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Stroll through any public park in Brooklyn on a weekday afternoon and you will see black women with white children at every turn. Many of these women are of Caribbean descent, and they have long been a crucial component of New York's economy, providing childcare for white middle- and upper-middleclass families. Raising Brooklyn offers an in-depth look at the daily lives of these childcare providers, examining the important roles they play in the families whose children they help to raise. Tamara Mose Brown spent three years immersed in these Brooklyn communities: in public parks, public libraries, and living as a fellow resident among their employers, and her intimate tour of the public spaces of gentrified Brooklyn deepens our understanding of how these women use their collective lives to combat the isolation felt during the workday as a domestic worker.Though at first glance these childcare providers appear isolated and exploited - and this is the case for many - Mose Brown shows that their daily interactions in the social spaces they create allow their collective lives and cultural identities to flourish. Raising Brooklyn demonstrates how these daily interactions form a continuous expression of cultural preservation as a weapon against difficult working conditions, examining how this process unfolds through the use of cell phones, food sharing, and informal economic systems. Ultimately, Raising Brooklyn places the organization of domestic workers within the framework of a social justice movement, creating a dialogue between workers who don't believe their exploitative work conditions will change and an organization whose members believe change can come about through public displays of solidarity.

Childcare workers are at risk of musculoskeletal complaints due to various stresses. Comparative studies focusing on this group are lacking. In a cross-sectional study, we asked female childcare workers and women from the general population (comparison group) about musculoskeletal complaints, categorised by body regions, and private/occupational risk factors. The childcare workers were recruited from Hamburg daycare centres and the comparison group from the residents’ registration office. The survey was conducted between October 2022 and July 2023. Odds ratios (ORs) were calculated in logistic regressions for factors influencing the occurrence of complaints that limited participants’ work or leisure activities in the past 12 months. Questionnaires from 218 female childcare workers and 250 from the comparison group were analysed. The comparison group had a 17.3% response rate. No response rate could be calculated for childcare workers. ORs for childcare workers were statistically significantly higher for complaints relating to the neck/cervical spine, shoulders/upper arms, knees and lumbar spine/lower back (OR between 1.7 and 3.2). This is the first study to compare the prevalence of musculoskeletal complaints in female childcare workers with other working women. The results show statistically significant differences, highlighting the need for interventions that address individual and workplace factors.

Objective Many employees have high physical exertion at work and suffer from musculoskeletal pain (MSP) leading to sickness absence with large costs. Participatory ergonomics is a potentially effective intervention for reducing physical exertion, MSP and sickness absence. The main aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a 20-week workplace participatory ergonomic intervention among childcare workers on physical exertion and MSP. Methods In a two-arm cluster-randomized trial, 190 workers were recruited from 16 childcare institutions and randomly assigned to either a 20-week participatory ergonomics intervention consisting of three training workshops or a control group receiving usual care. Primary outcomes were physical exertion during work, maximal pain intensity, number of pain regions, and pain-related work interference. Secondary outcomes were MSP-related sickness absence, need for recovery (NFR), employee involvement, and self-efficacy. We followed the intention-to-treat principle and adhered to the registered study protocol (ISRCTN10928313). Results After 20 weeks, half the workers noticed some positive changes in their work. However, there were no statistically discernible effects in physical exertion, maximum pain intensity, pain-related work interference, or number of pain regions. We found a significant reduction of MSP-related sickness absence in the intervention compared to the control group [-0.48 days per month (95% confidence interval (CI), -0.8- -0.1]. We found no significant effects in NRF or involvement of employees, but self-efficacy was reduced in the intervention compared to the control group [-0.2 (95% CI, -0.3- -0.0)]. Conclusion This 20-week training for a participatory ergonomic intervention in childcare workers did not show effects on physical exertion and MSP, but was both feasible and effective in reducing MSP-related sickness absence.

OBJECTIVE: Poor cardiorespiratory fitness and health is common among childcare workers. We designed the `Goldilocks-games` according to the Goldilocks Work principle to provide high-intensity physical activity for childcare workers. We investigated the effectiveness of this Goldilocks Work intervention in increasing occupational high-intensity physical activity and improving work-related health. METHODS: In a two-arm cluster randomized trial, 16 childcare institutions with 142 workers were randomly allocated to either an 8-week Goldilocks Work intervention or a control group. The primary outcome was occupational time in high-intensity physical activity. Secondary outcomes were occupational time in active physical behaviors, heart rate during sleep, pain, physical exhaustion, energy at work, work productivity, and need for recovery. RESULTS: The intervention was successfully delivered and received. Both groups had a low amount of occupational high-intensity physical activity at baseline, and the intervention group reported playing the games 3.1 [standard deviation (SD) 1.5] times/week for a duration of 112.2 (SD 175.0) min/week. However, the intervention did not increase high-intensity physical activity or the secondary outcomes, except for energy at work, measured on a scale from 0–10, increasing 0.65 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.08–1.21], and need for recovery, measured on a scale from 1–5, decreasing -0.32 (95% CI, -0.54– -0.09). CONCLUSION: The intervention was successfully delivered and received, but did not increase high-intensity physical activity. The intervention group increased their energy at work and decreased their need for recovery, but not the other health-related outcomes. Further research on how to design and implement health-promoting work environment interventions in childcare is needed.

Background This study protocol describes the evaluation of the scale-up of an effective intervention to potentially all 350 childcare institutions in Copenhagen. This project represents a unique opportunity previously unseen in occupational health and safety – namely the scale-up of an effective workplace intervention (TOY) to hundreds of workplaces. The aim of the project is to evaluate the scale-up of the TOY intervention, titled “Copen-SCALE.” Methods The study is a 4-year type II hybrid stepped-wedge trial that will evaluate the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and implementation of an intervention across up to 350 childcare institutions in Copenhagen Municipality. The original TOY intervention included three participatory ergonomic workshops at childcare institutions, facilitated by external ergonomic consultants. The intervention had high feasibility and demonstrated a significant reduction in pain-related sickness absence among the childcare workers. Copen-SCALE’s target population now includes childcare workers in both day nurseries (ages 0–3) and pre-schools (ages 3–6), expanding beyond the original TOY RCT trial group. Moreover, there has been further development of the intervention by including best practices and research findings to the TOY concept, leading to the development of Copen-SCALE. Copen-SCALE includes four evidence-based components: child self-reliance, ergonomics, pain management education, and health-promoting activities. Copen-SCALE aims to include up to eighty-seven childcare institutions each year from 2024 to the end of 2027. Mixed methods will be employed to investigate effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, adaptation, and implementation of Copen-SCALE. Discussion Scaling up effective interventions is crucial for achieving widespread benefits. Yet, this is underexplored in occupational health. The TOY intervention, being cost-effective and scalable, has the potential to contribute with valuable evidence, informing policies to enhance childcare workers’ health, well-being, and work environment. We anticipate that the findings from this project will inform wider dissemination of the intervention to childcare workers in more municipalities in Denmark. Trial registration The study was prospectively registered in a clinical trial register (ISRCTN14831585). Registered 04 January 2024, ISRCTN - ISRCTN14831585.

Australia's Early Childhood Sector (ECS) is critically understaffed. Low wages, poor working conditions and burnout have led to heightened attraction and retention challenges, resulting in a workforce shortage of around 21,000 early childhood professionals in 2024 (Jobs and Skills Australia 2024). While increasing demand for early childhood education and care (ECEC) over the past two decades has been accompanied by a strengthening of national regulations and professional standards, direct efforts to support the workforce have been lacking, with notable silence and inaction around the systemic undervaluation and underpayment of workers (Andrew and Newman 2012; McDonald 'et al'. 2018; Thorpe 'et al'. 2023). Improving wage conditions in the sector has been an obvious, yet elusive, solution to workforce sustainability sidelined by policy makers and government bodies until recently.

In this article, we seek to develop a framework of childcare vulnerabilities experienced by children, parents and providers engaged in the formal, unregulated childcare market. Informed by vulnerability theorists who examine care work within the context of dependency and power relations, we explore the extent to which notions of vulnerability have been considered in childcare research. Five types of vulnerability from the literature – physical, emotional, economic, legal and racial – are mapped onto the experiences of children, parents and providers. We conceptualise an understanding of vulnerability as it relates to unregulated childcare, showing how vulnerability in this sector is compound, interrelated and structural, creating specific challenges.

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Several immunisations including influenza and pertussis are specifically recommended for healthcare workers (HCW) and childcare workers (CCW). This study aimed to assess community attitudes to HCW and CCW immunisation recommendations for pertussis and seasonal influenza. A cross-sectional study was conducted by Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) from April to May 2011. Statistical analyses used data weighted to the South Australian population by probability of selection, age, gender and geographical location using benchmarks derived from the 2009 Census population figures. Almost all respondents supported vaccination of HCWs and CCWs against pertussis and influenza. For pertussis, 95.3% agreed nurses, 94.9% agreed doctors and 94.7% agreed CCWs have an obligation to be vaccinated. For influenza, 91.4% agreed nurses, 90.7% agreed doctors and 89.9% agreed CCWs have an obligation to be vaccinated. We identified higher support for protection against pertussis compared to influenza for all three groups of workers (p<0.001). There were higher concerns if CCWs compared to HCWs were not vaccinated against pertussis (OR=2.78) and influenza (OR=1.99). Young (18–30 years) and older age (60+ years) and lower educational attainment were predictors of support for HCWs and CCWs to be vaccinated against influenza. For pertussis, lower educational attainment was a predictor of support for HCWs immunisation. Community support for CCW and HCW immunisation is strong with CCW immunisation was considered a priority. Pertussis immunisation was considered a higher priority than influenza immunisation for HCWs and CCWs. CCW immunisation should be considered for inclusion in public health immunisation programmes.

Libraries have an incredible role in helping children develop a lifelong enjoyment of learning. This guide shows how Carroll County (Maryland) Public Library developed a program to train adults in promoting school readiness, with age-appropriate books, play materials, and learning opportunities.