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B C Amick

Publications and source records attributed to B C Amick.

23 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1992

Stress, computer-based work monitoring and measurement systems: a conceptual overview.

The design and implementation of computer-based work monitoring systems can result in changes in the organization, job and task. Electronic performance monitoring (EPM) systems are one type of change based on principles of work simplification and work rationalization. In this new work arrangement, control and coordination functions are allocated to the computer. The supervisor becomes a monitor of information and primarily provides negative performance feedback to the employee. The employee is constrained in his/her ability to use either job resources or social resources to meet the greater demands resulting from the system controlling the pace of work. It is proposed that these work arrangements provoke stress responses in employees that can result in short-term illness and potentially long-term changes in health status. Information enriched work environments are proposed as an alternative. These new work arrangements could improve job resources and social resources to manage job demands and reduce the potentially damaging stress responses. To provide a frame of reference we focus on the impact of EPM systems on the organizational and job elements involved in provoking individual stress responses. The impact of EPM systems on individual health is described using a psychosocial stress framework. Ergonomics interventions discussed include: participation in the design process; allocation of control and coordination functions between the computer and the employee; development of feedback systems; and work measurement and the development of performance appraisal systems.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1991

Structural determinants of the psychosocial work environment: introducing technology in the work stress framework.

To extend current models of psychosocial work stress research into organizational structure, technology is introduced. An exploratory model is developed combining research from ergonomics, epidemiology, and organizational science. It is hypothesized that technology influences a worker's health by structuring the job, and the relationship between the job and a worker's health is mediated by attitudes at work. To test the model, data are used from a 1978 NIOSH survey of postal workers sorting mail (N = 4903). Path analysis shows technology is indirectly associated with job satisfaction and psychosomatic symptoms by how it structured the job. A machine-paced technological system of work is associated with greater job demands, less control in the job, and less co-worker support but not with supervisor support. The implications of this model for prevention strategies at the workplace are discussed suggesting that influencing supervisor support is the most effective way to affect a person's job satisfaction and level of psychosomatic symptomology.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Factors influencing the diagnosis of mental disorder among primary care patients.

Understanding the role primary care physicians play in the recognition and management of mental disorder among their patients is a research topic that has assumed considerable importance because of the high prevalence combined with low recognition of mental morbidity in primary care settings. Patient characteristics that influence diagnostic patterns have been one important focus of this research. This paper presents data from a study in two primary care departments in a large comprehensive health care clinic in central Wisconsin. During a 3-month period, 1,452 attenders at these clinics were assessed using a brief psychiatric screening scale, and special study forms were completed by the primary care clinicians. Consistent with previous research, reason for visit, psychiatric symptoms, and prior knowledge of the patient are significant predictors of physician diagnosis of mental disorder. Additionally, pattern of physician practice, as represented by differences between the two types of clinics, was a strong predictor of both diagnosis and treatment. The lack of significant effects of sex and previous medical utilization is contrary to previous research. Key words: mental disorders; diagnosis; primary care.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Racial/ethnic disparities in health: the interplay between discrimination and socioeconomic status.

In the past decade, racial/ethnic discrepancy in health status has drawn increased attention from academicians, policy makers and planners, service providers, and community advocates. While the field has witnessed a growth in research projects and intervention programs, the gap in health status among racial/ethnic groups persists, which suggests that future research should incorporate a focus on one neglected area, ie, the health implications of discrimination. Using the National Survey of Functional Health (N=1,659), a nationally representative sample of English-speaking persons 18 years of age and older living in non-institutional arrangements within the United States, we analyzed how self-perceived unfairness (discrimination due to racial identity or to low socioeconomic status [SES]) was linked to self-assessed health status. The study found that racial and class discrimination were rather pervasive in the United States. Experiences of discrimination tended to have a strong negative association with health and accounted for some racial/ethnic differences in health status. The study also revealed a complex relationship between experiences of discrimination and social class, suggesting that future research should focus on specifying the social distribution of discrimination and assessing its subsequent association with health.

Adult↗