Effects of participatory workplace improvement program on stress-related biomarkers and self-reported stress among university hospital nurses: a preliminary study

Abstract

Although participatory workplace improvement programs are known to provide favorable effects on high stress occupations like nursing, no studies have confirmed its effect using biomarkers. The aim of this study was to determine whether a participatory workplace improvement program would decrease stress-related symptoms as evaluated by biomarkers and self-reported stress among hospital nurses. Three actions to alleviate job stress, which were determined through focus group interviews and voting, were undertaken for two months. A total of 31 female Japanese nurses underwent measurement of inflammatory markers, autonomic nervous activity (ANA), and perceived job stress (PJS) at three-time points; before the program (T1), within a week after the completion of the program (T2), and three months after the program (T3). A series of inflammatory markers (Interferon-γ, Interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-12/23p40) decreased significantly at T2, and IL-12/23p40 and IL-15 significantly decreased at T3 compared to T1, while ANA and PJS remained unchanged. Our participatory program exerted beneficial effects in reducing inflammatory responses, but not for ANA and PJS. Further investigations with a better study design, i.e., a randomized controlled trial, and a larger sample size are warranted to determine what exerted beneficial effects on inflammatory markers and why other outcomes remained unchanged.

Giving Social Support at Work May Reduce Inflammation on Employees Themselves: A Participatory Workplace Intervention Study Among Japanese Hospital Nurses

“…Although several in ammatory markers had decreased in Group 1 after the intervention, another physiological measure (ANA) remained unchanged in the same group. The plausible explanation is that positive outcomes may emerge at different timing in each measure [3]. Past participatory workplace intervention studies did not also obtain positive effects simultaneously in all stress-related measures they used in the intervention group [20][21][22]25], despite longer intervention period compared to our study.…”

“…Organizational-level participatory workplace intervention, which aims to improve work environment and employees' health, is more likely to produce sustainable effects than interventions targeting an individual because employees take an active part in identifying problems and giving possible solutions by themselves [1,2]. In our previous study, we reported that a 5-month lasting organizational-level participatory workplace intervention was effective in reducing stress-related in ammatory markers as represented by interferon (IFN)-γ, interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-12/23p40, and IL-15 among 31 Japanese female nurses [3]. During this course, we recognized that our intervention might have stimulated prosocial helping behaviors like giving social support to others in some participants.…”

Giving social support at work may reduce inflammation on employees themselves: a participatory workplace intervention study among Japanese hospital nurses

“…We carried out a participatory workplace improvement intervention [9][10][11][12] from August 2017 to February 2018. Briefly, the participatory workplace improvement intervention is that employees at the workplace actively take part in identifying workplace problems, find feasible actions/solutions, and work towards improvement (detailed procedure is presented in our previous paper 2) ). We recruited nurses working at a hospital (n=144) in the southern part of Japan.…”

“…Although several inflammatory markers had a decrease in Group 1 after the intervention, another physiological measure (ANA) remained unchanged in the same group. The plausible explanation is that positive outcomes may emerge at different timing in each measure 2) . Past participatory workplace intervention studies did not also obtain positive effects simultaneously in all stress-related measures they used in the intervention group [10][11][12] , despite a longer intervention period compared to our study.…”

“…Organizational-level participatory workplace intervention, which aims to improve work environment and employees’ health, is more likely to produce sustainable effects than interventions targeting an individual because employees take an active part in identifying problems and giving possible solutions by themselves 1 ) . In our previous study, we reported that a 5-month lasting organizational-level participatory workplace intervention was effective in reducing stress-related inflammatory markers as represented by interferon (IFN)-γ, interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-12/23p40, and IL-15 among 31 Japanese female nurses 2 ) . During this course, we recognized that our intervention might have stimulated prosocial helping behaviors like giving social support to others in some participants.…”