The Work Intervention Network (WIN): Foundations of a Holistic Vocational Intervention

Abstract

The aim of the current study was to examine whether the key constructs targeted in the Work Intervention Network (WIN) intervention uniquely predicted well-being outcomes and mediated relations between un/underemployment and these outcomes. Using data from a sample of 462 adults in the U.S., we positioned employment status as a predictor of life satisfaction, well-being, and psychological distress. We also tested four mediators of these relations that operationalized targets in the WIN intervention – career engagement, social support, self-care, and self-blame. Employment status indirectly predicted life satisfaction, life meaning, and psychological distress via self-care and self-blame. Career engagement mediated the relation between employment status and psychological distress but in an unexpected direction. Social support was not directly predicted by employment status but predicted life satisfaction and life meaning. Results provided initial support for the WIN intervention and corroborate the contention that employment status is an important predictor of well-being.

An Evaluation of an Integrative Intervention for Work and Mental Health: The WIN Program

“…To assess outcomes related to the Planning, Exploring, and Engaging in Job Search workshop, we created five items measuring engagement related to the specific set of tasks of managing unemployment and the job search process. Accordingly, the new items were based on current theory, research, and practice on the challenges of seeking work in the current context (e.g., Autin et al, 2022; Blustein, 2019; Sharone, 2013; Wanberg et al, 2020a). Participants responded to items on a seven-point Likert scale ranging from (1) Strongly Disagree to (7) Strongly Agree with higher scores reflecting greater levels of job search engagement.…”

“…Third, the WIN program focuses on prevention as an intervention strategy, with the intention of enhancing clients’ capacities to manage stress and improve self-care strategies. Fourth, building on research that affirms the intersection of macro-level and social justice frameworks in understanding unemployment (e.g., Blustein, 2019; Sharone, 2013, in press), the WIN intervention focuses on reducing shame and self-blame, which is one of the most adverse outcomes for jobseekers (Autin et al, 2022; Cinamon & Blustein, 2020; Sharone, in press). Taken together, the WIN program represents a new paradigm in interventions for jobseekers that offers evidence-based tools for preventing and mitigating the negative impact of the job search.…”

“…Examining these theoretical contentions, a recent study tested the theoretical framework of the WIN program by developing a structural model of the core constructs that inform the development of the intervention (Autin et al, 2022). As reflected in the theoretical framework of the WIN program, the model examined the contribution of un/underemployment in predicting life satisfaction, well-being, and psychological distress.…”

“…In addition, workers facing precarious conditions (such as lack of stability, short-term contracts, gig work) experience mental health and social challenges that parallel the lives of unemployed and underemployed individuals (Allan et al, 2021). In this study, we describe and evaluate a newly developed intervention that seeks to support workers who are seeking jobs in a period of considerable precarity and disruption (Autin et al, 2022; Blustein et al, 2021). While the samples used in this study include primarily people who are unemployed and underemployed, the cohering link among the sample is searching for a job, hence our use of the term jobseekers as the designation for participants in the WIN program.…”

“…The inspiration for the development of a new intervention paradigm for jobseekers emerged during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, which were characterized by massive unemployment and underemployment across many sectors of the globe (Blustein et al, 2021). The major disruptions in the workplace, coupled with other losses in relation to health, financial stability, family relationships, and psychosocial functioning coalesced to create a discernible sense of crisis and precarity across various domains of life, including mental and physical health, work, social and racial justice, relationships, and existential survival (Autin et al, 2022; Duffy et al, 2022). In this context, we developed the Work Intervention Network (WIN) program to support jobseekers who increasingly face losses that cut across interrelated aspects of their lives (Blustein et al, 2021).…”