Effect Evaluation of a Workplace Intervention Targeting Subjective Health Complaints

Depression Clinical Trial

— atWork  

Official title:

Effect Evaluation of a Workplace Intervention Targeting Subjective Health Complaints on Sick Leave, Coping, Health, Job Satisfaction and Social Support

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT02396797
• Other study ID #: 9747
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: January 2015
• Est. completion date: May 2018

Study information

• Verified date: May 2018
• Source: Uni Research
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

Mental disorders is one of the most frequent causes of long-term sick leave and disability pensions in Norway, and there is a need for a comprehensive, coordinated response from health and social sectors at the country level to address the burden of mental disorders. The aim of this project is to investigate if a workplace intervention with the aim to increase coping of common mental health complaints and social support can reduce sick leave and improve health.

Description:

The atWork intervention was established in 2007 as a new stepped-care approach to musculoskeletal complaints. The intervention consisted of workplace information meetings about musculoskeletal complaint to all employees and peer support. The atWork intervention targeting musculoskeletal complaints reduced sick leave and improved health in a randomized controlled trial. The atWork intervention has now been further developed with the aim to increase effect on sick leave and health. The intervention is now extended to include information about mental health complaints, in addition to a management course. The major societal costs and the negative consequences common mental health complaints induce underline the importance of testing if atWork is an effective way of reducing these consequences.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 1011
• Est. completion date: May 2018
• Est. primary completion date: May 2018
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 67 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Norwegian primary education unit.

• Participants must be employed in one of the Norwegian primary education units participating in the study.

• Participants must have sufficient Norwegian reading and writing skills.

Exclusion Criteria:

• The organization has received the atWork intervention at an earlier time.

• Participants are not employed in one of the participating organizations.

• Participants do not have sufficient Norwegian reading and writing skills.

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Anxiety
• Back Pain
• Depression
• Mental Disorders
• Psychotic Disorders

Intervention

Behavioral:
• The new atWork intervention
atWork is a cognitive intervention, and uses a nondirective delivery approach. It does not prescribe any change in lifestyle, but aims at establishing an understanding of common complaints and what to do when pain and health complaints occur. All information is based on the non-injury model, where pain and complaints are not signs of injury caused by wrongdoing or "inappropriate" behavior. The consistent take home message from all parts of the intervention is that keeping up usual activities, including going to work, is beneficial for health and recovery. This group will receive one management course, two workplace courses for all employees targeting mild mental disorders and nonspecific musculoskeletal complaints, and one reflection and review meeting.
• The original atWork intervention
This group will receive three workplace courses for all employees targeting nonspecific musculoskeletal complaints, and peer support. Peer support involves selecting a peer advisor at the workplace. A peer advisor is a fellow worker without former medical training who as part of the atWork intervention receive more in-depth medical knowledge and training about nonspecific musculoskeletal complaints. The peer advisors role is to give social support and to use their local knowledge of the work place to facilitate staying at work for colleagues with health complaints.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Norway	Torill Helene Tveito	Bergen

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Uni Research	The Hospital of Vestfold

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Norway, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Sick leave, unit level	Sick leave at unit level will be collected through registry data from the Norwegian Labour and Welfare administration (NAV). Thus, we will collect data from all employees in participating units (approximately 100 units), not only the employees responding to questionnaires.	1 year
Secondary	Coping Expectancies; Theoretically Originated Measure of the Cognitive Activation Theory of Stress, TOMCATS	All employees will be asked to complete questionnaires, one before the intervention and at 12 months follow-up.	1 year
Secondary	Health; self-rated health, Subjective Health Complaints Inventory, SHC, Hopkins Symptom Checklist, HSCL-10		1 year
Secondary	Job Satisfaction; Global Job Satisfaction, GJO, Demand-Control-Support-Questionnaire, short Swedish version		1 year
Secondary	Social Support; Non directive and Directive Support Survey, NDSS-16.		1 year