Long‐term impact of worker notification: Qualitative assessment of a community‐based notification and screening program in Augusta, Georgia

Abstract

The study findings suggest four strategies, all relatively low in cost, that are likely to increase the long-term public health benefits of worker notifications that rely on individually mailed written materials: (1) in designing worker notifications, take into account the information (accurate or not) that the workers already have, and determine what kind of information they most want and need; (2) define the notification audience broadly to include not only the study cohort but also family members and/or other similarly exposed workers; (3) when notifications recommend secondary disease prevention measures over long time periods, follow up the notification health advice with periodic reminders; (4) inform a wide range of community organizations and service providers (non-medical as well as medical) about the notification, and encourage them to provide appropriate support to the notified workers and their families.

Factors associated with cancer distress in the Asbestos Post‐Exposure Survey (APEXS)

“…Most previous studies have reported the absence of any observed psychological distress in subjects exposed to asbestos [Maurel et al, 2006] or other occupational carcinogens [Hornsby et al, 1985;Needleman and Connally, 2003]. With an overall prevalence of 21.1% (n ¼ 658) of an abnormal PCQ score, the present data support the hypothesis that a considerable percentage of asbestos-exposed subjects experience psychological consequences at baseline of the screening program.…”

Public health projects for preventing the recurrence of neural tube defects in the United States

“…For example, Bastani et al (1999) used a statewide cancer registry to obtain a random sample of patients with breast cancer to identify eligible relatives who then received mailed information, which resulted in higher uptake of mammography services. Similar examples can be found in the areas of weight loss (Sherwood et al, 2006), occupational exposure (Needleman et al, 2003), hepatitis risk (Squires et al, 2003), and sexually transmitted disease (Wong et al, 2005).…”

Communicating Risks after Exposure Has Ended: Former Workers' Perspectives on PCBs

“…Informing workers about occupational hazard exposure (i.e., worker notification) is not only a necessary health protection measure but also an ethical imperative [1][2][3][4]. Knowledge of occupational hazard exposure may facilitate safety practices [5] and may influence precautionary medical screening [6]. Although the importance of communicating risks associated with occupational hazard exposure has been recognized, research is still scarce in some areas [1,7].…”