An integrated workplace mental health intervention in a policing context: Protocol for a cluster randomised control trial

Abstract

BackgroundIn this paper, we present the protocol for a cluster-randomised trial to evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of a workplace mental health intervention in the state-wide police department of the south-eastern Australian state of Victoria. n. The primary aims of the intervention are to improve psychosocial working conditions and mental health literacy, and secondarily to improve mental health and organisational outcomes.Methods/designThe intervention was designed collaboratively with Victoria Police based on a mixed methods pilot study, and combines multi-session leadership coaching for the senior officers within stations (e.g., Sergeants, Senior Sergeants) with tailored mental health literacy training for lower and upper ranks. Intervention effectiveness will be evaluated using a two-arm cluster-randomised trial design, with 12 police stations randomly assigned to the intervention and 12 to the non-intervention/usual care control condition. Data will be collected from all police members in each station (estimated at >20 per station). Psychosocial working conditions (e.g., supervisory support, job control, job demands), mental health literacy (e.g., knowledge, confidence in assisting someone who may have a mental health problem), and mental health will be assessed using validated measures. Organisational outcomes will include organisational depression disclosure norms, organisational cynicism, and station-level sickness absence rates. The trial will be conducted following CONSORT guidelines. Identifying data will not be collected in order to protect participant privacy and to optimise participation, hence changes in primary and secondary outcomes will be assessed using a two-sample t-test comparing summary measures by arm, with weighting by cluster size.DiscussionThis intervention is novel in its integration of stressor-reduction and mental health literacy-enhancing strategies. Effectiveness will be rigorously evaluated, and if positive results are observed, the intervention will be adapted across Victoria Police (total employees ~16,500) as well as possibly in other policing contexts, both nationally and internationally.Trial registrationCurrent Controlled Trials: ISRCTN82041334. Registered 24th July, 2014.

A New Online Mental Health Training Program for Workplace Managers: Pre-Post Pilot Study Assessing Feasibility, Usability, and Possible Effectiveness

“…A previous RCT of this manager training showed that it resulted in changes to managers’ confidence and reactive behavior that lasted for six months at least [ 22 ]. The second existing face-to-face program, which was more preventative in its approach, aimed to improve psychosocial working conditions within an organization by changing the managers’ behavior to best promote a mentally healthy workplace [ 36 ]; the principles within this program were based on the management competencies for preventing and reducing stress at work developed by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in the UK [ 37 ]. HeadCoach was developed by combining the content from these two face-to-face programs and transforming the material into a format compatible with online delivery.…”

“…HeadCoach integrates the components recognized as key to mental health training and aims to build managers’ confidence and ability to best support the mental health needs of the staff they supervise. The content for this online program has been derived from two separate face-to-face programs developed for managers with a focus on the mental health of their employees [ 22 , 32 ], which, when combined, encompass the recommended reactive and preventative components. We acknowledge that e-learning cannot offer some benefits that face-to-face contact with an educator may provide, and discussion with other participants in the course is often limited or not available.…”

A protocol for the HeadCoach trial: the development and evaluation of an online mental health training program for workplace managers

“…Rates of absenteeism will be measured using employees’ self-report of recent sickness absence, and items from the World Health Organisation HPQ (WHOHPQ) Presenteeism Questionnaire [ 29 ] will be used to measure employees’ work performance. Employees’ perceived level of support from managerial staff will be measured through the Psychosocial Safety Climate Scale [ 30 ] and the manager scales on a workplace social support scale [ 31 , 32 ]. Level of employee work engagement will be measured through a variation of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale used in previously conducted work engagement surveys [ 33 ].…”

Effects of a multicomponent workplace intervention programme with environmental changes on physical activity among Japanese white collar employees: a protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial

“…In another study 64 1.1% in the variance of leisure time physical activity was found in working groups among employees. Therefore, the estimated ICC for the primary outcome in this study was set to 0.01 and cluster size was set to 20 65 . An effect size of the intervention programme for individual physical activity was estimated based on a previous meta-analysis 17 and an cRCT.…”