Fear of Covid infection has reduced alcohol consumption in Thailand, study shows
Thais have generally cut down their consumption of alcohol in a bid to protect themselves from Covid-19, a recent survey conducted by the Centre of Alcohol Studies shows.
The centre’s director Prof Dr Sawitri Assanangkornchai said a telephone survey was conducted on 1,555 samples aged 18 and above in 15 provinces from April 24 to 28.
In the survey, 41.9 per cent said they had consumed alcohol regularly for a year before the survey, 32.4 per cent said they drink at least once a week, while 21.3 per cent said they drink large amounts.
However, 28.4 per cent said they had stopped drinking a month before the survey, 41.9 per cent had cut down their drinking, 28.1 per cent were drinking as usual and 1.6 per cent had started drinking more.
“Those who have stopped or reduced their drinking say they are afraid of contracting Covid-19 and want to save money. Those who are drinking as usual or have increased their consumption say they can either not give up drinking or are being pushed to drink by their peers,” the professor explained.
She added that 59 per cent of the respondents said they suffered financial difficulties due to the economic fallout of Covid-19, 6 per cent said they were worried and 8 per cent said they were depressed.
“This survey also showed that measures to control drinking, such as the temporary closure of entertainment venues and banning alcohol at restaurants have affected people’s drinking behavior,” Sawitri said.
Meanwhile, Dr Khamnuan Ungchoosak, an adviser with the Department of Disease Control, added that cutting down on the consumption of alcohol can cut down the risk of Covid-19 infection, violence and unnecessary expenses.
Run, Recover, Rejuvenate: New Global Study From Westin Hotels & Resorts
New Global Study From Westin Hotels & Resorts Reveals Heightened Interest in Fitness Recovery for the Body, Mind & Soul, as Post-Pandemic Self-Care Reigns Supreme To Coincide with Global Running Day on June 2, Westin to Unveil Partnership with Run Recovery Technology Leader Hyperice
Westin Hotels & Resorts, part of Marriott Bonvoy’s 30 extraordinary brands and the global hospitality leader in wellness for more than a decade, unveils a new global study that shows the impact of running and recovery during the pandemic as a means for self-care, just in time for Global Running Day. With 45% of respondents saying that focusing on their well-being has given them a new lease on life, Westin is evolving its industry-leading well-being program to bring world-class recovery solutions to travelers’ fingertips as travel starts to resume.
Run, Recover, Rejuvenate: New Global Study From Westin Hotels & Resorts
Westin has joined forces with Hyperice, the expert in recovery technology that strives to provide the innovation to help people move better and feel their best, to debut bespoke Hypervolt recovery stations in the 24-hour WestinWORKOUT® fitness studios at select Westin hotels across the U.S. beginning July 1 . This first-ever exclusive hotel offering features a complimentary, state-of-the-art recovery system using Hypervolt percussion devices to help guests warm up or recover after a workout, long flight or meeting, and to massage away stress and tension. The Hypervolt is a handheld percussion massage device that delivers targeted pulses of pressure to care for muscles, accelerate warmup and recovery, and help maintain flexibility and range of motion. Westin guests can also download the Hyperice App to tap into guided warm up, recovery and body maintenance routines, and follow along with sessions led by top athletes, trainers and wellness professionals.
“The pandemic was a wake-up call around the importance of taking care of the mind, body and soul. In fact, more than half of people we surveyed (52%) said they are putting more emphasis on self-care now compared to before the pandemic, and more than a third (39%) believe run recovery is as important for mental health as it is for physical health,” said Jennie Toh, Vice President, Brand Marketing and Brand Management, Asia Pacific. “When it comes to feeling your best, we know that the way you move is just as important as the way you recover. With this in mind, we partnered with Hyperice to help travelers accelerate their recovery and optimize their well-being in a holistic way.”
Good for Your Muscles, Great for Your Mind: New Global Study Finds that Run Recovery & Self-Care Are the New Non-Negotiables for a Healthy Wellness Routine
In the past year, there has been a resurgence of interest in running. Since the onset of the pandemic, 47% of global respondents said they went running or jogging more than they did previously, and more than half of respondents (50.9%) said that running or jogging helped with their mental well-being during the pandemic.
What has also emerged from the pandemic is new interest in recovery and self-care. Increasingly, people are discovering and prioritizing recovery and self-care – from stretching, meditating, eating healthy and sleep – as an essential step in their integrative wellness regimen. The study found that:
● More than a third (36%) of respondents said that the pandemic has made them realize the importance of mental health and well-being
● Nearly two-thirds of respondents (65%) plan to continue to focus on self-care post-pandemic
● More than 22% of respondents have seen a positive impact on their running capability since incorporating recovery into their routine, and nearly one fourth of respondents (23.9%) said they want to continue to focus on rest and recovery after exercising once the pandemic has passed
● Nearly one fifth of respondents (18%) said they would make more time for recovery after running if they had the right tools
● More than two-thirds (71.6%) of respondents believe a good night’s sleep is important for physical and mental well-being
Furthermore, as life and travel resume, more than 15% of respondents are planning to maintain their pandemic fitness/wellness regimen when on the road again.
“The Hypervolt is engineered to the standards of the world’s best athletes, found in the training centers and sidelines of major professional sports leagues and relied on by elite trainers around the globe,” said Jim Huether, CEO, Hyperice. “We’re excited to now bring this premium wellness experience to Westin hotels through a new one-of-a-kind partnership, designed to help guests feel their best, recover and travel well.”
Westin Let’s Rise Campaign in Asia-Pacific
In APAC, Westin Hotels & Resorts recently unveiled a wellness focused campaign “Let’s Rise” to motivate locals and travelers alike to regain control and enhance their wellbeing. 59 Westin hotels in Asia-Pacific are taking the initiative in addressing the increasing importance of true mind and body wellness through its signature brand experiences, especially after the challenges and demands of the past year. Through the campaign, Westin hopes to motivate everyone, no matter where they may be, to rise up, Move by staying active with WestinWORKOUT® and the brand’s signature RunWestin programs and Be Moved by the Westin’s Sleep Well and Heavenly Spa experiences.
Westin created an inspiration campaign video that embrace the brand’s foundational well-being pillars Move Well and Sleep Well. In celebration of Global Running Day and deliver a wellness experience with focus on the Move Well pillar, a special video was created featuring a Riser stretching her body, lifting her spirit by staying active while exploring the surroundings.
This Global Running Day, Westin is Calling on Runners Around the World to Go the Extra Mile for a Chance to Win a Westin Run Recovery Kit Featuring a Hypervolt
This Global Running Day, Westin wants to hear what motivates runners of all levels to rise and move well each day – from getting to explore a new destination on-foot, connecting with others on a group run or the sense of achievement that comes from going that extra mile. On June 2, Westin is encouraging people to nominate a person who motivates them to move well on the brand’s global Instagram and Facebook channels for a chance to win a Westin Run Recovery Kit featuring a Hyperice Hypervolt (valued at US$349) and items from the Westin Store to help support healthy recovery after a workout, including their signature Westin Lavender Balm, a Westin-branded water bottle, and more. For sweepstakes details, please visit: http://westinglobalrunningday.dja.com/
Westin’s Run Concierges will Pump Up Your Pace, While RunWESTIN Maps will Help You Run Like a Local
As hospitality’s leader in wellness, Westin empowers guests to maintain their wellness routines on the road. Westin boasts more than 225 Run Concierges globally who provide travelers of all running levels with the opportunity to have a running partner for individual runs and also host group runs. Since running in a new city can be difficult, RunWESTIN™ Maps were created to help travelers run like a local, with curated scenic routes based on preferred distance. On Global Running Day this year, Westin Hotels around the world will be hosting socially distanced runs, complemented by on-property activations that speak to the brand’s three key pillars to Move Well, Sleep Well and Eat Well, promoting a 360-degree approach to well-being.
To learn more about wellness at Westin, please visit https://westin.marriott.com/ Join the conversation @westin and #runwestin.
Siam Bioscience will deliver 1.8 million doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in line with the government’s plan to launch mass inoculation rollout from June 7.
The Department of Disease Control answers some questions here to ease concerns:
Some questions about Covid-19 jab answeredSome questions about Covid-19 jab answeredSome questions about Covid-19 jab answeredSome questions about Covid-19 jab answered
Some questions about Covid-19 jab answeredSome questions about Covid-19 jab answeredSome questions about Covid-19 jab answeredSome questions about Covid-19 jab answered
How to! Work from home ให้สุขภาพดี เริ่มจากการรู้จักเลือกกินสิ่งดีๆ เพียงแค่นี้ไม่ว่าจะ Work from home อีกนานแค่ไหนก็น้ำหนักไม่พุ่ง
เมื่อต้อง Work from home ทำให้หลายคนมีการขยับร่างกายเพื่อเผาผลาญแคลอรี่น้อยลง ประกอบการมีการตามใจปากมากขึ้น อาจทำให้น้ำหนักตัวเพิ่มขึ้นแบบคาดไม่ถึง ดังนั้น จะดีกว่าไหมถ้าเรามีทริคในการเลือกรับประทานสิ่งดีๆ เข้าสู่ร่างกาย เพื่อสุขภาพที่ดี และน้ำหนักไม่พุ่ง ฟิตแอนด์เฟิร์ม เพื่อพร้อมสำหรับการใส่เสื้อผ้าตัวเก่งไปทำงานเมื่อสถานการณ์ปกติ
Barbershop offers coronavirus shots, in addition to cuts and shaves. Some see it as a national model.
Reginald Alston never expected to get a coronavirus vaccine and never expected anyone would change his mind about it.
But his best friend, a hair salon owner, kept telling him he was being shortsighted and maybe even a little bit selfish. What about his niece and her newborn who live with him? How would he feel if they became sick? Also, his job as a contractor and painter meant he was often going into other people’s homes. Didn’t he want to be protected?
By the time that friend, Katrina Randolph, told him about the nearby barbershop hosting a vaccination clinic, and offered to drive him there, Alston, 57, was far along on the journey to changing his mind.
“She really influenced me to get it,” he acknowledged, standing on the sidewalk outside the Hyattsville, Md., barbershop earlier this month after getting immunized. “I listen to Katrina. I know she wants me to be around.”
Alston got his jab of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, along with a free fried fish sandwich and a $30 coupon toward a haircut and a shave, at The Shop Spa, a barbershop that serves a predominantly Black and Latino clientele. It’s the first coronavirus vaccine clinic in a barbershop in Maryland and organizers hope it will become a national model. A newly formed partnership that includes Black community and business leaders, the University of Maryland and the White House covid-19 response team is working to make that happen by reaching out to barbers and stylists across the country, starting with a June 2 Zoom town hall.
“Why not go where people already have trust – the barbershop and the salon?” said Stephen Thomas, a health policy professor at the University of Maryland School of Public Health in College Park, who founded the barbershop initiative known as HAIR (Health Advocates In-Reach and Research) more than a decade ago. “These are the people who have street credibility and can educate folks enough so that they want the vaccine.”
As the United States enters what is likely to be the toughest stretch of its ambitious immunization effort, health officials are moving away from mass vaccination sites and focusing instead on small clinics like The Shop Spa that rely on word-of-mouth and use trusted, often nontraditional messengers. With a month left to achieve President Joe Biden’s goal of 70% of adults getting at least one coronavirus vaccine dose by July 4, experts say this critical next leg will depend increasingly on targeting those in the “movable middle,” who might still be persuaded on vaccination.
Alston’s friend, Randolph, 52, who sports an edgy, honey-blonde pixie cut, is part of the cadre of barbers and stylists trained as health educators through the University of Maryland program. The initial focus was colon cancer, diabetes and other diseases that disproportionately affect Blacks. But with vaccination levels lagging in Black and Brown communities, the program seemed a natural to persuade those who have been hardest hit by the pandemic but are often reluctant to get shots.
White House officials praise the initiative as an innovative way to reach underserved people, especially in the Black community, given barbershops’ history as a trusted messenger dating to pre-Civil War times, when they doubled as sites on the Underground Railroad.
“It’s important at this critical juncture to make sure we are using a full-court press to get good information to every community,” said Cameron Webb, a senior health equity adviser on the administration’s covid-19 response team, who is also an internist at the University of Virginia’s School of Medicine.
Mike Brown, 49, The Shop Spa’s lead barber, sees sharing such information as one more way to connect with regulars. “These are people we genuinely care about, and have become part of their family,” he said. “Sometimes we’re like marriage counselors, sometimes fashion consultants, sometimes drinking buddies. We’re respected in the information that we give.”
– – –
For Thomas, director of the Center for Health Equity at the University of Maryland, Prince George’s County was a perfect target for his barbershop initiative. That was true before covid-19 and it is even more so now.
The community has the state’s highest number of covid-19 cases. And while more than half of all U.S. adults have been fully vaccinated, Prince George’s lags behind with a rate of only 39%. The rate is even lower In Hyattsville, where only about a quarter of the community is fully vaccinated, according to state data.
To get the word out about the barbershop clinic, Thomas and his team canvassed churches, local businesses and homeless communities and came up with about 100 people who hadn’t been immunized yet.
Getting them to come to the clinic was another matter. During preregistration calls, Thomas said, some people hung up when they learned the vaccine being offered was from Johnson & Johnson. Others declined even after face-to-face conversations with the team administering the jabs.
“J&J is radioactive in the Black community because of the baby powder issue,” he said, referring to the product the company stopped selling last year after it was ordered to pay billions of dollars related to claims the product causes cancer. The company has denied the allegations.
“They think, if you can’t trust them on baby powder, how can we trust them on other things?” Thomas said.
Other people opted out of the clinic over worries about the rare but severe type of blood clot that has been linked to the vaccine, even though federal health officials have said the vaccines’ benefits far outweigh those risks.
Still others expressed a distrust of the health care system that Thomas says can be overcome only by expanding these health care outreach efforts beyond coronavirus vaccinations. That distrust is evident in the large share of Black and Latino adults (22% and 15%, respectively) who want to “wait and see” how the vaccine is working for others before getting vaccinated themselves, compared with 10% for White adults, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey released Friday.
All in all, 35 people received the shots during that first clinic, Thomas said.
“These are not people who are getting vaccinated and then driving to Starbucks on the way to work,” he said. “They came to the barber shop to find out what was going on. And in that moment, they found a trusting place and people who treated them with dignity and respect.”
Despite the initial small turnout, the barbershop clinic is starting to generate buzz.
People are calling the organizers to ask when there will be more clinics to get shots for themselves or family members. As of Thursday, organizers had a list of about 15 people, five short of the threshold needed for Luminis Health, the hospital system that partnered with the shop to schedule another one – this time with the two-shot Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Other health systems have also reached out to offer help.
“Now we have demand,” Thomas said. “People are bringing people.”
Randolph figures she has changed the minds of at least 75 people. That includes Alston, her 63-year-old aunt who has such limited access to health care that she has no front teeth, and Jamar Gibbons, 36, a postal worker – all of whom showed up for a shot and a free fish sandwich.
Luz Castillo, 20, who works at the restaurant next door came to the clinic because she was worried about exposure to unvaccinated customers. She, too, was concerned about blood clot risks linked to the vaccine. But she said she was reassured after a Spanish-speaking health worker answered her questions and pointed to the millions of vaccinated people who have had no problems.
– – –
Elizabeth Estrada, 20, a day care worker, had already been searching for a place to get the shots when she heard about the clinic from her mother’s friend who works in the laundromat a few doors away. She had not wanted the Johnson & Johnson vaccine either. But it was the one available and “the fact that it was here was, literally like, perfect.”
Estrada admitted she was “very iffy” about the vaccine earlier in the pandemic. “I, myself, luckily didn’t catch the virus,” she said. “But it’s just always that fear. . . . You never know, you’d rather be safe than sorry.”
Her mother, who was still wavering, demanded answers about blood clot risks from Alexandra Moran, a community health provider with Luminis Health. Explaining in Spanish, Moran told her the risk was extremely low, noting the woman’s risk of experiencing a clotting problem was higher from birth control.
“Tienes más probabilidad de un accidente de tránsito,” Moran said, explaining the far greater probability of having a traffic accident.
Thomas believes barbershops and salons are the kinds of places where conversations like this can comfortably take place. “It is where people hang out,” he said. Before the pandemic, customers might have spent hours there, listening to music, talking sports, sharing stories about their lives. The man selling tube socks might stop by, followed by church ladies selling cut fruit.
Randolph, who keeps neatly stacked pamphlets about oral health and tobacco on a table near the door of her Capitol Heights studio, The Shadez, said she talks regularly about health issues with clients.
“You talk to your doctor, what, once a year?” she said. “You see your stylist more than that. You get to have personal conversations.”
Some of those clients share hearsay about the coronavirus or the shots, which she tells them is false. Others say they have no interest in the shots without offering a reason. She snips away at their mistrust, as at their hair, by talking about how a rampaging virus took nearly 600,000 lives in this country and how it could surge again. “Why not protect yourself?” she asks matter-of-factly.
And then there are the clients who see doctors rarely, if at all. Brown, The Shop Spa barber, said his customers run the gamut from “judges to trash men to common thieves to street guys to blue collars. Every walk of life, you name it, we cut it.”
He figures he is able to change minds 60% of the time. “I’m reiterating the facts over and over and over,” he said. For many customers, when he asks whether they’ll take the shot, “the answer right now is not just ‘Hell no,’ but ‘Hell no,’ written in bold print,” he said. His wife and children are among those he has been unable to persuade, including his son, 30, who has told him that a diet of seeds and nuts are the best protection.
But when he is able to persuade someone because they trust him, “it’s an awesome thing.”
The reverse is also true. During the recent clinic at the barbershop, Brown received a text from his wife telling him his brother-in-law had been rushed to the hospital with covid-19.
“He couldn’t breathe,” Brown recalled later. “He said it was like someone was standing on his chest.” Every member of the family got sick, too, but the brother-in-law was the only one hospitalized.
Brown said he will wait for him to recover before talking about vaccination. “I’m going to be in his ear,” he said.
– – –
To expand the reach of the barbershop clinic initiative beyond any one shop, Thomas and his team are also working to publish and distribute a graphic novel that will feature barbers and stylists and their shops to combat misinformation about the pandemic.
The idea is to depict the pandemic’s effect through characters drawn from real life who are immediately recognizable in the Black community. Telling stories through pictures also reaches those who have trouble reading, stylist Randolph said.
“What better place to try to educate and encourage people to do something about” their health, said Joe Wade, 69, the artist behind the black-and-white charcoal drawings. “You got a lot of covid fears going on.”
Wade, who has a college degree in commercial and fine arts, retired as a corrections officer and started sketching when the pandemic began. He drew first responders he saw on television who were overworked and overstressed. The pandemic changed so many lives, he said. “It’s made victims of some and heroes of others, and I wanted to depict that.”
Sometimes he can “whip out one in an hour or two.” Other drawings may take a few weeks. He has made about 15 sketches, which he emails to Thomas. Thomas, meanwhile, is raising money to compile them in a passport-size book that can be in every barbershop and salon in the country. He needs $50,000 to $75,000 and has raised $5,000 so far.
Several drawings were on display along the walls outside the Hyattsville barbershop where people sat for their 15-minute post vaccination observation period. One features a barber who closely resembles Brown, giving a man a haircut. Both are masked.
Thomas wants to incorporate people’s reactions into the images. If people see their own reality reflected in the book, they’re more likely to share them with friends and families.
“What do you think they’re thinking,” he asks Clarence Cromer, 72, of Hyattsville, who was first in line to get the shot.
“They’re hoping everybody’s got their shot and they’ll be good,” Cromer replied.
WHO awarded Thailand’s the Nelson Mandela Award for Health Promotion
The Nelson Mandel Award most fits for Thai Health Promotion Foundation to receive this recognition. Our revered Madiba once said quoted “Health cannot be a question of income. It is a fundamental human right.
World Health Organization announced the Thai Health Promotion Foundation the 2021 Nelson Mandela Award laureate.
In recognition to the globally-renown human right icon born in South Africa, the award is given to a person, institution, governmental or nongovernmental organization who or which has/have made a significant contribution to health promotion.
Announced during the 74th World Health Assembly, the Thai Health Promotion Foundation has been instrumental in advancing health promotion in Thailand and globally over the past 20 years. Pursuant to the Thai Health Promotion Foundation Act (2001), the objectives of the Foundation include: to promote health among Thai people of all ages in accordance with national health policy; to reduce the consumption of alcoholic beverages and tobacco; to develop community capacity in health promotion; and to carry out studies and research and develop knowledge on health promotion.
WHO awarded Thailand’s the Nelson Mandela Award for Health Promotion
Speaking during the live telecast of the World Health Assembly, South Africa’s Minister of Health Zwelini Mkhize praised Thai Health for making a significant contribution to health promotion by staying true to its core mission of being agents of equality in access to health so that all people living in Thailand would have capacity and live in society and environment conducive to good health.
“The Nelson Mandel Award most fits for Thai Health Promotion Foundation to receive this recognition. Our revered Madiba once said quoted “Health cannot be a question of income. It is a fundamental human right.”
“This organisation implements its important work through health promotion in communities and occupational setting. By supporting initiatives, targeted vulnerable population, and through strategic multisectoral collaboration. Their initiatives have touched millions of lives in Thailand and around the world for over two decades. The principles adopted by ThaiHealth resonate profoundly with the ideas of universal health coverage and advance the sustainable development goals at target. We together as a global community build resilient health care system,” he said.
ThaiHealth manager Dr Supreeda Adulyanon addressed to the assembly, “This award is a tribute to our health promotion efforts, taking place around the world every single day. It is also a testament of the health promotion movement in Thailand.”
WHO awarded Thailand’s the Nelson Mandela Award for Health Promotion
For two decades, ThaiHealth has served as a key innovative enabler of sustainable health and well being. Utilising the surcharge alcohol and tobacco excise tax, ThaiHealth currently support up to 4,000 projects each year. In collaboration with partners across all sectors of the society, the movement has contributed to the changes including the introduction of hundreds of pro-health policies and laws, a shift of social norm towards more healthy and inclusive society the propogation of effective model for innovative health financing and multisectoral platform for health promotion and the ability to react quickly to emerging needs including COVID-19 responses.
ThaiHealth uses its innovative and sustainable funds to strategically support over 2000 health promotion programmes and projects per year across 15 “plans” or strategic priority areas. These include issue-related initiatives, such as tobacco and alcohol control, road safety and disaster management, healthy diet and the promotion of physical activity.
The foundation supports WHO’s healthy settings approach, such as health promotion in communities, workplaces, schools and families. It also supports initiatives targeted at vulnerable populations, and collaboration between the health sector and other sectors that have a huge impact on health. The achievements of these initiatives are wide ranging, including: the introduction of many pro-health initiatives and laws, including the Thailand Alcohol Control Act (2008) and the establishment of a ThaiHealth happy workplace model, which has now been adopted in over 2000 public and private organizations; shifting social norms towards more inclusive principles in which their initiatives helped over 5000 people with disabilities secure employment in 2017–2020; and leading in promoting an effective model for innovative health financing, which has seen over 20, 000 multisectoral partners joining the Foundation in strategic action for health promotion.
“Going forward, Thai Health will still motivated and community to strengthen our contribution to effectively enable sustainable health and wellbeing for all,” Dr Supreeda said.
Fortify your physical and mental defences with vitamin D from the Sun
It is the mostly easily available vitamin, yet the role of vitamin D in our physical and mental well being has not got the attention it deserves.
Vitamin D, also known as “sunshine vitamin”, is usually produced by the human body from exposure to sunlight. The skin cells synthesise vitamin D from cholesterol by using the ultraviolet-B rays in sunlight as a stimulant. Research has shown that Vitamin D plays an important role in strengthening the body’s immune system, helping it to function efficiently and defend against virus and other infectious diseases.
Vitamin D is crucial for both innate immunity and adaptive immunity, which naturally occur to fight against pathogens or foreign agents that enter the body.
A number of studies have shown that people with low levels of vitamin D in the blood were more likely to develop upper respiratory tract infections, ie, nose, nasal cavity, throat and tonsils, compared to those with adequate vitamin D levels.
Fortify your physical and mental defences with vitamin D from the Sun
The studies also indicated a link between lower vitamin D levels and higher rate of infections, like colds and flu. According to a study, Japanese children taking vitamin D supplements daily for 15 to 17 weeks during the winter significantly reduced influenza infection and the frequency of upper respiratory tract infections.
Most Thai people have a dark skin colour. The pigment in the skin reduces the absorption of UV rays that induce vitamin D synthesis. Exercising outdoors is one way to increase vitamin D levels. The working-age population is vulnerable to health problems from low vitamin D in the blood, as they spend most of the day time in office. The modern lifestyle that makes people spend the entire day in an office environment, limiting exposure to sunlight, reduces the production of vitamin D, compromising the body’s immunity. The fear of damaging the skin through exposure to sunlight, or getting skin cancer, makes many people avoid exercising outdoors.
A vitamin D blood test can tell us whether our body has the required level. Generally, the recommended vitamin D level is higher than 30 nanograms/millilitre. A level below 20ng/ml is considered vitamin D deficiency.
More than 50 per cent of office workers were found to have low levels of vitamin D in their blood. In comparison, outdoor workers or people who exercise outdoors regularly have high vitamin D levels.
Fortify your physical and mental defences with vitamin D from the Sun
The most commonly known benefit of vitamin D is that it helps strengthen bones by boosting calcium absorption, making the bones stronger and preventing osteoporosis. However, what is less well known is that vitamin D is linked to depression. Studies have shown that there is a relationship between depression symptoms and low vitamin D levels in the blood.
Studies have shown that people with low vitamin D levels are at greater risk of depression, when compared with a group of people with normal blood levels of vitamin D.
The vitamin also reduces the risk of developing high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and some cancers. It stimulates the immune system and repairs worn cells, thus helping your skin look good while improving the strength of different muscles.
Getting adequate vitamin D can be as simple as exposing your body to sunlight. A good time is before 9am when the morning sunlight is gentle and not too hot and in the evening after 4pm when the Sun is about to set. Apart from outdoor activities, consumption of high vitamin D foods, such as salmon, tuna, sardines, oysters, egg yolks, cod liver oil, mushrooms, orange juice, oatmeal and cereal foods, can boost your immune system. Milk added with vitamin D or supplements containing vitamin D are beneficial too.
Just getting enough exposure to the Sun and consuming foods high in vitamin D will go a long way in strengthening your immune system.
(Assoc Prof Dr Jiraporn Ungwitayatorn works at the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Mahidol University)
Published : May 29, 2021
By : Jiraporn Ungwitayatorn/Special to NationThailand
‘Burnout’ crisis threatens post-pandemic workplaces, study finds
A recent global survey found that 92 per cent of workers say they are experiencing burnout from stress related to their workplace and the impact Covid-19 is having on their work and their personal lives.
Asolution to improve employees’ well-being, as well as productivity, innovation, retention and inclusion, researchers say, is access to remote work.
For women, who have been disproportionately impacted by job losses during the pandemic, these findings are very important.
The study, “Remote-Work Options can Boost Productivity and Curb Burnout”, surveyed nearly 7,500 employees across the globe and defines burnout as “the physical and psychological exhaustion that comes from prolonged stress with negative consequences, including mental distance from one’s job and feelings of professional inefficacy”. It is the first instalment of Catalyst’s “Equity in the Future of Work” research series.
Catalyst is a global non-profit organisation working with top firms to build better workplaces for women.
In the analysis, author Tara Van Bommel identifies three types of burnout: work burnout, Covid-19 work burnout and personal burnout.
Remote-work access curbed all three types of burnout regardless of group differences such as gender or child-caregiving status.
The data showed that when companies offer remote-work options –
including a flexible work location, distributed teams, and/or virtual work/telework/working from home – employees report a 26 per cent drop in workplace burnout compared to those who do not have access to remote work. Workplace burnout drops 43 per cent when employees have remote-work access and their managers demonstrate empathy, compared to people without remote-work access or empathic managers.
The study also found that people with remote-work access are 30 per cent less likely to look for another job in the next year compared to people who do not have remote-work access. Women with childcare responsibilities are 32 per cent less likely to leave their job when they have remote work access, compared to women with childcare responsibilities who do not have access to remote work.
Unsurprisingly, the report observes current, “always-on” expectations at work are unsustainable, and recommends the following solutions for organisations to help combat burnout:
• Create remote-work policies that detail expectations for employees, managers, and teams.
• Upskill managers on managing remote teams inclusively.
• Invest in schemes and stipends for employees who need additional childcare options.
• Normalise empathic listening through regular check-ins and other opportunities to share life and work experiences.
“Burnout leads to turnover, but that can be mitigated by intentional remote work policies and inclusive, empathic leadership,” said Lorraine Hariton, Catalyst president and CEO. “Effectively implemented, remote and flexible work options for employees ultimately help organisations have access to more talent and less turnover as well as increased innovation and productivity.”
Run, Recover, Rejuvenate: New Global Study From Westin Hotels & Resorts
Some questions about Covid-19 jab answered
Some questions about Covid-19 jab answered
Some questions about Covid-19 jab answered
Some questions about Covid-19 jab answered
Some questions about Covid-19 jab answered
Some questions about Covid-19 jab answered
Some questions about Covid-19 jab answered
Some questions about Covid-19 jab answered
How to! Work from home ให้สุขภาพดี เริ่มจากการรู้จักเลือกกินสิ่งดีๆ เพียงแค่นี้ไม่ว่าจะ Work from home อีกนานแค่ไหนก็น้ำหนักไม่พุ่ง
WHO awarded Thailand’s the Nelson Mandela Award for Health Promotion
WHO awarded Thailand’s the Nelson Mandela Award for Health Promotion
Fortify your physical and mental defences with vitamin D from the Sun
Fortify your physical and mental defences with vitamin D from the Sun
ส่องข้อดีและเรื่องที่หลายคนอาจยังไม่เคยรู้มาก่อนเกี่ยวกับ “ทุเรียน” ราชาแห่งผลไม้ พร้อมไขข้อข้องใจกินแล้วร้อนใน ดับร้อนด้วยอะไร ไปดูกัน
วิธีสังเกตผู้สูงอายุในบ้านเกี่ยวกับอาการปวดหลัง และแนวทางการรักษา
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