Currently, the engagement of local communities in Health Impact Assessment is becoming more and more important. A scoping review was performed to take stock of visions, methods and experiences in this field.A combined Scopus and Medline search yielded 100 articles in scientific journals. The final selection consisted of 43 papers, including case studies, evaluation studies, reviews, and opinion papers. After analysis, consultation of four experts was performed to check preliminary study outcomes. A grey literature web search was performed to check and complement the results.Results show that community participation is generally considered a core element in HIA. Views as expressed in the papers concern, firstly, the need for and value of local knowledge, secondly, the adherence to or application of democratic values and, thirdly, empowerment of communities. Three categories of methods are used in relation to community participation, often in combination: methods to facilitate knowledge elicitation, to ensure the inclusion of communities in the HIA process, and to build community capacity to participate in policy development. However, the theoretical or practical underpinning of the choice for specific methods is mostly not presented. The experiences described in the papers mainly focus on the access to local knowledge and its usability as a source of evidence in the HIA process. Described effects of community participation are (improved) relations between communities and local agencies, policy makers and professionals and the empowerment of community members. Although these effects are ascribed to community participation, many papers do not provide support for this conclusion beyond the retrospective perception of participants. Expert consultation and additional analysis of the grey literature supported the results derived from the scientific literature and provided more in-depth knowledge. In the grey literature theoretical frameworks, methods and tools for community participation in HIA were more extensively reported as compared to the scientific literature.We conclude that the visions, methods and experiences concerning community participation show that a participative approach may contribute to better, context specific knowledge. It appears that participative HIA has health promotion potential as it helps develop responsive policies.To accomplish this, HIA should, firstly, be better embedded in broader health promotion programmes. Secondly, the methods and approaches for community participation applied in HIA should be theory-informed and well described. The grey literature offers entry points. Finally, more robust and systematic evaluation and research is needed to assess the impact of HIAs on communities and policies.
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Mental health is important for business. In the 21st century the mental health and well-being of your employees is crucial to the success of your organisation. But, how should you as an employer start to address mental health issues in your workplace? And what activities and policies do you need to set in place? In a European campaign work. in tune with life. move europe, the European Network for Workplace Health Promotion (ENWHP) has taken the initiative to help promote mental health in workplaces. This mental health promotion campaign aims to raise awareness amongst both employers and employees
Limited evidence is available about (non)-representativeness of participants in health-promoting interventions. The Dutch Healthy Primary School of the Future (HPSF)-study is a school-based study aiming to improve health through altering physical activity and dietary behaviour, that started in 2015 (registered in ClinicalTrials.gov on14-06-2016, NCT02800616). The study has a response rate of 60%. A comprehensive non-responder analysis was carried out, and responders were compared with schoolchildren from the region and the Netherlands using a cross-sectional design. External sources were consulted to collect non-responder, regional, and national data regarding relevant characteristics including sex, demographics, health, and lifestyle. The Chi-square test, Mann-Whitney U test, or Student's t-test were used to analyse differences.
Dit postdoc-traject wordt uitgevoerd binnen het lectoraat Arbeid & Gezondheid (A&G) en het expertiseteam Health Promotion & Performance (HP&P) binnen de Academie Sport en Bewegen van de Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen (HAN). Het postdoc-traject zal een bijdrage leveren aan het verkleinen van sociaal-economische gezondheidsverschillen door het vergroten van de duurzame inzetbaarheid van MBO-studenten niveau 2 en 3 en jong¬¬e/startende zorgmedewerkers niveau 2 en 3 (helpenden/verzorgenden). De uitstroom van het jongere personeel uit de zorg en tijdens de eindfase van hun studie verdient aandacht. Redenen daarvoor hebben te maken met een verminderde mentale en fysieke vitaliteit. Een evidence-based sport- en beweegprogramma (S&Bprogramma) in de vrije tijd is effectief gebleken bij andere doelgroepen. Het zal tot een betere mentale en fysieke vitaliteit moeten leiden door een verbeterde belastbaarheid, betere slaap, ontspanning en gezondere afstand tot het werk. De context van een interventie zoals onregelmatige werktijden, lagere zelfregulatie, werk(studie)druk en verminderde sociale cohesie is echter belangrijk voor de effectiviteit van een interventie. Vanwege deze contextuele afhankelijkheid en om afstemming te bereiken met de doelgroep wordt gekozen voor een ontwerpgerichte insteek met kwalitatieve participatieve onderzoeksmethoden. Doel van dit traject is dus om te achterhalen binnen welke contexten het aangepaste S&Bprogramma voor wie, wanneer en hoe effectief is om fysieke/mentale vitaliteit van studerende en jonge/startende zorgmedewerkers met een lage sociaal-economische status (MBO-niveau 2/3) te verbeteren. Voor de effectevaluatie zal gebruik gemaakt worden van kwantitatieve en kwalitatieve (realistische evaluatie) analyses. De aanvrager is hoofddocent en onderzoeker en gepromoveerd op het onderwerp arbeidsparticipatie van zorgpersoneel. Hij begeleidt afstudeertrajecten binnen de academie Sport en Bewegen en onderzoekstrajecten binnen de master Sport- en Beweeginnovatie. De onderzoeken worden uitgevoerd door bachelor- en masterstudenten en inzichten zullen in de doorontwikkeling van het curriculum en het systeem van studentenbegeleiding geïmplementeerd worden.