The Working Mind: A Meta-Analysis of a Workplace Mental Health and Stigma Reduction Program

Abstract

Objectives: This article describes a meta-analysis of The Working Mind, a program that was developed to address workplace mental health. The basic program addresses issues related to stigma in the workplace, the use of a mental health continuum model to evaluate signs and indicators of mental illness, and the development of coping skills. A manager version further addresses issues such as how to work with an employee who struggles with mental health issues, workplace accommodations, and overall management issues. Methods: A total of 8 replications evaluated program effects on stigma, self-reported resilience, and coping abilities. Results: The implementation of the program was associated with moderate reductions in stigma and increased self-reported resilience and coping abilities. These results were generally consistent across settings and showed nonsignificant differences when various potential moderators of the program were evaluated (e.g., employees versus managers, public versus private sector, gender, age). Qualitative comments collected at the end of the program suggested that many program participants found the program to be helpful and that the skills were being employed. Conclusions: Directions for future research, including the need for a randomized trial of The Working Mind, are discussed. Overall, the results suggest that the program is successful in its aims, but further inquiry is encouraged. Abré gé Objectifs : Le présent article décrit une méta-analyse de L'esprit au travail, un programme qui a été élaboré pour aborder la santé mentale en milieu de travail. Le programme de base traite des enjeux liés à la stigmatisation en milieu de travail, de l'utilisation du modèle du continuum en santé mentale pour évaluer les signes et les indicateurs de maladie mentale, et de l'acquisition de capacités d'adaptation. Une version destinée aux gestionnaires aborde en plus des questions comme comment travailler avec un employé aux prises avec des problèmes de santé mentale, les adaptations du milieu de travail, et les questions générales de gestion. Mé thodes : Au total, huit réplications ont évalué les effets du programme sur la stigmatisation, la résilience auto-déclarée et les capacités d'adaptation. Ré sultats : La mise en oeuvre du programme était associée à des réductions modérées de la stigmatisation, à une résilience auto-déclarée et à des capacités d'adaptation accrues. Ces résultats étaient généralement constants dans tous les contextes, et indiquaient des différences non significatives quand divers modérateurs potentiels du programme étaient évalués (p. ex.,

Factors that Influence the Decision to Seek Help in a Police Population

“…Several authors identify early exposure to frequent potentially traumatic events within the first year on the job [29][30][31]. It is well known in the literature that police personnel experience higher rates of PTSD than the general public [10,[32][33][34]. Research shows that the impact of exposure may lead to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, relational stress, impaired social judgement and decreased work performance [4,33].…”

“…In a large Canadian study on prevalence rates of traumatic exposure among public safety personnel [33], RCMP participants reported the following: sudden violent death (95.7%), serious transportation accident (95.9%), physical assault (95.4%), sudden accidental death (95.1%), fire or explosion (88.4%), assault with a weapon (80.7%), sexual assault (80.7%) and severe human suffering (79.4%) to name the top 8 categories out of 16. According to the authors [34], "Public safety personnel who were RCMP (11.64), paramedics, (11.59) and municipal/provincial police (11.36) tended to report the highest mean levels of diverse exposure and the frequency of exposure ranged from 96.6% experiencing the event fewer than 6 times up to 89% experiencing the event 11+ times" (p. 42 and p. 48). In an earlier study by Carleton and colleagues [9], the authors found several demographic factors that contributed to the development of mental health problems: being unmarried, living in Western Canada, having less than a full university degree, having more years of service and being female were all risk factors (p. 3).…”

The remains of the taboo: experiences, attitudes, and knowledge about menopause in the workplace

“…Providing information on the menopause at work is an important mechanism through which awareness can be raised and gradual change introduced 41 either did not provide this information or were unsure (n = 4384), the vast majority said they would like it to be available at work. This strongly suggests to employers and managers alike that the provision of basic information on the menopause, for example comparable to information on mental health or other aspects of health and safety at work 45 , would not only be well-received but could potentially increase satisfaction in the workplace 46 .…”

Long-Term Attitude Change After a Single-Day Manager Training Addressing Mental Health at the Workplace

“…With medium-to-large effect sizes, SMIs have shown positive influence on participants' mental health parameters [28,29]. Also, investigations concerning stigma reduction programs have been found to be effective in improving workplace attitudes [30,31].…”