Participatory Action-Oriented Training (PAOT) is a structured, worker-centered approach designed to improve workplace safety and health. However, its applicability across different contexts remains unclear. This scoping review aims to systematically analyze the existing literature on PAOT, focusing on its utilization with various populations, contexts, and methodological approaches. Using the population-concept-context (PCC) framework, this review defines the population as workers, community members, or managers participating in PAOT; the concept as PAOT; and the context as workplaces, communities, agriculture, and healthcare settings. Literature, from January 2000 until onward, will be searched in MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library, Korea Education and Research Information Sharing Service, Korean Studies Information Service System, DBpia, National Digital Science Digital Library, and Japan Medical Abstracts Society. Study selection will be performed independently by three reviewers and the overall review process will be presented transparently in a PRISMA-ScR flowchart. A comprehensive mapping of the PAOT applications will be conducted based on key variables such as study design, implementation context, training components of the action checklist, and improvement outcomes. Since the 1980s, PAOT has been applied in various sectors including small enterprises, agriculture, communities, and healthcare. This review will highlight trends and gaps to support future research and practice.

Pharmacists are at high risk of infection due to their direct contact with potentially infected patients and customers during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to examine whether increased health issues among pharmacists during the pandemic were associated with pandemic-related changes in their work environment. A total of 438 pharmacists from 28 prefectures completed a self-administered survey between September 2021 and January 2022. Health issues with significant increases among pharmacists during the COVID-19 pandemic included depression, anxiety or emotional disorders, insomnia, eye problems and skin disorders. The following work-related factors were significantly associated with these health issues: For depression, anxiety, or emotional disorders, key factors were fear of infection during medication explanations to customers or patients and fear of infection related to work in general. Insomnia was significantly associated with shift adjustments and fear of infection when fatigued. Eye problems were linked to remote medication counseling via telephone or online platforms, disinfection and cleaning tasks, and shift adjustments. No significant work-related factors were associated with skin disorders. This study identified specific work-related tasks associated with increased health issues, offering valuable insights into the occupational risks faced by pharmacists and informing preparedness for future pandemics.

Sleep health is recognized as a fundamental component of health and safety in the workplace. Alertness assessed by the psychomotor vigilance test (PVT) is a key dimension of sleep health. Impaired PVT performance is associated with depression and burnout, but its relation to self-rated health (SRH) remains unclear. In this cross-sectional study, 378 physicians (268 men, 110 women) at Juntendo University Hospital completed a questionnaire and a 3-min PVT after duty hours. Participants were dichotomized as “healthy” or “unhealthy” group based on SRH. PVT lapses (reaction time ≥355 ms) and mean reciprocal reaction time (rRT) were categorized into quartiles. Multivariable logistic regression estimated odds ratios (ORs) for poor SRH with covariates including the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS) and the 20-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D ≥20). Compared with the lowest quartile, the highest quartile of lapses showed an adjusted OR for poor SRH of 4.50 (95% CI, 1.68–12.02), and the lowest quartile of mean rRT yielded an OR of 3.76 (1.36–10.37). These associations remained robust after further adjustment for night-shift duration, snoring, caffeine intake, and either KSS or CES-D. PVT-assessed alertness independently predicts physicians’ SRH, suggesting its utility for health monitoring among hospital physicians.

Organizational justice is an important organizational-level resource that may facilitate employees’ motivation and personal development. The aim of the current study is to test the indirect effect of organizational justice on job performance and happiness through two key psychological states: work engagement and burnout. Based on Job Demands-Resources theory, it was hypothesized that the organizational justice would be positively associated with job performance and happiness via increased work engagement and decreased burnout. In the study participated 216 employees, nested in 62 organizations. Multilevel analyses with MLwiN software revealed that organizational justice related positively and indirectly to both job performance and happiness through higher levels of work engagement. Furthermore, justice also exerted positive indirect effects on performance and happiness through its negative association with burnout. These findings suggest that organizational justice may initiate a motivational process that can enhance both work-related outcomes and personal well-being, supporting performance at work and flourishing beyond workplace.

This study investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Japanese workers, focusing on the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and different types of work (desk work, in-person work, physical labor, and unemployment), as well as various demographic factors. Using a web-based survey conducted in February 2021, we collected data from 19,941 workers aged 20–65 yr. The Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) was used to measure workers’ fear, with analysis focusing on the total score and two subfactors: emotional fear reactions (Factor 1) and symptomatic expressions of fear (Factor 2). The findings showed that fear of COVID-19 was significantly higher among unemployed individuals and those with serious mental illness, identifying these groups as particularly vulnerable. Our analysis also suggests that broad occupational categories, such as “physical labor”, can mask the distinct risks faced by specific subgroups, including frontline care workers. The results suggest that intervention strategies tailored to the specific needs of these vulnerable groups should be developed to provide adequate support in a future pandemic, along with enhanced mental health services. By elucidating variations in fear levels across worker populations, this study contributes to the formulation of effective public health strategies in response to global health crises.

Working in hospitals as healthcare workers is inherently stressful, which indirectly affects employees’ adherence to procedures for infection prevention and control (IPC). While ample research exists on IPC practices, the majority neglects the psychosocial aspects of work, particularly job characteristics and safety-related organizational climates. This study utilized a two-wave multilevel panel study design with a 4-month interval, involving 379 participants across 23 critical care units in Malaysian hospitals. Grounded in the Conservation of Resources theory, we examined how job demands (i.e., workload, emotional demands, and job complexity) influence IPC practices and how three types of safety climate constructs—safety climate, psychosocial safety climate, and psychological climate—moderate the effects of job demands on IPC. Contrary to our predictions, none of the job demands were directly associated with IPC practices. However, we found that only the safety climate moderated the relationships between workload and job complexity with IPC practices. These findings suggest that each type of safety climate uniquely buffers the effects of specific job demands on IPC practices. Hospital management should implement tailored interventions to serve distinct functions in mitigating the impact of job demands on IPC adherence.

Activity-based workplaces have become increasingly prevalent in many organizations. However, research on their implementation regarding perceived productivity within the public sector remains limited. The study’s purpose was to examine differences in perceived productivity, and perceived physical and psychosocial work environment factors, among public sector office employees in activity-based workplaces, in association with the amount of perceived concentration-demanding work. The study was conducted by two surveys responded during the spring 2024 by 450 respectively 320 employees in one Swedish municipality. The results were analyzed by analysis of variance, correlation- and regression analysis. The results indicate that employees with a high amount of perceived concentration-demanding tasks reported lower perceived productivity and experienced poorer perceived physical and psychosocial working environment. Notably, regression analyses revealed that particularly lack of privacy and dissatisfaction with work premises were significantly associated with lower perceived productivity. These findings underscore the importance of considering work task requirements when implementing public sector activity-based workplaces to mitigate potential productivity losses. Further qualitative and quantitative research is needed, particularly those with a longitudinal design, to increase knowledge about how different concentration-demanding work tasks are affected by work in activity-based workplaces.

This study aimed to explore women’s health literacy components related to planned pregnancy and infertility treatment use. A nationwide internet survey was conducted in February 2018 among 2,596 Japanese female full-time workers aged 18–49. Of these, 1,262 women who had desired pregnancy were analyzed. Data included a health literacy scale, pregnancy timing, and infertility treatment access. Logistic regression analysis examined the associations. As the results, the high health literacy group was significantly associated with both achieving pregnancy at the desired time (odds ratio [OR]: 1.87) and accessing infertility treatment (OR: 1.78). Specifically, the subscale “knowledge about the female body” was significantly related to achieving pregnancy at the wanted time (OR: 1.91), and “sexual health discussion with partners” was associated with access to infertility treatment (OR: 2.79) (p<0.05). These findings suggest that improving female body knowledge and partner communication are key for reproductive health education and preconception care.

Mental disorders occur frequently in physicians owing to overwork and poor psychosocial work environment. This study aimed to investigate the circumstances, characteristics, and background factors affecting mental disorders in physicians. Basic data such as sex, age at onset, alive or dead, occupation, name of disease, industrial accident recognition factors, load factors other than working hours, and overtime hours (for 31 cases of mental disorders and suicides for 11 yr from 2010–2020) were obtained from the Japan Research Center for Overwork-Related Disorders database. The results showed 13 cases of suicide (41.9%) and 21 cases of mood disorders (67.7%). As for the factors recognized as industrial accidents, “extreme long working hours” related to overwork accounted for 6 cases (20.7%), and “quantity and quality of work” accounted for 27 cases (93.1%). Furthermore, clinical residents comprised 14 cases (45.2%) of the 31 mental disorder cases and 7 cases (53.8%) of the 13 suicide cases. Therefore, measures to prevent overwork and suicide in clinical residents are urgently needed in the context of mental disorder in physicians.