Demographic and situational variations in levels of burnout in European mental health services: a comparative study.

This paper reviews the demographic and situational variations in levels of occupational burnout, as measured by the Maslach Burnout Inventory, among community and inpatient staff in six European mental health services, located in Aarhus and Storstrom in Denmark, Cambridge in the UK, Bodo in Norway, Tampere in Finland and Warsaw in Poland. The overall study design was a time series with baseline and follow-up at six and 12 months. A total of 414 members of staff were assessed in the six settings: 205 in inpatient facilities and 209 in the community. To calculate the influence of sociodemographic factors in relation to levels of burnout, a factor analysis was carried out. Each factor was analysed twice. There were no statistically significant differences regarding emotional exhaustion. Depersonalisation (DP) was higher in inpatient settings (1.73, standard error (SE) 0.04) than in community locations (1.62, SE 0.04). The lowest scores for DP for inpatient settings were observed in Aarhus (1.59, SE 0.08) and in Storstrom (1.65, SE 0.08). Regarding personal accomplishment (PA) the statistically significant differences were observed between Warsaw, which scored high in PA (39.92, SE 3.63), and Storstrom (76.36, SE 4.60), which scored low. Staff who had previously experienced relevant prior training on occupational stress reduction scored significantly lower in emotional exhaustion (EE) (3.75, SE 0.13) than those with no prior exposure to relevant training (4.07, SE 0.07). The study also indicated that men in the study scored significantly higher on DP (1.75, SE 0.05) than did women (1.60, SE 0.03). This may be explicable in terms of men being exposed to higher levels of violence than women

Sustained employability of workers in a production environment: design of a stepped wedge trial to evaluate effectiveness and cost-benefit of the POSE program

Background: Sustained employability and health are generating awareness of employers in an aging and more complex work force. To meet these needs, employers may offer their employees health surveillance programs, to increase opportunities to work on health and sustained employability. However, evidence for these health surveillance programs is lacking. The FLESH study (Functional Labour Evaluation for Sustained Health and employment) was developed to evaluate a comprehensive workers' health promotion program on its effectiveness, cost-benefit, and process of the intervention. Methods: The study is designed as a cluster randomised stepped wedge trial with randomisation at company plant level and is carried out in a large meat processing company. Every contracted employee is offered the opportunity to participate in the POSE program (Promotion Of Sustained Employability). The main goals of the POSE program are 1) providing employee's insight into their current employability and health status, 2) offering opportunities to improve employability and decrease health risks and 3) improving employability and health sustainably in order to keep them healthy at work. The program consists of a broad assessment followed by a counselling session and, if needed, a tailored intervention. Measurements will be performed at baseline and will be followed up at 20, 40, 60, 80, 106 and 132 weeks. The primary outcome measures are work ability, productivity and absenteeism. Secondary outcomes include health status, vitality, and psychosocial workload. A cost-benefit study will be conducted from the employers' perspective. A process evaluation will be conducted and the satisfaction of employer and employees with the program will be assessed. Discussion: This study provides information on the effectiveness of the POSE program on sustained employment. When the program proves to be effective, employees benefit by improved work ability, and health. Employers benefit from healthier employees, reduced sick leave (costs) and higher productivity. The study can expose key elements for a successful implementation and execution of the POSE program and may serve as an example to other companies inside and outside the industry