Chronic Physical Health Conditions Clinical Trial
Official title:
MANAGE AT WORK: Evaluation of a Group-based Self-management Program to Address Workplace Discomfort and Fatigue Associated With Chronic Physical Health Conditions
The specific aim of the study is to evaluate the health benefits of a series of group workshops designed for workers with chronic physical health conditions. The facilitated workshops apply principles of pain and illness self-management to help workers deal with health-related challenges while at work. The workshops address issues of pain management, physical job demands, pacing of work, communication, problem solving, and coping. Half of the participants in the study will be randomly assigned to attend workshop sessions (10 hours total), and all study participants will be followed for one year. The primary hypothesis is that workers who participate in these workshops will show improvements in work engagement and reductions in work limitation in the subsequent 12 months.
One significant trend in the US workforce is the advancing median age of workers and the growing prevalence of chronic medical conditions that contribute to workplace pain, fatigue, task limitations, and reduced productivity. The proposed multi-site study is a randomized, controlled trial of a multi-session group intervention program targeting workers with chronic health concerns (N = 300). The primary outcome measures will be self-report measures of work limitations and work engagement measured at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months follow-up. Secondary outcomes will include turnover intention, sickness absence, job satisfaction, and healthcare utilization. Process variables and covariates will include assessment of self-efficacy, work-related fatigue, emotional distress, work characteristics, general health status, and basic demographic variables. The study should provide an assessment of whether principles of symptom self-management can be successfully applied to workplace problems and delivered in a group workshop format to reduce the disabling effects of chronic medical conditions. ;