Assessing Organizational Readiness for a Participatory Occupational Health/Health Promotion Intervention in Skilled Nursing Facilities

Abstract

The long-term care sector is characterized by high morbidity and employee turnover, along with associated costs. Effective health protection and health promotion are important to improve physical and psychosocial well-being of caregivers. Assessment of organizational readiness for change is an essential precursor to the successful implementation of workplace programs addressing work climate, structure of tasks and relationships, and other issues that may be perceived as challenging by some within the institution. This study qualitatively assessed readiness of five skilled nursing facilities for a participatory occupational health/health promotion intervention. Selection criteria were developed to screen for program feasibility and ability to conduct prospective evaluations, and information was collected from managers and employees (interviews and focus groups). Three centers were selected for the program, and the first year of formative evaluation and intervention experience was then reviewed to evaluate and modify our selection criteria after the fact. Lessons learned include adding assessment of communication and the structure of problem solving to our selection criteria, improving methods to assess management support in a concrete (potentially nonverbal) form, and obtaining a stated financial commitment and resources to enable the team to function. Assessment of organizational readiness for change is challenging, although necessary to implement effective and sustainable health promotion programs in specific organizations.

Workplace Participatory Occupational Health/Health Promotion Program: Facilitators and Barriers Observed in Three Nursing Homes

“…The program’s focus went beyond traditional health promotion activities (e.g., nutrition, exercise, smoking, weight loss), but also included work organization, psychosocial stress, ergonomics concerns, and other occupational health and safety issues (Punnett et al, 2009). The design of the participatory program has been described previously (Zhang, Flum, West, & Punnett, 2015). …”

Temáticas investigadas pelo Grupo de Estudos sobre a Saúde do Trabalhador de Enfermagem e Saúde [Research topics of the Study Group on Occupatonal Health of Nursing and Health Personnel]

“…As pesquisas conduzidas no GESTES apontam para o papel dos gerentes de enfermagem no sentido de colaborar e influenciar mudanças necessárias para prevenção, reabilitação e promoção da saúde do trabalhador de enfermagem. O suporte aos gestores é essencial para mudanças organizacionais, com implementação de programas de promoção à saúde no local de trabalho, para o bem-estar físico e psicossocial de profissionais de saúde 35 . De acordo com a Organização Mundial da Saúde, em um ambiente de trabalho saudável, trabalhadores e gestores colaboram em um processo de melhoria contínua, protegendo e promovendo a saúde, a segurança e o bem-estar dos trabalhadores e para a sustentabilidade do ambiente laboral 36 .…”

Introducing occupational health management in the German Armed Forces

“…OHM investments require additional staffing as well as organizational and material resources. Further, assessment of readiness for change as an essential precursor to the successful implementation of WHP/OHM might be helpful ( Zhang et al , 2015 ).…”