The Mental Vitality @ Work study: design of a randomized controlled trial on the effect of a workers' health surveillance mental module for nurses and allied health professionals.

Fania R Gärtner,Odile Smeets,Sarah M Ketelaar,Linda Bolier,Judith K Sluiter,Karen Nieuwenhuijsen,Eva Fischer,Frank Jh Van Dijk

doi:10.1186/1471-2458-11-290

Abstract

BackgroundEmployees in health care service are at high risk for developing mental health complaints. The effects of mental health complaints on work can have serious consequences for the quality of care provided by these workers. To help health service workers remain healthy and productive, preventive actions are necessary. A Workers' Health Surveillance (WHS) mental module may be an effective strategy to monitor and promote good (mental) health and work performance. The objective of this paper is to describe the design of a three arm cluster randomized controlled trial on the effectiveness of a WHS mental module for nurses and allied health professionals. Two strategies for this WHS mental module will be compared along with data from a control group. Additionally, the cost effectiveness of the approaches will be evaluated from a societal perspective.MethodsThe study is designed as a cluster randomized controlled trial consisting of three arms (two intervention groups, 1 control group) with randomization at ward level. The study population consists of 86 departments in one Dutch academic medical center with a total of 1731 nurses and allied health professionals. At baseline, after three months and after six months of follow-up, outcomes will be assessed by online questionnaires. In both intervention arms, participants will complete a screening to detect problems in mental health and work functioning and receive feedback on their screening results. In cases of impairments in mental health or work functioning in the first intervention arm, a consultation with an occupational physician will be offered. The second intervention arm offers a choice of self-help e-mental health interventions, which will be tailored based on each individual's mental health state and work functioning. The primary outcomes will be help-seeking behavior and work functioning. Secondary outcomes will be mental health and wellbeing. Furthermore, cost-effectiveness in both intervention arms will be assessed, and a process evaluation will be performed.DiscussionWhen it is proven effective compared to a control group, a WHS mental module for nurses and allied health professionals could be implemented and used on a regular basis by occupational health services in hospitals to improve employees' mental health and work functioning.Trial RegistrationNTR2786

Highlights

Employees in health care service are at high risk for developing mental health complaints
The health care service is a sector with special risks for the development of mental health complaints
The aim of the Mental Vitality @ Work study is to test the effectiveness of two strategies for a Workers’ Health Surveillance (WHS) mental module for nurses and allied health professionals

Summary

Introduction

Employees in health care service are at high risk for developing mental health complaints. The largest occupational group in healthcare, are at higher risk of developing mental health problems compared to workers outside of the health care sector and compared to other (health) service workers [6]. The relative risk for depression is high for nurses, RR = 3.5, 95% CI (1.3, 9.6), compared to other human service workers and other healthcare workers [6] This high risk might partly be explained by the very nature of the work, with work environment characteristics that are known to promote the occurrence of mental health complaints, such as high job demands, low job control and low social support [7,8]. In the health care sector, impairments in work functioning can have serious effects for the nurses and for patients and their safety as a recent literature review showed [8,9]

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