are made, in relation to past effects that have affected the various populations, without alarming announcements being published, we will eventually find that the only change between the various effects is the name given to the flu, and also when In the past, influenza of any kind was not accompanied by worrying advertisements, and victims tried to cope first with the knowledge they acquired, they were more vaccinated, and also acquired better skills in subjects that required efforts and determination, such as mathematics studies for youth, safe driving (before setting the goal regarding the need to reach the destination the initial basic effort is needed first, by raising the question: how do we do this in the most correct way).
To summarize this part, in order to make a clear distinction and order, that one of the real plagues of our time is a terrible hazard like carnage on the roads, and not some virus that, on the whole, also wants to exist, and many times it also benefits us without us being aware of it.
So before you take any kind of vaccine, or medicine, it would also be correct to check carefully whether among the consequences arising from this, there is also the need to deal with problems such as obesity and more, and then you will have to abandon decisiveness and dealing with issues of future importance.
Very anxiety provoking. Where is the health system?
It's going to be a scary winter...
And what about people who cannot stay at home and need to make a living?
If they are afraid, what will we do?