The purpose of this study is to characterize the existing health behaviors and obstacles to healthy lifestyle among the medical staff in a maternity ward in order to develop a specifically-tailored intervention to help improve the health behaviors of hospital shift workers. Shift-work has been associated with unhealthy lifestyles and increased risk of digestive disorders, heart conditions, various kinds of cancer, reproductive dysfunction, and mental conditions. Thus, the findings will be used to establish a community-based participatory health-promoting program in the ward, engaging the staff in its development and implementation. Community Based Participatory (CBP) approach will be used to build an evaluation and intervention. Baseline/needs assessment will be performed by mixed methods approach, combining in depth interviews with key personnel, focus groups and questionnaires that ask about demographics, physical activity and nutrition behaviors, stress, burnout, BMI, and cardiac risk factors.
The purpose of this study is to characterize the existing health behaviors and obstacles to healthy lifestyle among the medical staff in a maternity ward in order to develop a specifically-tailored intervention to help improve the health behaviors of hospital shift workers.The findings will be used to establish a community-based participatory health-promoting program in the ward, engaging the staff in its development and implementation.