BackgroundThe majority of people experiencing mental-health problems do not seek help, and the stigma of mental illness is considered a major barrier to seeking appropriate treatment. More targeted interventions (e.g. at the workplace) seem to be a promising and necessary supplement to public campaigns, but little is known about their effectiveness. The aim of this systematic review is to provide an overview of the evidence on the effectiveness of interventions targeting the stigma of mental illness at the workplace.MethodsSixteen studies were included after the literature review. The effectiveness of anti-stigma interventions at the workplace was assessed by examining changes in: (1) knowledge of mental disorders and their treatment and recognition of signs/symptoms of mental illness, (2) attitudes towards people with mental-health problems, and (3) supportive behavior.ResultsThe results indicate that anti-stigma interventions at the workplace can lead to improved employee knowledge and supportive behavior towards people with mental-health problems. The effects of interventions on employees’ attitudes were mixed, but generally positive. The quality of evidence varied across studies.ConclusionsThis highlights the need for more rigorous, higher-quality evaluations conducted with more diverse samples of the working population. Future research should explore to what extent changes in employees’ knowledge, attitudes, and supportive behavior lead to affected individuals seeking help earlier. Such investigations are likely to inform important stakeholders about the potential benefits of current workplace anti-stigma interventions and provide guidance for the development and implementation of effective future interventions.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12888-015-0706-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The present study offers an overview of the evidence on the effectiveness of brief mental health and well-being interventions in organizational settings and comparison of their effects with corresponding interventions of common (ie, longer) duration. It discusses the findings in the light of quality appraisal of included studies and emphasizes the need for further research with methodologically rigorous study designs and enhanced reporting of methods. Affiliation 99Review Scand J Work Environ Health. 2017;43(2):99-108. doi:10.5271/sjweh.3616 A systematic review of brief mental health and well-being interventions in organizational settings Objectives The aim of the systematic review was to provide an overview of the evidence on the effectiveness of brief interventions targeting mental health and well-being in organizational settings and compare their effects with corresponding interventions of common (ie, longer) duration.Methods An extensive systematic search was conducted using the Medline and PsycINFO databases for the period of 2000-2016. Randomized-controlled trials (RCT) and quasi-experimental studies evaluating primary or secondary brief interventions carried out in the workplace settings were included. Subsequently, common interventions matching brief interventions by type and assessed outcomes were included. The methodological quality of included studies was appraised using NICE guidelines, and the best evidence synthesis approach was applied. ResultsThe review identified 11 brief interventions and 9 corresponding common interventions. Included studies varied substantially in sample size and characteristics, methodological quality, duration of follow-up, types of intervention, and assessed outcomes. All but one study evaluating brief interventions had high risk of bias. No evidence was found on the effectiveness of brief stress management, relaxation, massage, mindfulness meditation, or multimodal interventions. We found limited evidence on the effectiveness of brief positive psychology interventions.Conclusions Our review highlights the need for high-quality studies evaluating brief mental health and wellbeing interventions in organizational settings. Future studies should use methodologically rigorous designs and improved reporting of methods and results to provide conclusive evidence on the effectiveness and sustainability of the intervention effects.Key terms brief intervention; mental health; occupational health; organization; prevention; promotion; workplace; workplace intervention. The majority of people spend a great part of their lives at work, therefore it is very important to address determinants of workplace-related mental health and develop effective strategies to preserve it. One of the major risk factors leading to poor mental health and well-being is work-related stress, affecting more than 40 million individuals across the European Union (1). Long-term exposure to work-related stress is associated with an increased risk of depression and may contribute to a range of other debilitatin...

Office workers (OWs) are prone to insufficient physical activity (PA), which increases their risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and impaired physical health. The Physical Activity-related Health Competence (PAHCO) model holds the potential to facilitate a healthy physically active lifestyle. Therefore, in this study, we investigate the interplay between PAHCO, leisure-time PA, physical health, and MetS in OWs in Germany. In a cross-sectional study, OWs (N = 316, 25% female) completed self-report questionnaires along with an occupational health checkup to examine their Metabolic Syndrome Severity Score (MetSSS) values. Structural equation modeling indicated a strong positive association between PAHCO and leisure-time PA and a small positive association with physical health. PAHCO showed a considerable negative association with the MetSSS. Leisure-time PA was a positive mediator for the PAHCO–physical health association but was not a significant mediator for the association between PAHCO and the MetSSS. These findings underscore the importance of PAHCO in the context of leisure-time PA, physical health, and MetS in OWs. Furthermore, our findings highlight the health-enhancing value of the qualitative aspects of PA, such as motivational and volitional components in PA participation, with respect to physical health and MetS.

BackgroundTo counteract the negative impact of mental health problems on business, organizations are increasingly investing in mental health intervention measures. However, those services are often underused, which, to a great extent, can be attributed to fear of stigmatization. Nevertheless, so far only a few workplace interventions have specifically targeted stigma, and evidence on their effectiveness is limited.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to develop and evaluate a digital game-based training program for managers to promote employee mental health and reduce mental illness stigma at work.MethodsWe describe the empirical development of Leadership Training in Mental Health Promotion (LMHP), a digital game-based training program for leaders. A 1-group pre-post design and a 3-month follow-up were used for training evaluation. We applied multilevel growth models to investigate change over time in the dependent variables knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy, and intentions to promote employee mental health in 48 managers of a global enterprise in the United Kingdom. Participants were mainly male (44/48, 92%) and ranged in age from 32 to 58 (mean 46.0, SD 7.2) years.ResultsWe found a positive impact of the Web-based training program on managers’ knowledge of mental health and mental illness (P<.001), on attitudes toward people with mental health problems (P<.01), and on their self-efficacy to deal with mental health situations at work (P<.001), with the exception of intentions to promote employee mental health, which was initially high.ConclusionsResults provide first evidence of the effectiveness of LMHP to positively affect managers’ skills to promote employee mental health at work. Furthermore, the high rate of participation in LMHP (48/54, 89%) supports the use of digital game-based interventions to increase user engagement and user experience in mental health programs at work.

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