Commentary: Principles, Approaches and Challenges of Applying Big Data in Safety Psychology Research

This commentary builds upon the recent theoretical paper by Kang et al. (2019) to advance the debate currently going on about psychology and big data. The aim is to discuss the feasibility of extending the conceptualization proposed by the authors\u2014i.e., Big Data of Safety Psychology (BDSP)\u2014to other branches of psychology going beyond the only safety domain, ultimately pointing out a big data of whatever psychology scenario. This will lead to suggest a perspective enrichment from a solely big data applied to psychology paradigm toward a much less advocated psychology applied to big data

H-WORK project: Multilevel interventions to promote mental health in SMEs and public workplaces

The paper describes the study design, research questions and methods of a large, international intervention project aimed at improving employee mental health and well-being in SMEs and public organisations. The study is innovative in multiple ways. First, it goes beyond the current debate on whether individual- or organisational-level interventions are most effective in improving employee health and well-being and tests the cumulative effects of multilevel interventions, that is, interventions addressing individual, group, leader and organisational levels. Second, it tailors its interventions to address the aftermaths of the Covid-19 pandemic and develop suitable multilevel interventions for dealing with new ways of working. Third, it uses realist evaluation to explore and identify the working ingredients of and the conditions required for each level of intervention, and their outcomes. Finally, an economic evaluation will assess both the cost-effectiveness analysis and the affordability of the interventions from the employer perspective. The study integrates the training transfer and the organisational process evaluation literature to develop toolkits helping end-users to promote mental health and well-being in the workplace

Assessment methods of usability and cognitive workload of rehabilitative exoskeletons: A systematic review

Robotic exoskeleton technologies are applied in the medical field to help patients with impaired mobility to recover their motor functions. Relevant literature shows that usability and cognitive workload may influence the patients\u2019 likelihood to benefit from the use of rehabilitative exoskeletons. Following the PRISMA method, the present study aimed to systematically review the assessment methods of usability and cognitive workload in the use of exoskeletal devices for motor rehabilitation. The literature search was conducted in the Scopus and Web of Science bibliographical databases, using 16 keywords that were combined into one search query. A final sample of 23 articles was included in the review, from which 18 distinct assessment methods were identified. Of them, 15 aimed to assess usability, whereas 3 aimed to assess cognitive workload in the use of rehabilitative exoskeletons. Some of the identified methods (e.g., SUS, QUEST, SWAT, and NASA-TLX) showed good psychometric properties and were therefore proven to be appropriate to assess usability and cognitive workload while performing exoskeleton-based rehabilitation. The current study may contribute to the development of guidelines and analytical tools for exoskeletons\u2019 usability and exoskeleton-related patients\u2019 cognitive workload in the domain of medical rehabilitation

Does Organizational Commitment to Mental Health Affect Team Processes? A Longitudinal Study

Lucia Volpi, Davide Giusino, Luca Pietrantoni, Marco De Angelis Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Bologna, ItalyCorrespondence: Marco De Angelis, Viale Berti Pichat, 5 40127, Bologna, Italy, Tel +39 3288967582, Email [email protected]: Team processes, such as reflexivity and participation, are critical for organizational sustainability, especially in high-reliability professions such as healthcare. However, little is known about health-related predictors of team processes. Basing our hypotheses on the Input-Process-Output (IPO) model, this study investigates the influence of perceived organizational commitment to mental health (OCMH) on healthcare workers’ team reflexivity and participation via mental health-specific leadership (MHsL) and team autonomy.Patients and Methods: The study involved 82 participants (ie, physicians, nurses, healthcare assistants, healthcare technicians, and physiotherapists) working in the Medicine, Emergency, and Neurological Departments at a large public healthcare organization in Italy. Data was gathered at 2-time points, 14 months apart.Results: The results suggest that healthcare workers’ perception of their organization’s support for mental health at T1 significantly impacts team participation at T2 through MHsL and team autonomy. Likewise, the indirect effect of OCMH through MHsL and team autonomy was also significant in the model predicting team reflexivity. However, in both models, no direct relationship of OCMH on the dependent variables was found.Conclusion: The findings highlight the importance of a mental health-supportive environment and leadership to foster team autonomy and, subsequentially, team processes, which are fundamental for performance and patient care.Keywords: mental health-oriented leadership, team autonomy, team reflexivity, team participation, healthcare, workplace mental healt

Human Factors in Interfaces for Rehabilitation-Assistive Exoskeletons: A Critical Review and Research Agenda

Exoskeletons are wearable robots designed to restore or augment human physical abilities and, indirectly, cognitive functions. These devices can be classified based on the sector of application, the body part they are intended to support or enhance, the degree of assistance, and the source which they gather power from. Regardless of such technical features, exoskeletons are usually equipped with Human-Machine Interfaces (HMIs), allowing users to interact with the system, both physically and cognitively. The current paper critically reviews the state of the art of HMIs, and discusses the future challenges concerning Human Factors issues associated with the experience of utilisation of HMIs for wearable assistive exoskeletons in neuromotor rehabilitation settings. An overview of extant types of rehabilitative exoskeletons\u2019 HMIs is provided, as well as a discussion on novel user experience research questions posed in light of the recent developments in the field

Mentally healthy healthcare : main findings and lessons learned from a needs assessment exercise at multiple workplace levels

Interventions addressing healthcare workers’ mental health should build upon an exhaustive understanding of the major causes of both work-related stress conditions (i.e., job demands) and positive mental health (i.e., job resources) in the workplace at all the levels they might unfold, namely the individual, the group, the leader, and the organization. The present chapter draws upon a multilevel workplace mental health needs assessment exercise performed within three different departments of a large healthcare institution and involving both managers and employees. It aims to illustrate the job demands and resources at multiple levels in the targeted organization, differentiate among healthcare workers' mental models of their working conditions, and discuss the research and practical implications of such findings. Also, it offers practical recommendations on how to effectively conduct such activities by, on the one hand, considering both healthcare workers’ mental health risk and protective factors and, on the other hand, encompassing multiple workplace levels of analysis