Study protocol of a co-created primary organizational-level intervention with the aim to improve organizational and social working conditions and decrease stress within the construction industry – a controlled trial

Abstract

Background: Within construction industry, physical work exposures have long been recognized as possible determinants for musculoskeletal disorders, but less attention has been given the increasing organizational and social work hazards and stress within this industry. There is to date a lack of knowledge about how to improve organizational and social working conditions and decrease stress within the construction industry. Methods: This paper outlines the design of a controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a co-created organizational-level intervention with the aim to improve role clarity, quantitative demands, staffing, planning, team effectiveness, psychosocial safety climate and stress. Two regions (> 700 employees) within one large construction company in Sweden will participate as intervention and control group. Further we present the design of the process evaluation assessing fidelity, support from managers, readiness for change and contextual factors. We will utilize questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, observations and documentation as means for data collection, hence a mixed methods approach is applied. Discussion: The study is expected to contribute to the understanding of how adverse organizational and social working conditions and stress can be improved within the construction industry. By applying co-creation we wish to develop an intervention and implementation strategies that fit to the context, are in line with the needs of endusers and are supported by all management levels-all of which are highlighted features in successful workplace interventions.

A Participatory Intervention to Improve the Psychosocial Work Environment and Mental Health in Human Service Organisations. A Mixed Methods Evaluation Study

“…This implies that researchers and practitioners, before implementing an intervention, need to thoroughly explore the context [21] and allow for tailoring of the intervention into the context. Examples of this are the use of formative evaluations with the aim of describing the perceived need for change among the end-users and the use of co-creation as a way to tailor the intervention, take contextual factors into consideration and enhance participation [57,58].…”

Co-Creating an Occupational Health Intervention within the Construction Industry in Sweden: Stakeholder Perceptions of the Process and Output

“…This qualitative study was nested within a controlled trial of an occupational health intervention to improve the psychosocial work environment and decrease stress. Details of the controlled trial are published elsewhere [ 28 ]. Two regions in Sweden participated in the study, one of which was the target group of the co-creation process.…”

“…The goals of the co-creation were to (a) define goals, intervention activities, and implementation strategies, (b) enhance readiness for change and tailor the intervention into the context, (c) knowledge exchange, and (d) improve the dissemination of findings. We applied co-creation as a means of achieving high implementation fidelity, i.e., to ensure the intervention was delivered as intended and the end-users adhered to it [ 28 ]. We used appointed representatives, i.e., members of the Health and Safety advisory Board (HSB), explained below.…”

“…To improve these factors, structured roundmaking, (i.e., to make structured and collective planning for all elements of the production) and duties clarification were chosen as intervention activities. For detailed information, see the study protocol [ 28 ].…”

“…Although many benefits of involving stakeholders in developing the intervention and implementation have been proposed [ 27 ], few studies have evaluated the effects of co-created interventions [ 15 , 19 ] and participants’ experience of the co-creation process. This study is part of a larger project involving developing, implementing, and evaluating an occupational health intervention to improve the psychosocial working conditions and decrease stress within a construction company in Sweden [ 28 ]. In this study, we seek to answer the following research question: What were the participants’ (a) experiences of the co-creation and learning processes and (b) perceptions of the intervention activities and implementation strategy?…”