Mental Health Promotion and Intervention in Occupational Settings: Protocol for a Pilot Study of the MENTUPP Intervention

Abstract

Depression and anxiety are the most prevalent mental health difficulties in the EU, causing immense suffering and costing the global economy EUR 1 trillion each year in lost productivity. Employees in construction, health and information and communications technology have an elevated risk of mental health difficulties. Most mental health interventions for the workplace have been targeted at larger companies and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are often overlooked despite most people being employed in SMEs. The MENTUPP intervention aims to improve mental health and wellbeing and reduce depression, anxiety, and suicidal behaviour. The MENTUPP project involves the development, implementation, and evaluation of a multilevel intervention targeting both clinical and non-clinical mental health issues and combating the stigma of mental (ill-)health, with a specific focus on SMEs. The intervention is underpinned by a framework of how to create a mentally healthy workplace by employing an integrated approach and has been informed by several systematic reviews designed to understand organisational mental health interventions and a consultation survey with key experts in the area. The intervention is facilitated through the MENTUPP Hub, an online platform that presents interactive psychoeducational materials, toolkits, and links to additional resources in an accessible and user-friendly manner. This paper presents the pilot study protocol for delivering the MENTUPP intervention in eight European countries and Australia. Each intervention country will aim to recruit at least 23 participants in 1–3 SMEs in one of the three high-risk sectors. The central aim of the pilot study will be to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and uptake of the MENTUPP intervention across the target SMEs. The findings will contribute to devising the protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial (cRCT) of the MENTUPP intervention. Findings from this study will also be used to inform the optimisation phase of the MENTUPP intervention which will aim to improve the materials and the implementation of the intervention as well as enhancing the evaluation strategy which will be employed for the cRCT.

Supporting employees with mental illness and reducing mental illness-related stigma in the workplace: an expert survey

“…Results from experts representing the three sectors of construction, health, and ICT sectors, were consistent with responses from the experts with more general expertise. The results of the MENTUPP pilot trial [67] will show whether the intervention is similarly effective across sectors, but the consistency of expert responses suggests that our findings may be applicable in other workplace settings, although further research is needed.…”

The role of work in suicidal behavior – uncovering priorities for research and prevention

“…There is a lack of interventions with upstream primary-level approaches to improve the quality of psychosocial working conditions in an effort to prevent mental health problems and suicidal behavior that complement secondary and tertiary-level workplace interventions ( 33 , 36 ). Increased attention has especially been placed on multi-level workplace interventions that target changes in the entire organization (eg, workplace modifications to reduce stressors and enhance resources, mental health policies and cultural changes in relation to open discussion about mental health), among leaders/managers (eg, supervisor awareness training and skills training to handle mental health issues and to create healthy working conditions), in groups and teams (eg, peer support systems), and individual workers (increasing knowledge and resilience through education and training) with a range of promising projects underway, including large-scale EU Horizon 2020 funded projects such as MENTUPP and H-Work ( 38 , 39 ). While the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to increased mental health challenges for some populations and workplace settings, in particular among people with pre-existing mental health conditions, proactive and innovative mental health interventions are required in the workplace, including digital intervention and prevention programs ( 38 , 40 ).…”

Developing a framework for evaluation: a Theory of Change for complex workplace mental health interventions

“…Literature has shown that mental health promotion interventions in the workplace have been strongly associated with reduced absenteeism, presenteeism, and increased productivity [ 12 , 13 ]. However, there appears to be a lack of workplace-based interventions which promote mental health, particularly in the context of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) [ 14 ].…”