| Literature DB >> 29438350 |
Irene Niks1,2, Jan de Jonge3,4, Josette Gevers5, Irene Houtman6.
Abstract
Effective interventions to prevent work stress and to improve health, well-being, and performance of employees are of the utmost importance. This quasi-experimental intervention study presents a specific method for diagnosis of psychosocial risk factors at work and subsequent development and implementation of tailored work stress interventions, the so-called DISCovery method. This method aims at improving employee health, well-being, and performance by optimizing the balance between job demands, job resources, and recovery from work. The aim of the study is to quantitatively assess the effectiveness of the DISCovery method in hospital care. Specifically, we used a three-wave longitudinal, quasi-experimental multiple-case study approach with intervention and comparison groups in health care work. Positive changes were found for members of the intervention groups, relative to members of the corresponding comparison groups, with respect to targeted work-related characteristics and targeted health, well-being, and performance outcomes. Overall, results lend support for the effectiveness of the DISCovery method in hospital care.Entities:
Keywords: DISC-R Model; DISCovery method; health care workers; interventions; job demands; job resources; multiple-case study; off-job recovery; work stress
Mesh:
Year: 2018 PMID: 29438350 PMCID: PMC5858401 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph15020332
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health ISSN: 1660-4601 Impact factor: 3.390
Baseline demographic characteristics and response rates of intervention and comparison groups (N = 111).
| Nursing Department | Laboratory | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IG | CG | IG | CG | |
| Male | 7.1% | 9.4% | 11.8% | 26.3% |
| Female | 92.9% | 90.6% | 88.2% | 73.7% |
| Mean years (SD) | 40.4 (10.2) | 34.1 (10.8) | 48.6 (11.4) | 45.5 (10.5) |
| High school | 28.6% | 25.0% | 11.8% | 5.3% |
| Vocational education | 21.4% | 43.8% | 29.4% | 36.8% |
| Higher education | 50.0% | 31.3% | 58.8% | 57.9% |
| Single | 32.1% | 22.6% | 70.6% | 10.5% |
| Cohabiting/Married | 67.9% | 77.4% | 29.4% | 89.5% |
| Yes, including night shifts | 78.6% | 90.6% | 17.6% | 89.5% |
| Yes, excluding night shifts | 3.6% | 0.0% | 58.8% | 10.5% |
| No | 17.9% | 9.4% | 23.5% | 0.0% |
| Time 1 | ||||
| Time 2 | ||||
| Time 3 | ||||
Note: IG = intervention group; CG = comparison group; SD = standard deviation.
Results of successive steps of the DISCovery method for each intervention group together with the intervention-specific target variables.
| Intervention Group | Step 1: Psychosocial DISC-R Risk Profile | Step 2: Outcomes PAR | Step 3: Intervention Program | Main Target Variables |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nursing Department |
High emotional job demands Low emotional and physical job resources High concentration problems |
Inefficient work processes, no work breaks at subunit Inefficient cooperation and communication Inadequate physical work space and materials |
Implementation of work breaks at subunit Job crafting Lean management Coaching supervisor and working group lean management | General: |
|
Job resources Detachment Work performance Work satisfaction | ||||
| Group-specific: | ||||
|
Recovery during work Work break conditions Concentration problems | ||||
| Laboratory |
High cognitive job demands Low cognitive, emotional, and physical job resources Low physical detachment Low work satisfaction Low team performance High emotional exhaustion |
Dysfunctional cooperation Dysfunctional communication Poor physical work climate |
Analysis of departmental cooperation and communication goals Team workshops “Cooperation and Communication” Follow-up workshops Coaching supervisor | General: |
|
Job resources Detachment Work performance Work satisfaction | ||||
| Group-specific: | ||||
|
Teamwork Emotional exhaustion |
Group means and variance components of the target variables for the intervention group and the comparison group in the nursing department (N = 60 at Time 1).
| Nursing Intervention Group | Nursing Comparison Group | Variance (%) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variable | T1 | T2 | T3 | T1 | T2 | T3 | Person | Occasion |
| Cognitive resources | 3.15 | 3.12 | 2.98 | 3.37 | 3.12 | 3.35 | 50.0 | 50.0 |
| Emotional resources | 3.88 | 3.93 | 4.14 | 4.23 | 3.85 | 4.20 | 57.0 | 43.0 |
| Physical resources | 3.11 | 3.24 | 3.27 | 3.56 | 3.25 | 3.53 | 53.5 | 46.5 |
| Cognitive detachment | 3.88 | 3.98 | 3.97 | 4.16 | 3.99 | 3.95 | 66.1 | 33.9 |
| Emotional detachment | 3.71 | 3.89 | 3.87 | 3.86 | 3.82 | 3.76 | 44.2 | 55.8 |
| Physical detachment | 3.52 | 3.56 | 3.72 | 3.53 | 3.55 | 3.58 | 39.5 | 60.5 |
| Work satisfaction | 3.79 | 4.00 | 3.84 | 3.88 | 3.85 | 3.86 | 23.9 | 76.1 |
| Individual work performance | 7.70 | 7.68 | 7.77 | 7.70 | 7.73 | 7.80 | 45.7 | 54.3 |
| Work performance team | 7.36 | 7.58 | 7.65 | 7.75 | 7.76 | 7.74 | 38.6 | 61.4 |
| Concentration problems (D) | 2.25 | 2.19 | 1.96 | 1.97 | 2.11 | 2.30 | 60.1 | 39.9 |
| Recovery during work (P) | 3.23 | 3.05 | 3.33 | 2.88 | 2.78 | 3.20 | 38.6 | 61.4 |
| Work break conditions (P) | 3.30 | 3.63 | 3.47 | 3.16 | 2.81 | 3.21 | 63.4 | 36.6 |
Note: P = proximal variable; D = distal variable; T1 = Time 1; T2 = Time 2; T3 = Time 3.
Overview of the significant multilevel results for the target variables within the participating departments.
| Target Variables | Occasion(s) | Effect Size ( | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proximal outcomes | Emotional resources | T2 | 0.18 * |
| Physical resources | T2 | 0.20 * | |
| Cognitive detachment | T2 | 0.24 ** | |
| Work break conditions | T2 | 0.23 ** | |
| Distal outcomes | Concentration problems | T3 | −0.20 * |
| Proximal outcomes | Emotional resources | T2/T3 | 0.26 **/0.26 ** |
| Teamwork | T2 | 0.22 * | |
| Distal outcomes | Work satisfaction | T2 | 0.56 *** |
| Team performance | T2/T3 | 0.29 */0.32 * |
Note: * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001: Significant higher or lower scores, with the comparison group and Time 1 as reference categories.
Group means of the target variables for the intervention group and the comparison group in the laboratory (N = 35 at Time 1).
| Laboratory Intervention Group | Laboratory Comparison Group | Variance (%) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variable | T1 | T2 | T3 | T1 | T2 | T3 | Person | Occasion |
| Cognitive resources | 2.80 | 2.78 | 2.63 | 3.22 | 3.25 | 3.18 | 52.0 | 48.0 |
| Emotional resources | 3.29 | 3.49 | 3.74 | 4.20 | 3.94 | 4.02 | 67.4 | 32.6 |
| Physical resources | 2.73 | 2.78 | 2.62 | 3.45 | 3.25 | 3.33 | 38.8 | 61.2 |
| Cognitive detachment | 3.75 | 3.75 | 3.76 | 3.60 | 3.71 | 3.78 | 55.5 | 44.5 |
| Emotional detachment | 3.41 | 3.45 | 3.57 | 3.39 | 3.45 | 3.48 | 53.8 | 46.2 |
| Physical detachment | 3.16 | 3.43 | 3.17 | 3.61 | 3.75 | 3.65 | 55.3 | 44.7 |
| Work satisfaction | 3.38 | 3.65 | 3.57 | 3.95 | 3.24 | 3.89 | 37.1 | 62.9 |
| Individual work performance | 7.82 | 7.41 | 7.50 | 7.53 | 7.47 | 7.56 | 41.5 | 58.5 |
| Work performance team | 6.00 | 6.94 | 6.86 | 7.68 | 7.75 | 7.67 | 32.4 | 67.6 |
| Teamwork (P) | 3.00 | 3.40 | 3.17 | 4.18 | 4.10 | 4.35 | 57.2 | 42.8 |
| Emotional exhaustion (D) | 2.91 | 2.79 | 2.99 | 2.52 | 2.44 | 2.45 | 76.5 | 23.5 |
Note: P = proximal variable; D = distal variable; T1 = Time 1; T2 = Time 2; T3 = Time 3.
Description of interventions.
| Intervention Group | Intervention | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Nursing | 1. Work breaks | Formal daily 30-min work breaks were implemented at the daycare subunit of this department, conform existing practices in the rest of the department. |
| 2. Job crafting | A job crafting intervention was implemented to increase job resources and enhance recovery from work [ An initial workshop, in which participants learned about the basic principles of job crafting and set personal job crafting goals; A 4-week period during which participants worked on reaching their personal job crafting goals and received a weekly e-mail as a reminder of their goals; A final reflection meeting, in which participants reflected upon their goals, shared tips and experiences with each other, and decided what to keep working on in the future. | |
| 3. Lean management | Five employees of the department volunteered to be part of a working group lean management [ | |
| 4. Coaching trajectories | An external coach provided individual coaching to the direct supervisor of the intervention group and joint coaching sessions to the working group lean management. | |
| Laboratory | 1. Analysis departmental goals | An in depth analysis of departmental goals and ambitions (specifically regarding communication and cooperation) was carried out, using a supplementary tailored questionnaire. The results of this analysis were presented to the departmental management and used as input for the team workshops. |
| 2. Team workshops | A first round of team workshops about goals, communication, and cooperation was organized for the whole team, including the departmental management. During these workshops, small working groups were initiated to deal with specific problems (e.g., physical work climate). In a series of follow-up team workshops, participants reflected upon the progress of both the working groups and the team in general, with respect to communication and cooperation. | |
| 3. Coaching trajectory | An external coach provided individual coaching to the direct supervisor of the intervention group. |
Baseline means and standard deviations of study variables for all participating groups.
| Variables | Nursing | Laboratory | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IG | CG | IG | CG | |||||
| M | SD | M | SD | M | SD | M | SD | |
| Cognitive demands | 4.43 | 0.46 | 4.35 | 0.33 | 4.18 | 0.39 | 4.33 | 0.46 |
| Emotional demands | 3.21 * | 0.46 | 2.84 * | 0.70 | 2.59 | 0.59 | 2.49 | 0.45 |
| Physical demands | 3.18 * | 0.90 | 3.94 * | 0.65 | 3.02 | 1.01 | 2.61 | 0.37 |
| Cognitive resources | 3.15 | 0.58 | 3.37 | 0.44 | 2.80 * | 0.57 | 3.21 * | 0.53 |
| Emotional resources | 3.88 * | 0.51 | 4.23 * | 0.67 | 3.29 *** | 0.73 | 4.20 *** | 0.56 |
| Physical resources | 3.11 * | 0.63 | 3.56 * | 0.65 | 2.73 ** | 0.64 | 3.45 ** | 0.70 |
| Cognitive detachment | 3.88 ** | 0.38 | 4.16 ** | 0.40 | 3.75 | 0.65 | 3.60 | 3.61 |
| Emotional detachment | 3.71 | 0.48 | 3.86 | 0.54 | 3.41 | 0.52 | 3.39 | 0.55 |
| Physical detachment | 3.52 | 0.55 | 3.53 | 0.65 | 3.16 | 0.76 | 3.61 | 0.60 |
| Recovery during work | 3.23 | 0.80 | 2.88 | 0.66 | 3.35 | 0.79 | 3.56 | 0.70 |
| Concentration problems | 2.25 | 1.03 | 1.97 | 0.79 | 1.71 | 0.52 | 2.16 | 0.83 |
| Emotional exhaustion | 2.55 | 1.07 | 2.72 | 0.85 | 2.91 | 1.10 | 2.52 | 0.96 |
| Work satisfaction | 3.79 | 1.10 | 3.88 | 0.70 | 3.38 * | 1.02 | 3.95 * | 0.40 |
| Individual work performance | 7.70 | 0.61 | 7.70 | 0.68 | 7.82 | 0.53 | 7.53 | 0.77 |
| Team performance | 7.36 | 1.25 | 7.75 | 0.72 | 6.00 ** | 1.59 | 7.68 ** | 0.58 |
| Work break conditions | 3.30 | 0.84 | 3.16 | 0.71 | 3.47 | 0.91 | 3.79 | 0.45 |
| Teamwork | 4.15 | 0.46 | 4.35 | 0.46 | 3.00 *** | 0.69 | 4.18 *** | 0.39 |
Note: Means are tested with t-tests (horizontal comparisons). The contrast is: “Intervention group (IG)” vs. “Control group (CG)”. * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001: significantly higher/lower means.
Multilevel models for change over time and intervention effects within the nursing department (N = 60 at Time 1).
| Outcome Variable | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cognitive Resources | Emotional Resources | Physical Resources | Cognitive Detachment | Emotional Detachment | Physical Detachment | |||||||
| Variable | B | SE | B | SE | B | SE | B | SE | B | SE | B | SE |
| Intercept | 3.36 *** | 0.09 | 4.24 *** | 0.11 | 3.54 *** | 0.11 | 4.12 *** | 0.08 | 3.80 *** | 0.09 | 3.49 *** | 0.10 |
| Time and Intervention | ||||||||||||
| Intervention group | −0.18 | 0.13 | −0.36 * | 0.17 | −0.36 * | 0.17 | −0.27 * | 0.12 | −0.10 | 0.13 | 0.00 | 0.15 |
| Time 2 | −0.23 * | 0.10 | −0.41 ** | 0.12 | −0.30 * | 0.12 | −0.16 * | 0.08 | 0.05 | 0.10 | 0.07 | 0.13 |
| Time 3 | 0.00 | 0.10 | −0.07 | 0.11 | −0.01 | 0.11 | −0.10 | 0.07 | −0.13 | 0.09 | 0.14 | 0.12 |
| Intervention Group × T2 | 0.16 | 0.15 | 0.35 * | 0.17 | 0.38 * | 0.19 | 0.31 ** | 0.12 | 0.16 | 0.15 | 0.01 | 0.19 |
| Intervention Group × T3 | −0.19 | 0.14 | 0.30 | 0.16 | 0.04 | 0.17 | 0.19 | 0.11 | 0.16 | 0.14 | 0.04 | 0.17 |
| Control variables | ||||||||||||
| Age | 0.00 | 0.01 | 0.00 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.00 | 0.00 | −0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.01 |
| Variance components | ||||||||||||
| Individual | 0.14 *** | 0.04 | 0.28 *** | 0.06 | 0.21 *** | 0.05 | 0.15 *** | 0.03 | 0.11 *** | 0.03 | 0.15 *** | 0.04 |
| Occasion | 0.13 *** | 0.02 | 0.16 *** | 0.02 | 0.18 *** | 0.03 | 0.07 *** | 0.01 | 0.13 *** | 0.02 | 0.21 *** | 0.03 |
| Variable | B | SE | B | SE | B | SE | B | SE | B | SE | B | SE |
| Intercept | 3.83 *** | 0.15 | 7.68 *** | 0.10 | 7.76 *** | 0.15 | 1.93 ** | 0.14 | 2.88 ** | 0.12 | 3.13 ** | 0.12 |
| Time and Intervention | ||||||||||||
| Intervention group | −0.05 | 0.22 | −0.05 | 0.15 | −0.39 | 0.22 | 0.41 | 0.22 | 0.34 | 0.18 | 0.19 | 0.18 |
| Time 2 | −0.03 | 0.21 | 0.00 | 0.12 | −0.01 | 0.19 | 0.09 | 0.16 | −0.08 | 0.15 | −0.30 * | 0.12 |
| Time 3 | 0.04 | 0.19 | 0.11 | 0.11 | −0.02 | 0.18 | 0.29 * | 0.15 | 0.30 * | 0.14 | 0.08 | 0.11 |
| Intervention Group × T2 | 0.24 | 0.31 | 0.05 | 0.18 | 0.33 | 0.27 | −0.28 | 0.24 | −0.09 | 0.23 | 0.51 ** | 0.19 |
| Intervention Group × T3 | 0.03 | 0.28 | 0.01 | 0.17 | 0.27 | 0.26 | −0.50 * | 0.22 | −0.26 | 0.21 | 0.08 | 0.17 |
| Control variables | ||||||||||||
| Age | 0.00 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | −0.02 * | 0.01 | 0.00 | 0.01 | 0.00 | 0.01 |
| Variance components | ||||||||||||
| Individual | 0.19 * | 0.08 | 0.17 *** | 0.04 | 0.28 ** | 0.09 | 0.42 ** | 0.10 | 0.17 ** | 0.06 | 0.33 ** | 0.07 |
| Occasion | 0.56 *** | 0.08 | 0.19 *** | 0.03 | 0.46 *** | 0.07 | 0.31 ** | 0.05 | 0.29 ** | 0.04 | 0.19 ** | 0.03 |
Note: Time 1 and the comparison group are reference categories.* p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001.
Multilevel models for change over time and intervention effects within the laboratory (N = 35 at Time 1).
| Outcome Variable | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cognitive Resources | Emotional Resources | Physical Resources | Cognitive Detachment | Emotional Detachment | Physical Detachment | |||||||
| Variable | B | SE | B | SE | B | SE | B | SE | B | SE | B | SE |
| Intercept | 3.31 *** | 0.26 | 4.16 *** | 0.41 | 3.52 *** | 0.37 | 3.33 *** | 0.34 | 3.12 *** | 0.32 | 3.00 *** | 0.37 |
| Time and Intervention | ||||||||||||
| Intervention group | −0.06 | 0.24 | −0.81 * | 0.36 | −0.65 | 0.36 | 0.17 | 0.30 | 0.11 | 0.29 | −0.02 | 0.34 |
| Time 2 | −0.01 | 0.13 | −0.30 * | 0.13 | −0.20 | 0.21 | 0.10 | 0.13 | 0.04 | 0.13 | 0.08 | 0.15 |
| Time 3 | −0.03 | 0.13 | −0.21 | 0.12 | −0.12 | 0.20 | 0.19 | 0.13 | 0.10 | 0.12 | 0.03 | 0.15 |
| Intervention Group × T2 | −0.08 | 0.19 | 0.52 ** | 0.19 | 0.19 | 0.30 | −0.04 | 0.19 | 0.01 | 0.18 | 0.26 | 0.22 |
| Intervention Group × T3 | −0.19 | 0.19 | 0.51 ** | 0.19 | −0.05 | 0.30 | −0.20 | 0.19 | 0.01 | 0.19 | −0.02 | 0.23 |
| Control variables | ||||||||||||
| Marital status | −0.31 | 0.17 | −0.06 | 0.26 | −0.06 | 0.24 | 0.01 | 0.22 | −0.02 | 0.21 | −0.28 | 0.24 |
| Irregular shift (excl. Night) | −0.38 | 0.22 | 0.07 | 0.40 | −0.14 | 0.30 | 0.33 | 0.28 | 0.25 | 0.27 | 0.43 | 0.31 |
| Nightshift | −0.02 | 0.25 | −0.04 | 0.34 | −0.06 | 0.35 | 0.26 | 0.33 | 0.27 | 0.31 | 0.67 | 0.36 |
| Variance components | ||||||||||||
| Individual | 0.08 ** | 0.03 | 0.24 ** | 0.08 | 0.12 | 0.06 | 0.17 ** | 0.05 | 0.15 ** | 0.05 | 0.20 ** | 0.07 |
| Occasion | 0.15 ** | 0.03 | 0.14 *** | 0.03 | 0.34 *** | 0.06 | 0.14 *** | 0.03 | 0.14 *** | 0.03 | 0.20 *** | 0.04 |
| Variable | B | SE | B | SE | B | SE | B | SE | B | SE | ||
| Intercept | 4.60 *** | 0.37 | 7.13 *** | 0.35 | 8.25 *** | 0.40 | 4.48 *** | 0.27 | 3.47 *** | 0.59 | ||
| Time and Intervention | ||||||||||||
| Intervention group | −0.72 * | 0.34 | 0.49 | 0.31 | −1.72 *** | 0.38 | −1.34 *** | 0.25 | −0.04 | 0.51 | ||
| Time 2 | −0.70 *** | 0.16 | −0.06 | 0.16 | 0.08 | 0.27 | −0.09 | 0.15 | −0.02 | 0.16 | ||
| Time 3 | −0.08 | 0.16 | 0.01 | 0.16 | −0.04 | 0.26 | 0.18 | 0.15 | 0.02 | 0.16 | ||
| Intervention Group × T2 | 1.09 *** | 0.24 | −0.28 | 0.23 | 0.82 * | 0.39 | 0.44 * | 0.22 | −0.17 | 0.24 | ||
| Intervention Group × T3 | 0.29 | 0.24 | −0.30 | 0.23 | 0.91 * | 0.39 | −0.00 | 0.22 | 0.01 | 0.24 | ||
| Control variables | ||||||||||||
| Marital status | −0.19 | 0.24 | −0.15 | 0.22 | −0.35 | 0.25 | 0.05 | 0.17 | 0.43 | 0.37 | ||
| Irregular shift (excl. Night) | −0.42 | 0.30 | 0.41 | 0.28 | −0.30 | 0.32 | −0.21 | 0.21 | −1.11 * | 0.49 | ||
| Nightshift | −0.65 | 0.35 | 0.41 | 0.33 | −0.56 | 0.37 | −0.32 | 0.25 | −1.02 | 0.57 | ||
| Variance components | ||||||||||||
| Individual | 0.17 ** | 0.06 | 0.15 ** | 0.06 | 0.05 | 0.08 | 0.06 | 0.03 | 0.60 *** | 0.16 | ||
| Occasion | 0.23 *** | 0.04 | 0.22 *** | 0.04 | 0.62 *** | 0.11 | 0.20 *** | 0.04 | 0.22 *** | 0.04 | ||
Note: Time 1 and the comparison group are reference categories.* p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001.