Employer attitudes towards general health checks and HIV testing in the workplace
Objective: There is a need to increase HIV testing rates in the UK. One approach is to increase access to testing through general health checks (GHCs) in the workplace. However, it is unclear whether GHCs are routinely offered by organisations, and employer perceptions of HIV testing are largely unk...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English English |
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Elsevier
2018
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48657/ |
| _version_ | 1848797817026379776 |
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| author | Blake, Holly Banerjee, Anirban Evans, Catrin |
| author_facet | Blake, Holly Banerjee, Anirban Evans, Catrin |
| author_sort | Blake, Holly |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Objective: There is a need to increase HIV testing rates in the UK. One approach is to increase access to testing through general health checks (GHCs) in the workplace. However, it is unclear whether GHCs are routinely offered by organisations, and employer perceptions of HIV testing are largely unknown.
Study Design: Online survey to assess attitudes towards and provision of general health checks and HIV testing in the workplace.
Methods: 98 employers from 25 job sectors completed an online survey. Employers were 61 SME, 37 large organisations; 86% employing mobile workers, 77.6% employing migrant workers and 51.7% of employees were male workers. Items included employer attitudes around workplace health, GHC provision, content and delivery, and attitudes towards workplace HIV testing including perceived benefits and barriers to HIV testing.
Results: Only 1 company offered opt-in workplace HIV testing. 78 companies (80%) did not provide any form of workplace GHC for employees. Decisions about health check provisions were not commonly informed by staff consultation (n=6) or national guidelines (n=4). 100% of companies (n=98) reported at least one benefit of HIV testing and 68 (69%) believed that HIV testing should be offered in the workplace. Perceived barriers to HIV testing in the workplace were: [a] not having enough knowledge about HIV and testing; [b] not having trained staff to undertake HIV testing; and, [c] not knowing how to access HIV testing kits. 56 companies (57.14%) would consider HIV testing as a future provision at their organisation. 67 companies (68.37%) would like further guidance on workplace HIV testing.
Conclusions: Few employers offer general health testing for employees, and opt-in workplace HIV testing is exceptionally rare, despite positive attitudes towards it. There is a need to provide evidence-based guidance and support for employers around HIV testing in the workplace. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:09:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-48657 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:09:54Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-486572019-02-03T04:30:17Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48657/ Employer attitudes towards general health checks and HIV testing in the workplace Blake, Holly Banerjee, Anirban Evans, Catrin Objective: There is a need to increase HIV testing rates in the UK. One approach is to increase access to testing through general health checks (GHCs) in the workplace. However, it is unclear whether GHCs are routinely offered by organisations, and employer perceptions of HIV testing are largely unknown. Study Design: Online survey to assess attitudes towards and provision of general health checks and HIV testing in the workplace. Methods: 98 employers from 25 job sectors completed an online survey. Employers were 61 SME, 37 large organisations; 86% employing mobile workers, 77.6% employing migrant workers and 51.7% of employees were male workers. Items included employer attitudes around workplace health, GHC provision, content and delivery, and attitudes towards workplace HIV testing including perceived benefits and barriers to HIV testing. Results: Only 1 company offered opt-in workplace HIV testing. 78 companies (80%) did not provide any form of workplace GHC for employees. Decisions about health check provisions were not commonly informed by staff consultation (n=6) or national guidelines (n=4). 100% of companies (n=98) reported at least one benefit of HIV testing and 68 (69%) believed that HIV testing should be offered in the workplace. Perceived barriers to HIV testing in the workplace were: [a] not having enough knowledge about HIV and testing; [b] not having trained staff to undertake HIV testing; and, [c] not knowing how to access HIV testing kits. 56 companies (57.14%) would consider HIV testing as a future provision at their organisation. 67 companies (68.37%) would like further guidance on workplace HIV testing. Conclusions: Few employers offer general health testing for employees, and opt-in workplace HIV testing is exceptionally rare, despite positive attitudes towards it. There is a need to provide evidence-based guidance and support for employers around HIV testing in the workplace. Elsevier 2018-03-30 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en cc_by_nc_nd https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48657/1/HIV%20Survey%20Paper%20Revised%2004%2010%202017.pdf application/pdf en https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48657/2/Blake%20Banerjee%20Evans%20Appendix%201.pdf Blake, Holly, Banerjee, Anirban and Evans, Catrin (2018) Employer attitudes towards general health checks and HIV testing in the workplace. Public Health, 156 . pp. 34-43. ISSN 1476-5616 HIV health screening workplace health promotion health check employers https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0033350617304067 doi:10.1016/j.puhe.2017.12.004 doi:10.1016/j.puhe.2017.12.004 |
| spellingShingle | HIV health screening workplace health promotion health check employers Blake, Holly Banerjee, Anirban Evans, Catrin Employer attitudes towards general health checks and HIV testing in the workplace |
| title | Employer attitudes towards general health checks and HIV testing in the workplace |
| title_full | Employer attitudes towards general health checks and HIV testing in the workplace |
| title_fullStr | Employer attitudes towards general health checks and HIV testing in the workplace |
| title_full_unstemmed | Employer attitudes towards general health checks and HIV testing in the workplace |
| title_short | Employer attitudes towards general health checks and HIV testing in the workplace |
| title_sort | employer attitudes towards general health checks and hiv testing in the workplace |
| topic | HIV health screening workplace health promotion health check employers |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48657/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48657/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48657/ |