However, few categories were predictive in the lower grades; mental disorders, diseases of the circulatory, genitourinary, and musculoskeletal systems. While the association with self-rated health was significantly stronger for mental disorders in the higher grades, there was no association with musculoskeletal disorders. Conclusions: The ability of diagnosis-specific sickness absences to predict sustained sub-optimal health differs by socioeconomic position. The remarkably persistent association between sickness absence and future long-term self-rated health status for the majority of diagnostic categories for sickness absence was observable only in higher and intermediate grades, while for lower grade this association was less ubiquitous. Objectives: To examine socioeconomic differences in trajectories of body mass index (BMI) and obesity between the ages of 45 and 65. Methods: 13 541 men and 4 652 women from the French GAZEL study reported their height and weight annually over 18 years, starting in 1990. Occupational position (managers, skilled and unskilled workers) at age 35 was the indicator of socioeconomic circumstances. Changes in Body Mass Index (BMI) and obesity between ages 45 and 50, 50 and 55, 55 and 60 and 60 and 65 were modelled using Linear Mixed Models (Generalized Estimating Equations). Results: BMI and obesity increased between the ages of 45 and 65, albeit at a slower pace at older ages. In men, BMI was higher among unskilled workers compared to managers at age 45, the difference increased from 0.83 kg/m2 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.66, 0.99) at 45 years to 1.12 kg/m2 (95%CI: 0.90, 1.33) at 65 years. Estimated obesity rates were 3.37% and 7.54% in managers and unskilled workers at age 45 and 9.36% and 18.46% at age 65, the difference increasing by 4.93% (95%CI: 2.81, 7.13). A similar trend was observed in women. Conclusions: This study shows that weight continues to increase in the transition between midlife and old age; this increase is greater in the lower socioeconomic groups. Knowledge translation or exchange between health research, practice, and policy has received active attention recently. Experiences and models from the more individual level behavioral or clinical medicine need to be expanded to include complex organizational and political realities of more contextual health promotion and public health fields. The challenge of such expansion of models is increased all the more when moving from a national to a global perspective. The symposium will contribute to the latest international developments and discussions in bridging between research knowledge, practice and policy making both within health care and health promotion. Allan Best will present the results of a Canadian Institutes of Health Researchfunded meta-narrative review of conceptual models for knowledge to action, and a series of international workshops focused on "embedded" research or alternative organizational or network models to foster and support research applications to policy and practice. Arja R Aro will describe the experiences and challenges as well as present the 1st year evaluation results of the universitymunicipality contractual collaboration in health policy planning in Denmark. Edwin Fisher will describe models of peer support developed to support global promotion of peer support programs across differing cultures, populations, and health systems and then describe how that model is employed in global promotion efforts, focusing though at regional initiatives to demonstrate and advocate for peer support as a standard component of health care and prevention. The symposium will provide time for general discussion. A structural administrative reform in the Danish society in 2007 gave municipalities new responsibilities for preventive and health promotion activities. In this new situation a window of opportunity opened for knowledge exchange between academia, practice and municipal policy makers. Academia was expected to produce research evidence for applicable and cost effective interventions and policies. On the other hand, academia lacked contextual information necessary for tailored research evidence. Collaboration between these different stakeholders has proved to be challenging. The Danish model consists of 3 year contracts for junior researcher-practitioner positions, co-funded by the university and municipalities with the aim to carry out scientific projectbased research relevant to municipalities. The 1st year evaluation of the collaboration with 3 case municipalities has shown as major benefits: increased access and use of research-based working methods in the municipalities; image lift of the municipalities; concrete products such as usable research results and lectures delivered; and support in project implementation. On the other hand, problems or challenges experienced have been: different working traditions and time scales; translating complicated research results into immediate and applicable practical knowhow; lack of time and capacity for knowledge exchange; and sometimes lack of mutual respect and trust between stakeholders. All in all, collaboration and knowledge exchange has already in the 1st year lead to longer-term collaborative health policy planning; increased knowledge exchange; and also to an interest to start an evidence-based knowledge center within the area of health promotion. Challenges ahead lie in developing capacity building among all stakeholder groups; organizational barriers; development of 'service packages' including contextually tailored research information e.g. of health profiles of communities; implementation in practice and policy making as well as longterm follow-up of the implementation. The way we think about how health research, practice and policy inform and interact with each other dramatically shapes our efforts to improve health and health care. And the ways in which many of us involved in health system improvements think about these interactions have changed markedly over the last five years. Specifically, growing recognition of how systems dynamics and contextual factors affect implementation demands new models, more comprehensive comparative studies, and the development of new measures to evaluate key contextual factors. This paper reports on a Canadian Institutes of Health Researchfunded systematic review of conceptual models for knowledge translation that employed the metanarrative methodology devel-oped by Greenhalgh for a major UK National Health Services review of diffusion of innovations in health organizations. Key dimensions along which conceptual models vary will be used to frame a discussion of recent Canadian experiences with organizational models that foster and support research applications to policy and practice, and a series of preliminary international workshops focused on the need for prospective comparative case studies to derive generalizable lessons about how best to design systems support for knowledge to action. The research questions were: 1. What are the distinct research traditions that guide conceptual models for KTA? 2. What is the nature and strength of the theoretical principles that underpin each model? 3. What is the nature and strength of the evidence related to the application of conceptual model(s) in real-world situations? 4. What are the important features of each model that distinguish it from other models? 5. How does each model address contextual factors known to influence KTA processes and outcomes? 6. How has each tradition developed over time as early models have been refined by the addition of new research? 7. What criteria might guide selection and refinement of the best model in a specific decision context? The presentation will conclude with a summary of key issues and priorities for further development of conceptual models and evaluation tools for international studies examining knowledge to action systems in healthcare. Peer support is at once a) a very powerful influence on behavior and well being in general as well as in health, b) at least as old as primates, c) widely provided around the world through formal programs and informal channels, but d) not well articulated in the health literature, e) without a well defined state of the art, and, therefore, f) not recognized as an important part of health care, and g) not systematically available to all who may benefit from it. Peers for Progress of the American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation is dedicated to accelerating the availability of best practices in peer support around the world. A major challenge is how to develop a coherent model of peer support that is applicable across widely differing cultural, organizational, and national settings. "Standardization by function, not content" guided development of a coherent yet broadly applicable and flexible model. Through a WHO consultation with experts from 20 different countries, literature review, and work with 14 grantees representing 9 countries, four key functions of peer support have been identified: assistance in daily management, social and emotional support, linkage to clinical care, and ongoing availability of support. These are implemented in varied ways, by telephone, individual meetings, group meetings, etc. but have been found applicable across varied settings. A second challenge is how to promote best practices in something that is as old as primates and widely implemented around the world. This has led to emphasis on promoting a coherent model of support around the key functions described above, but, then, working with existing programs to encourage information and model sharing, knowledge management, and advocacy through networks and collaborations focused at the national and regional level. Eventually, a network of networks would link peer support programs around the world, facilitating their quality improvement, helping them to achieve recognition of peer support as a key component of care through their own health systems, and, thereby, increasing their ability to reach the millions they might benefit. In spite of promoting regular physical activity in healthy workplace, Thai employers who have been either risks of cardiovascular diseases or healthy are becoming less active physically. Identification of effective strategies to enhance regular physical activity is becoming a priority for health care providers. The Transtheoretical Model (TTM) has been successfully applied to promote physical activity in different countries, but has been limited testing in Thailand. The purpose of this study was to test the TTM constructs of stages of change, processes of change (POC), self-efficacy (SE), and decisional balance (Pros and Cons), for their applicability as determinants of engaging in regular physical activity (PA) among Thai employers in workplaces. This study used a descriptive design with an accidental sampling of 668 Thai employers working in two workplaces in Saraburi provinces, Thailand. All participants completed questionnaires measuring demographic, regular moderate-intensity PA, and variables from the TTM constructs. Data were analyzed by using mean, standard deviation, analysis of variance, and discriminant analysis. The results of this study indicated that the weekly moderateintensity PA, processes of change, self-efficacy, and pros consistently increased across 5 stages. Finally, the set of variables including TTM constructs and weekly moderate PA was able to correctly classify stage for 37.3% of subjects. The present study indicated that TTM may be useful to develop strategies to enhance regular PA among Thai Employers in workplaces. Background: There is a growing body of research that has demonstrated that conscientiousness is associated with longevity and health status. In parallel research, job strain (characterized by high job demands and low job control) has been found to be linked to increased cardiovascular disease risk. Previous work has focused on potential explanatory mechanisms such that conscientiousness has been found to impact on health behaviors. However, little research has explored the extent to which conscientiousness may moderate the job strain-health outcome relationship and has been overly reliant on "snapshot" retrospective measurements of key health behaviors. Therefore, using a multilevel daily diary design, this study investigated the impact of conscientiousness on health behaviors and daily stressors in individuals working in high compared to low strain jobs. Methods: 420 employees (193 male, 227 female) completed daily diaries over 4-weeks. Day-to-day within-person effects of daily stressors (or hassles) on health behaviors were examined, together with the influence of conscientiousness and job strain. Results: Using Hierarchical Multivariate Linear Modeling, the results showed in individuals working in high strain jobs, conscientiousness and its facets were associated with lower fat and sugar snack intake, and higher fruit and vegetable consumption. Moreover, the facets of conscientiousness were found to also significantly moderate the impact of daily stressors on a number of health behaviors. In contrast, few significant direct or moderated effects of conscientiousness were identified in individuals working in low strain jobs. Conclusions: Our results show that: i) conscientiousness and its facets may directly buffer the effects of high strain on daily health behaviors and moderate the impact of daily stressors on these behaviors and, ii) the influence of conscientiousness Non-response analysis of a nationwide mail survey from Finland Response rates in health oriented survey research are declining. The bias caused by this is unclear. Aim: The aim of the study was to compare all-cause and disease mortality and mortality related to external causes among participants and non-participants of a large mail survey in Finland. Study design: The study is based on the complete sample (N=67 644) of the Health and Social Support (HeSSup) prospective mail survey initiated in 1998 with a panel follow up survey in 2003. Individuals and Methods: Of the original sample 67588 individuals could be re-identified in registries comprising 33 446 women and 34 142 men The original sample represented the concurrent age cohorts of 20-24, 30-34, 40-44 and 50-54 years of age in Finland. The response rate of the initial survey was 40 %, (N=25 901). The participants were asked a signed consent for linkage of the survey data to national health and pension registers which was given by 92%. In 2007, the survey material was completed by Statistics Finland with data on mortality and by the Finnish Centre for Pensions with data on cumulative incidence of disability pensions and rehabilitation allowance from 1998 to 2006. The same data was anonymously delivered for non-respondents. The statistical analysis was performed with Cox proportional Hazard models. Results: Total mortality was significantly higher for nonrespondent compared to respondent women in age group 50-54 years and for non-respondent men in age groups 40-44 and 50-54 years. Violent mortality was higher for non-respondent men in age brackets 30-34 and 40-44 years but not for any age group of women. Disease mortality was higher for non-respondent women in age group 50-54 years but not for any age group of men. A significantly higher incidence of disability pensions among non-respondents was observed, but this was almost totally due to pensions related to mental disorders, especially among women. Conclusion: Non-response might bias health survey Results: However, the greatest implications probably influence how results can be generalized and not necessary results about particular risk and protective factors. Background: Socioeconomic differences in health are well established, and stable or increasing in Europe. Psychobiological factors may be mediators of these differences. The differences appear to occur as a gradient, rather than in distinct classes. Explanations offered for these differences may be classified into two possibly interacting categories: structural factors and individual factors. In this study we examine how individually acquired expectancies of being able or unable to handle the stressors and challenges of everyday life relate to individual health and to the socioeconomic gradient. According to the Cognitive Activation Theory of Stress (CATS) learned response outcome expectancies affect health through health behaviours and stress responses. Methods: A cross-sectional study of response outcome expectancies, socioeconomic status and health in the 2008 follow-up of a representative sample of the Swedish working population in 2003-2005 (N=11441) . Findings: Response expectancy variables (coping, helplessness, and hopelessness) showed clear and monotonous gradients over a Socioeconomic Status (SES) ladder. Multiple regression analysis revealed that coping was related to subjective SES, but could not be explained by age, gender, or objective SES. After controlling for age and gender, response outcome expectancies explained more variance (r2=0.162) in self-rated health than subjective and objective socioeconomic status (r2=0.078). Interpretation: The results indicate that there are systematic differences in coping across the socioeconomic ladder. These differences are independent of objective social status and are associated with health, suggesting that psychological and learning factors contribute to the socioeconomic gradient in health. Colorectal cancer is the third leading cancer in incidence and mortality among US adults, and these rates are higher in the African American community than among other subpopulations. Theory-based health communication interventions aim to increase awareness and screening for this disease. The Health Belief Model is one of the most used models on which behavior change interventions and their evaluations are based. Previous work has been conducted to develop quality assessments of the Health Belief Model constructs in both breast and more recently in colorectal cancer contexts. However, instrument development initiatives have not focused specifically on disparities-affected populations such as African Americans. We present adapted instruments to assess Health Belief Model constructs, that were adapted/enriched based on qualitative research (e.g., focus groups) among African Americans. Two brief scales assess barriers to colonoscopy and fecal occult blood test, specific to the healthcare system. Internal consistencies were modest (α=.33; α=.43, respectively) and may indicate multidimensionality. A third scale assesses additional areas of colorectal cancer knowledge (α=78), based on the qualitative research findings. Factor structures and other psychometric properties are reported. Scores on the instruments were associated with screening behaviors. This work is consistent with the recent special issue of Health Education and Behavior, on "Behavioral Constructs and Culture for Cancer Screening", in which it is suggested that traditional behavior change theories developed for mainstream US culture may need to be adapted when working with disparities-affected populations such as racial/ethnic minorities. The National Centre for Occupational rehabilitation, Rauland, Norway and 2 Uni Health, Bergen, Norway.