Periodic Reporting for period 3 - MENTUPP (Mental Health Promotion and Intervention in Occupational Settings: MENTUPP)
Período documentado: 2023-01-01 hasta 2023-12-31
A negative working environment may lead to physical and mental health problems, harmful use of substances or alcohol, absenteeism, and lack of productivity. Psychosocial stresses in the workplace, such as job uncertainty, low job control, poor management, harassment and bullying, poor communication and long hours have been shown to undermine mental health. One in five European workers reports poor mental well-being and stress. Depression and anxiety disorders are the most prevalent mental health difficulties in the workplace in the EU, cost the global economy €1 trillion each year in lost productivity.
MENTUPP has developed, implemented, and evaluated a multilevel evidence-based intervention to promote good mental health and prevent mental illness, targeting both clinical and non-clinical problems, as well as tackling stigmatisation, in SMEs across construction, health and ICT sectors. While SMEs are the backbone of Europe's economy and represent more than 90% of all businesses in the EU, they commonly do not have comparable employee welfare and mental health resources compared to larger organisations, which warrants the development of mental health promotion tools that are easy to implement. The primary aim of MENTUPP was to improve mental health in the workplace, with a secondary aim to reduce depression and suicidal behaviour.
MENTUPP had an interdisciplinary consortium of world leading experts in mental health in occupational settings, depression, anxiety, stress, suicide prevention and stigma. MENTUPP has implemented and rigorously evaluated the MENTUPP intervention in a pilot study and a cluster randomised controlled trial (cRCT) in nine countries across Europe, plus Australia. Long-lasting sustainability and impact are key priorities of the project, with activities dedicated to support long-term use of MENTUPP in SMEs across Europe and Australia post project end.
MENTUPP has developed, implemented, and evaluated a multilevel evidence-based intervention to promote good mental health and prevent mental illness, targeting both clinical and non-clinical problems, as well as tackling stigmatisation, in SMEs across construction, health and ICT sectors. While SMEs are the backbone of Europe's economy and represent more than 90% of all businesses in the EU, they commonly do not have comparable employee welfare and mental health resources compared to larger organisations, which warrants the development of mental health promotion tools that are easy to implement. The primary aim of MENTUPP was to improve mental health in the workplace, with a secondary aim to reduce depression and suicidal behaviour.
MENTUPP had an interdisciplinary consortium of world leading experts in mental health in occupational settings, depression, anxiety, stress, suicide prevention and stigma. MENTUPP has implemented and rigorously evaluated the MENTUPP intervention in a pilot study and a cluster randomised controlled trial (cRCT) in nine countries across Europe, plus Australia. Long-lasting sustainability and impact are key priorities of the project, with activities dedicated to support long-term use of MENTUPP in SMEs across Europe and Australia post project end.
MENTUPP was delivered in 4 phases: development phase (multilevel intervention and novel online platform (MENTUPP Hub) developed); first implementation phase (small scale SME Pilot study); the second (optimised) implementation phase (interventions enhanced and optimised based on Pilot evaluation); phase 3 (larger scale cRCT in 9 countries); and phase 4 (preparation for replication post-cRCT). In years 1-3, MENTUPP made significant progress on the first 3 phases, with the cRCT commencing in September 2022. In year 3, the cRCT concluded, the final optimisation in preparation for post-project implementation was completed, as was the evaluation of the trial.
The knowledge gained from the systematic reviews, expert consultation and guidance report informed the design of a comprehensive, multilevel intervention targeting both clinical and non-clinical mental health problems, and mental (ill-) health stigma.
Overall, 67 SMEs were recruited to participate in the cRCT and were randomised (33 intervention SMEs and 34 control SMEs). In RP3, 61 SMEs (31 intervention SMEs and 30 control SMEs) participated in both the 6- and 9-month follow-up data collection time points respectively.
cRCT Outcome Evaluation: suggest that the MENTUPP intervention is able to induce changes in employees in terms of wellbeing and mental health.
Interviews with the SME champions and the focus group with the research officers revealed that MENTUPP did not lead to any major tangible or specific changes in the participating organizations in the intervention group. However, organizational change was not the primary focus of MENTUPP.
cRCT Process Evaluation: In each of the SMEs allocated to the intervention condition (n=31), an information session had to be organised for employees and employers to inform them about the intervention and the data collection. However, this did not happen consistently in all SMEs: in 9 SMEs no such sessions were organised and in another 9 SMEs the sessions were given online. Participation in these sessions was also moderate: only 29% of employees attended them. Interviews with champions led to a better understanding of what factors hindered the implementation of MENTUPP during the trial. At the level of the organisation, support for MENTUPP generally decreased over time due to lower leadership involvement, organizational changes, a change in the champion responsible for engaging employees to actively participate in MENTUPP, and a high workload. At the individual level, the barriers were: a lack of time due to the high workload in the organisation, stigmatising attitudes, employees working in the field and thus rarely having face-to-face interactions with colleagues, and some employees having insufficient technological and/or mental health literacy to properly use the intervention.
Economic evaluation: The health benefits can be purchased by an employer at a relatively low cost. However, further research is needed because most cost estimates are based on data from only half of the participating SMEs. Due to this large amount of dropout, it was not possible to estimate the costs for each country separately.
MENTUPP actively disseminated its work through well-established social media channels, interactions with SMEs and key stakeholders, through press releases, conferences, meetings and academic papers. MENTUPP (at Dec 2023) has published 11 peer reviewed papers in leading journals, with more in the pipeline. Three MENTUPP Policy Briefs have also been published and the MENTUPP Final Online conference (12 Dec 2023) attracted 285 global registrations.
The knowledge gained from the systematic reviews, expert consultation and guidance report informed the design of a comprehensive, multilevel intervention targeting both clinical and non-clinical mental health problems, and mental (ill-) health stigma.
Overall, 67 SMEs were recruited to participate in the cRCT and were randomised (33 intervention SMEs and 34 control SMEs). In RP3, 61 SMEs (31 intervention SMEs and 30 control SMEs) participated in both the 6- and 9-month follow-up data collection time points respectively.
cRCT Outcome Evaluation: suggest that the MENTUPP intervention is able to induce changes in employees in terms of wellbeing and mental health.
Interviews with the SME champions and the focus group with the research officers revealed that MENTUPP did not lead to any major tangible or specific changes in the participating organizations in the intervention group. However, organizational change was not the primary focus of MENTUPP.
cRCT Process Evaluation: In each of the SMEs allocated to the intervention condition (n=31), an information session had to be organised for employees and employers to inform them about the intervention and the data collection. However, this did not happen consistently in all SMEs: in 9 SMEs no such sessions were organised and in another 9 SMEs the sessions were given online. Participation in these sessions was also moderate: only 29% of employees attended them. Interviews with champions led to a better understanding of what factors hindered the implementation of MENTUPP during the trial. At the level of the organisation, support for MENTUPP generally decreased over time due to lower leadership involvement, organizational changes, a change in the champion responsible for engaging employees to actively participate in MENTUPP, and a high workload. At the individual level, the barriers were: a lack of time due to the high workload in the organisation, stigmatising attitudes, employees working in the field and thus rarely having face-to-face interactions with colleagues, and some employees having insufficient technological and/or mental health literacy to properly use the intervention.
Economic evaluation: The health benefits can be purchased by an employer at a relatively low cost. However, further research is needed because most cost estimates are based on data from only half of the participating SMEs. Due to this large amount of dropout, it was not possible to estimate the costs for each country separately.
MENTUPP actively disseminated its work through well-established social media channels, interactions with SMEs and key stakeholders, through press releases, conferences, meetings and academic papers. MENTUPP (at Dec 2023) has published 11 peer reviewed papers in leading journals, with more in the pipeline. Three MENTUPP Policy Briefs have also been published and the MENTUPP Final Online conference (12 Dec 2023) attracted 285 global registrations.
MENTUPP advanced state-of-the-art in workplace mental health promotion and interventions. This multi-component intervention, developed in collaboration with key stakeholders from public health to industry bodies to end-users, tackles both clinical and non-clinical areas as well as destigmatisation, covering education, prevention, self-assessment, support provision and referral.
MENTUPP has been rigorously tested in a cRCT across 9 countries, looking at mental health outcomes, cost effectiveness and implementation factors to establish a robust evidence base. This evidence base supports continued use in the project's SMEs and further replication in new SMEs and countries. It has also informed our engagement with policymakers and other key stakeholders, making sure that interventions to improve workplace mental health are a policy priority.
The MENTUPP intervention goes beyond existing interventions (targeting individuals only) by simultaneously targeting multiple facets of mental health conditions through a single intervention, using approaches shown to be effective in the literature and based on our proven track record. The intervention targets employees, supervisors and workplace leaders and is housed in the MENTUPP Hub, as used by SME participants used for the Pilot study and cRCT, and to be maintained post project. The MENTUPP project has developed an evidence-based approach that SMEs can trust will work and that provides added value to settings where resources and expertise to deliver workplace mental health interventions are a challenge.
MENTUPP has been rigorously tested in a cRCT across 9 countries, looking at mental health outcomes, cost effectiveness and implementation factors to establish a robust evidence base. This evidence base supports continued use in the project's SMEs and further replication in new SMEs and countries. It has also informed our engagement with policymakers and other key stakeholders, making sure that interventions to improve workplace mental health are a policy priority.
The MENTUPP intervention goes beyond existing interventions (targeting individuals only) by simultaneously targeting multiple facets of mental health conditions through a single intervention, using approaches shown to be effective in the literature and based on our proven track record. The intervention targets employees, supervisors and workplace leaders and is housed in the MENTUPP Hub, as used by SME participants used for the Pilot study and cRCT, and to be maintained post project. The MENTUPP project has developed an evidence-based approach that SMEs can trust will work and that provides added value to settings where resources and expertise to deliver workplace mental health interventions are a challenge.