Identifying wellbeing challenges and solutions in the police service using the World Café method

Police work presents risks to mental and physical health for officers and civilian staff. We report a project that involved police employees in identifying wellbeing challenges and potential solutions. We facilitated ‘World Café’ events in which approximately 180 officers and civilian staff participated. Qualitative data were collected and thematically analysed drawing upon the Job Demands-Resources model. We identified themes relating to workload, management practices, occupational health processes, and continuing mental health stigma. Our analyses suggest an environment in which resources are insufficient to meet demands. The resulting pressures may contribute to management behaviours that can impair subordinate wellbeing

The impact of occupational stress factors on temporary work disability related to arterial hypertension and its complications

Aim. To determine which specific groups of occupational stress factors influence the duration of temporary work disability related to arterial hypertension and joint complications/co-morbidities. Methodology. Workers (n=1398; 1009 in the exposed group, 389 in the control group) with arterial hypertension who worked at one workplace for a minimum of 10 years were divided into 10 subgroups, depending on the presence of joint complications/co-morbidities. The intensity of seven groups of occupational stress factors, the total score of Occupational Stress Index (OSI) and the average number of lost working days during 1 year were analysed. Results. The number of lost working days due to arterial hypertension and joint complications/co-morbidities was significantly higher in the exposed group. In all subgroups of the exposed group there was a high correlation between the number of lost working days and the total OSI score. Specific occupational stress factors were associated with specific complications: High Demands with chronic myocardial infarction, Strictness with cerebral haemorrhage, Conflict/Uncertainty with cerebral infarction, Extrinsic Time Pressure with acute myocardial infarction, and Avoidance/Symbolic Aversiveness with non-insulin-dependent diabetes. Conclusion. There are specific groups of occupational stress factors which can influence the duration of work disability associated with certain complications and co-morbidities of arterial hypertension

Compensating need satisfaction across life boundaries: A daily diary study

Self-determination theory suggests that satisfaction of an individual’s basic psychological needs (for competence, autonomy, and relatedness) is a key for well-being. This has gained empirical support in multiple life domains, but little is known about the way that need satisfaction interacts between work and home. Drawing from ideas of work–home compensation, we expect that the benefits of need satisfaction in the home domain are reduced when needs are satisfied in the work domain. We tested this hypothesis with a daily diary study involving 91 workers. Results showed that individuals particularly benefit from satisfaction of their need for competence in the home domain when it is not satisfied during the working day. No such interactions were found between the needs for autonomy or relatedness. Our study highlights that the interaction of need satisfaction across domains represents a boundary condition for the beneficial effects of need satisfaction

Compensating need satisfaction across life boundaries: a daily diary study

\u3cp\u3eSelf-determination theory suggests that satisfaction of an individual's basic psychological needs (for competence, autonomy, and relatedness) is a key for well-being. This has gained empirical support in multiple life domains, but little is known about the way that need satisfaction interacts between work and home. Drawing from ideas of work–home compensation, we expect that the benefits of need satisfaction in the home domain are reduced when needs are satisfied in the work domain. We tested this hypothesis with a daily diary study involving 91 workers. Results showed that individuals particularly benefit from satisfaction of their need for competence in the home domain when it is not satisfied during the working day. No such interactions were found between the needs for autonomy or relatedness. Our study highlights that the interaction of need satisfaction across domains represents a boundary condition for the beneficial effects of need satisfaction. Practitioner points: The study examines the interplay between daily need satisfaction at work and at home and its relation to employee well-being at bedtime. Employees particularly benefit from competence need satisfaction at home (e.g., doing a hobby which challenges them) on days when they do not get a sense of competence from their job (e.g., if the tasks are not particularly challenging, or they are underperforming).\u3c/p\u3

A study protocol outlining the development and evaluation of a training program for frontline managers on leading well-being and the psychosocial work environment in Danish hospital settings – a cluster randomized waitlist controlled trial

Background: Hospital staff are often exposed to stressful psychosocial working conditions and report high levels of stress and burnout, which may negatively impact the safety of employees and patients. Managers hold unique knowledge of workplace conditions and needs of employees, but leadership interventions to improve the well-being of managers and employees in hospital settings are scarce. This study evaluates the effects of a leadership intervention based on a Health-Oriented Leadership approach on the well-being of and psychosocial work environment aspect of managers and employees. Methods/design: The study is designed as a randomized, waitlist-controlled trial with two groups (intervention and waitlist control group) and measurements at baseline, 6- and 12-month follow-up. We aim to include 200 frontline managers in Danish hospital settings and their approximately 5,000 employees. The leadership training comprises five full day modules and four smaller group-training sessions over a period of 5 months. The main aim is to improve stress, burnout, self-care, and perceived level of staff-care among managers and employees. Sickness absence will also be assessed at both manager and employee level. In addition, several psychosocial factors will be assessed at the employee level. A quantitative and qualitative process evaluation will also be conducted. Discussion: Action towards supporting the mental health of hospital employees is important to maintain a strong health care system. There is increasing recognition that best practice in workplace mental health requires an integrated approach that prevents harm and promotes positive mental health. There is also increasing understanding of the key role managers’ play in maintaining well-being within the workplace, however they often report a lack of knowledge and skills to promote employee mental health. The current leadership training program has been developed for frontline managers working in a hospital setting. The aim is to increase managers’ application of strategies to facilitate a healthy psychosocial work-environment to benefit well-being and mental health among staff and managers themselves. Trial Registration: The study was retrospectively registered on November 21, 2022 in Clinical Trial.gov with identifier: NCT0562337

Stress und soziale Unterstützung im ersten Jahr einer Berufsausbildung

Stress ist in entwickelten Ländern einer der bedeutendsten Risikofaktoren für die psychische und physische Gesundheit. Zahlreiche Studien weisen auf Zusammenhänge zwischen arbeitsbedingten Stressoren und dem psychischen Befinden von Arbeitnehmern hin (Steinmann 2005). Gerade junge Arbeitnehmer sind stark von Belastungssituationen am Arbeitsplatz betroffen. Jugendliche und junge Erwachsene, welche in einer Berufsausbildung sind, kristallisieren sich in verschiedenen Studien als vulnerable Gruppe heraus. So zeigte zum Beispiel eine Studie von Strandh et al. (2014), dass sich Jugendliche in einer sensiblen Entwicklungsphase befinden, und deshalb mehr unter Arbeitsstress leiden. Brändle und Müller (2014) betonten, dass eine schlechte Passung bei der Berufswahl negative Auswirkungen auf die Motivation der Jugendlichen hat. In diesem Lebensabschnitt sind viele Veränderungen und Herausforderungen auf der psychologischen, sozialen und kognitiven Ebene zu bewältigen. Dazu kommt bei Auszubildenden die Transition von der Schule ins Berufsleben, was eine zusätzliche Herausforderung darstellt (Steinmann 2005). Die vorliegende Studie beschäftigt sich mit dem Stresserleben von Lernenden zu Beginn ihrer Berufsausbildung. In einem Querschnittsdesign wurden 736 Auszubildende aus zwei verschiedenen Jahrgängen befragt. Die Befragung fand im ersten Lehrjahr statt, und die Auszubildenden waren alle in einem Schweizer Betrieb angestellt. In unserer Stichprobe konnte das erhöhte Stresserleben von Auszubildenden nicht bestätigt werden; es zeigte sich jedoch, dass soziale Unterstützung als Schutzfaktor gegenüber Stresserleben bezeichnet werden kann. Auszubildende aus den Balkanländern berichteten von mehr Stress als die übrigen Befragten. Ebenfalls zeigten Auszubildende, die eine Ausbildung mit einem geringeren Anforderungsprofil abschließen, mehr Stress