6^th International Conference and Exhibition on Occupational Health & Safety September 13-14, 2017 Dallas, Texas, USA

Biography:

Zhimin Li, Professor. He is the Director of  Institute of Occupational Disease Prevention and Treatment, Shenzhen , Guangdong. He is also the committee head of Occupational Ergonomics Chapter, Chinese Ergonomics Society. He serves as the associate editor of the journal Occupational Health and Emergency Rescue. He has published 14 books and more than 60 papers.

Abstract:

Occupational injuries, such as musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), seriously threaten frontline worker’s health and can cause a great deal of loss in economy. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States, MSDs accounted for 33% of all worker injury and illness cases in 2013. It is among the most frequently reported causes of lost or restricted work time. In this project, we first described the annual occurrence rate of MSDs observed in a population of 3,479 workers in 60 factories in Shenzhen, China. About half of those workers reported that they had suffered from MSDs in the past 12 months. Then, we studied the association between a set of potential risk factors and MSDs by fitting the data into a logistic regression model. We found MSD risks increased in workers with over 55 working hours per week, high-stress level, and previous injury history. To prevent work-related MSDs in the workplace, we led a one-year participatory and didactic training program for 918 and 2,561 workers, respectively. Participants were asked to report their experience of ache, pain or discomfort in ten body parts before and after receiving the training. To evaluate the program in a more rigorous way, a randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted on the collected data. We found that the program could reduce the MSD prevalence rates, especially for lower extremities (drop to 9.9% from 16.8% with p-value < 0.001) and wrists and fingers (drop to 8.3% from 12.9%, with p-value 0.002). Finally, we developed a method to measure the cost-benefit ratios of the programs and found that the participatory training was more effective to prevent MSDs than the didactic training.

 

Biography:

ChunlinJin, Professor, Ph.D. of Tokyo University. Executive Deputy Director of SHDRC, Director of Shanghai Medical Information Center, and Director of Shanghai Population and Development Research Center. Dr. Jin's main research areas are health economics related administrative research and hospital management. He has been the primary investigator of more than 40 research projects, published over 160 papers, 70 of which as the first author. The research findings Dr. Jin involved had won the Bronze Prize of Shanghai Science & Technology Progress, Silver Prize of Shanghai Municipal Government Decision-Making Advisory, Bronze Prize of China Hospital Association for Science & Technology Innovation, Bronze Prize of Shanghai Medical Science & Technology Award and Silver Prize of East China Science & Technology Information Achievements, and Award of Excellent Outcomes in Chinese Health Economics Association for many times. 

Abstract:

Statement of the Problem: As a regional medical center in China, medical institutions in Shanghai take a lot of patients from out-of-Shanghai. This external-care-seeking behavior places big and increasing burden on Shanghai’s health care system, considering limited medical resource for local residents and escalating medical expenses. The purposes of this study are to evaluate the impact of external-care-seeking, explore the framework to regulate patients’ seeking doctor behavior and to promote better medical resources allocation. Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: The data was obtained from regular reports of public medical institutions in Shanghai, and patients who seek doctors from out-of-Shanghai residence and local patients were compared in terms of the quantity of service, types of diseases, medical expenses, etc. Findings: On one hand, external-care-seeking has a large quantity, especially in hospitalization. In 2012, the number of discharged population from out-of-Shanghai accounted for 22.74% of the total discharged number, the proportion was even higher than 30% in tertiary hospitals. Tertiary hospitals had a significant attraction effect, concentrating 59.42% of the outpatient and emergency visits and 71.82% of the amount of hospitalization, with corresponding cost of 75.86% and 82.56%. The top three divisions in tertiary hospitals for external-care-seeking were surgical, obstetrics and gynecology, internal medicine. On the other hand, out-of-shanghai patients are conducive to improvement of medical skills the efficiency of health resource. However, the local residents may have less accessibility of high quality of medical service. External-care-seeking will have a more far-reaching impact on the health care system in Shanghai, some interventions should be necessary, including rationally allocating medical resources based on the estimates of external-care-seeking and establishing a medical service supervision mechanism.

Recommendations are made for regulating external-care-seeking.

Biography:

ChunlinJin, Professor, Ph.D. of Tokyo University. Executive Deputy Director of SHDRC, Director of Shanghai Medical Information Center, and Director of Shanghai Population and Development Research Center. Dr. Jin's main research areas are health economics related administrative research and hospital management. He has been the primary investigator of more than 40 research projects, published over 160 papers, 70 of which as the first author. The research findings Dr. Jin involved had won the Bronze Prize of Shanghai Science & Technology Progress, Silver Prize of Shanghai Municipal Government Decision-Making Advisory, Bronze Prize of China Hospital Association for Science & Technology Innovation, Bronze Prize of Shanghai Medical Science & Technology Award and Silver Prize of East China Science & Technology Information Achievements, and Award of Excellent Outcomes in Chinese Health Economics Association for many times. 

Abstract:

Statement of the Problem: As a regional medical center in China, medical institutions in Shanghai take a lot of patients from out-of-Shanghai. This external-care-seeking behavior places big and increasing burden on Shanghai’s health care system, considering limited medical resource for local residents and escalating medical expenses. The purposes of this study are to evaluate the impact of external-care-seeking, explore the framework to regulate patients’ seeking doctor behavior and to promote better medical resources allocation. Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: The data was obtained from regular reports of public medical institutions in Shanghai, and patients who seek doctors from out-of-Shanghai residence and local patients were compared in terms of the quantity of service, types of diseases, medical expenses, etc. Findings: On one hand, external-care-seeking has a large quantity, especially in hospitalization. In 2012, the number of discharged population from out-of-Shanghai accounted for 22.74% of the total discharged number, the proportion was even higher than 30% in tertiary hospitals. Tertiary hospitals had a significant attraction effect, concentrating 59.42% of the outpatient and emergency visits and 71.82% of the amount of hospitalization, with corresponding cost of 75.86% and 82.56%. The top three divisions in tertiary hospitals for external-care-seeking were surgical, obstetrics and gynecology, internal medicine. On the other hand, out-of-shanghai patients are conducive to improvement of medical skills the efficiency of health resource. However, the local residents may have less accessibility of high quality of medical service. External-care-seeking will have a more far-reaching impact on the health care system in Shanghai, some interventions should be necessary, including rationally allocating medical resources based on the estimates of external-care-seeking and establishing a medical service supervision mechanism.

Recommendations are made for regulating external-care-seeking.

Biography:

Ms. Farhtheeba Rahat Khan is a development professional with experience backed up by private sector interventions and development sector working realities and challenges. As the lead of ‘Private Sector Health project’, Ms. Khan undertook studies to understand private sector healthcare market dynamics and simultaneously worked on the policy front with Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and its directorates in addressing the supply side issues of healthcare market. She provided technical assistance for formulation of policy framework, guidelines and accreditation systems in the health training, and emphasized on avenues for women employment in the health sector. Currently, Ms. Khan is the Team Leader for the ‘Working with Women’ project implemented by SNV where she is facilitating interventions in garment factories for addressing health, safety, VAW, mental health for female garment workers following a  gender sensitive and gender-specific approach - to ensure equity in healthcare service provision for female garment workers. 

Abstract:

Statement of the Problem: Bangladesh is the world’s third largest garment producer. An estimated 3,000+ factories currently employ some 4 million workers and 85% of them are women. The industry is the single largest source of employment for 14-35 year old women, largely migrants from rural areas and from disadvantaged backgrounds. These women have limited or almost no access to healthcare. Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: Most workers do not know the importance of sexual and reproductive health. Health issues including malnutrition, communicable diseases, and pregnancy complications, incorrect use of family planning materials, reproductive infections and diseases undermine their productivity. Findings: The incidence of suffering from health issues was found higher among married (66%) workers in comparison to unmarried workers (44%). Elder workers appear to be more prone to SRHR issues than younger workers. Family Planning (31%), MR/Menstrual Hygiene/Abortion/Unwanted pregnancy (24%) and Menstrual Hygiene (19%) were the top-3 SRHR issues. Due to long working hours with little time to spare, and financial constraints a significant portion of the workers are unable to seek healthcare services and commodities from the formal providers. In addition, there is social stigma that hinder them from accessing proper healthcare.89% access pharmacies and unqualified providers.  Illness leads them to loss of paid days. Women report missing up to 4-6 days work a month because of reproductive health issues. In the absence of affordable healthcare services, and no support/subsidy from government, women end up with a huge medical expenditure, which in turn lowers their financial capacity leading to poor living conditions, poverty and affecting women empowerment. Conclusion & Significance: Sustainable healthcare solutions that ensure easily accessible and affordable services for RMG workers need to be established across the sector. And a holistic approach from information to behavioural change towards availing services needs to be in place