Protocol for a feasibility randomised controlled study of a multicomponent intervention to promote a sustainable return to work of workers on long-term sick leave — PROWORK: PROmoting a Sustainable and Healthy Return to WORK
Abstract Background The cost of sickness absence has major social, psychological and financial implications for individuals and organisations. Return-to-work (RTW) interventions that support good quality communication and contact with the workplace can reduce the length of sickness absence by betwee...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
BMC
2022-08-01
|
| Series: | Pilot and Feasibility Studies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40814-022-01143-8 |
| _version_ | 1798038787613261824 |
|---|---|
| author | Veronica Varela-Mato Kate Godfree Anwar Adem Holly Blake Craig Bartle Guy Daly Juliet Hassard Richard Kneller Caroline Meyer Sean Russell Steven Marwaha Charlotte Kershaw Kristina Newman Joanna Yarker Louise Thomson Fehmidah Munir |
| author_facet | Veronica Varela-Mato Kate Godfree Anwar Adem Holly Blake Craig Bartle Guy Daly Juliet Hassard Richard Kneller Caroline Meyer Sean Russell Steven Marwaha Charlotte Kershaw Kristina Newman Joanna Yarker Louise Thomson Fehmidah Munir |
| author_sort | Veronica Varela-Mato |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background The cost of sickness absence has major social, psychological and financial implications for individuals and organisations. Return-to-work (RTW) interventions that support good quality communication and contact with the workplace can reduce the length of sickness absence by between 15 and 30 days. However, initiatives promoting a sustainable return to work for workers with poor mental health on long-term sickness absence across small, medium and large enterprises (SMEs and LEs) are limited. This paper describes the protocol of a pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT) to test the feasibility of implementing a RTW intervention across SMEs and LEs across all sectors. Methods and design A two-arm feasibility RCT with a 4-month intervention will be conducted in SMEs and LE enterprises from the Midlands region, UK. At least 8 organisations (4 controls and interventions), and at least 60 workers and/or managers, will be recruited and randomised into the intervention and control group (30 interventions, 30 controls). Workers on long-term sickness absence (LTSA) (between 8 and 50 days) and managers with a worker on LTSA will be eligible to participate. The intervention is a behavioural change programme, including a managers and workers RTW toolkit, focused on supporting sickness absence and RTW through the provision of knowledge, problem-solving, action planning, goal setting and positive communication that leads to a sustainable RTW. Organisations assigned to the control group will continue with their usual practice. Measurements of mental health, RTW, work outcomes, quality-of-life, workplace support and communication and other demographic data will be taken at baseline, 2 months and 4 months. Feasibility will be assessed based on recruitment, retention, attrition, completion of measures and intervention compliance for which specific process and research outcomes have been established. A process evaluation will explore the experiences and acceptability of the intervention components and evaluation measures. Exploratory economic evaluation will be conducted to further inform a definitive trial. Discussion This is a novel intervention using a worker-manager approach to promote a sustainable return to work of workers on long-term sick leave due to poor mental wellbeing. If this intervention is shown to be feasible, the outcomes will inform a larger scale randomised control trial. Trial registration ISRCTN90032009 (retrospectively registered, date registered 15th December 2020) |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T21:45:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-aa13fb3c412e4c8fb36068f55074dfb6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2055-5784 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T21:45:08Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Pilot and Feasibility Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-aa13fb3c412e4c8fb36068f55074dfb62022-12-22T04:01:26ZengBMCPilot and Feasibility Studies2055-57842022-08-018111610.1186/s40814-022-01143-8Protocol for a feasibility randomised controlled study of a multicomponent intervention to promote a sustainable return to work of workers on long-term sick leave — PROWORK: PROmoting a Sustainable and Healthy Return to WORKVeronica Varela-Mato0Kate Godfree1Anwar Adem2Holly Blake3Craig Bartle4Guy Daly5Juliet Hassard6Richard Kneller7Caroline Meyer8Sean Russell9Steven Marwaha10Charlotte Kershaw11Kristina Newman12Joanna Yarker13Louise Thomson14Fehmidah Munir15School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough UniversitySchool of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough UniversitySchool of Economics, University of NottinghamSchool of Health Sciences, Queen’s Medical Centre, University of NottinghamInstitute of Mental Health, Nottinghamshire NHS Healthcare TrustFaculty of Health and Life Sciences, Coventry UniversitySchool of Medicine, University of Nottingham Jubilee CampusSchool of Economics, University of NottinghamExecutive Office, Warwick UniversityFaculty of Health and Life Sciences, Coventry UniversityInstitute of Mental Health, Nottinghamshire NHS Healthcare TrustWarwick Manufacturing Group, University of WarwickInstitute of Mental Health, Nottinghamshire NHS Healthcare TrustAffinity Health at Work and Birkbeck, University of LondonInstitute of Mental Health, Nottinghamshire NHS Healthcare TrustSchool of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough UniversityAbstract Background The cost of sickness absence has major social, psychological and financial implications for individuals and organisations. Return-to-work (RTW) interventions that support good quality communication and contact with the workplace can reduce the length of sickness absence by between 15 and 30 days. However, initiatives promoting a sustainable return to work for workers with poor mental health on long-term sickness absence across small, medium and large enterprises (SMEs and LEs) are limited. This paper describes the protocol of a pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT) to test the feasibility of implementing a RTW intervention across SMEs and LEs across all sectors. Methods and design A two-arm feasibility RCT with a 4-month intervention will be conducted in SMEs and LE enterprises from the Midlands region, UK. At least 8 organisations (4 controls and interventions), and at least 60 workers and/or managers, will be recruited and randomised into the intervention and control group (30 interventions, 30 controls). Workers on long-term sickness absence (LTSA) (between 8 and 50 days) and managers with a worker on LTSA will be eligible to participate. The intervention is a behavioural change programme, including a managers and workers RTW toolkit, focused on supporting sickness absence and RTW through the provision of knowledge, problem-solving, action planning, goal setting and positive communication that leads to a sustainable RTW. Organisations assigned to the control group will continue with their usual practice. Measurements of mental health, RTW, work outcomes, quality-of-life, workplace support and communication and other demographic data will be taken at baseline, 2 months and 4 months. Feasibility will be assessed based on recruitment, retention, attrition, completion of measures and intervention compliance for which specific process and research outcomes have been established. A process evaluation will explore the experiences and acceptability of the intervention components and evaluation measures. Exploratory economic evaluation will be conducted to further inform a definitive trial. Discussion This is a novel intervention using a worker-manager approach to promote a sustainable return to work of workers on long-term sick leave due to poor mental wellbeing. If this intervention is shown to be feasible, the outcomes will inform a larger scale randomised control trial. Trial registration ISRCTN90032009 (retrospectively registered, date registered 15th December 2020)https://doi.org/10.1186/s40814-022-01143-8Return to workLong-term sickness absenceMental healthSmall and medium enterprisesLarge enterprisesPositive communication |
| spellingShingle | Veronica Varela-Mato Kate Godfree Anwar Adem Holly Blake Craig Bartle Guy Daly Juliet Hassard Richard Kneller Caroline Meyer Sean Russell Steven Marwaha Charlotte Kershaw Kristina Newman Joanna Yarker Louise Thomson Fehmidah Munir Protocol for a feasibility randomised controlled study of a multicomponent intervention to promote a sustainable return to work of workers on long-term sick leave — PROWORK: PROmoting a Sustainable and Healthy Return to WORK Pilot and Feasibility Studies Return to work Long-term sickness absence Mental health Small and medium enterprises Large enterprises Positive communication |
| title | Protocol for a feasibility randomised controlled study of a multicomponent intervention to promote a sustainable return to work of workers on long-term sick leave — PROWORK: PROmoting a Sustainable and Healthy Return to WORK |
| title_full | Protocol for a feasibility randomised controlled study of a multicomponent intervention to promote a sustainable return to work of workers on long-term sick leave — PROWORK: PROmoting a Sustainable and Healthy Return to WORK |
| title_fullStr | Protocol for a feasibility randomised controlled study of a multicomponent intervention to promote a sustainable return to work of workers on long-term sick leave — PROWORK: PROmoting a Sustainable and Healthy Return to WORK |
| title_full_unstemmed | Protocol for a feasibility randomised controlled study of a multicomponent intervention to promote a sustainable return to work of workers on long-term sick leave — PROWORK: PROmoting a Sustainable and Healthy Return to WORK |
| title_short | Protocol for a feasibility randomised controlled study of a multicomponent intervention to promote a sustainable return to work of workers on long-term sick leave — PROWORK: PROmoting a Sustainable and Healthy Return to WORK |
| title_sort | protocol for a feasibility randomised controlled study of a multicomponent intervention to promote a sustainable return to work of workers on long term sick leave prowork promoting a sustainable and healthy return to work |
| topic | Return to work Long-term sickness absence Mental health Small and medium enterprises Large enterprises Positive communication |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40814-022-01143-8 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT veronicavarelamato protocolforafeasibilityrandomisedcontrolledstudyofamulticomponentinterventiontopromoteasustainablereturntoworkofworkersonlongtermsickleaveproworkpromotingasustainableandhealthyreturntowork AT kategodfree protocolforafeasibilityrandomisedcontrolledstudyofamulticomponentinterventiontopromoteasustainablereturntoworkofworkersonlongtermsickleaveproworkpromotingasustainableandhealthyreturntowork AT anwaradem protocolforafeasibilityrandomisedcontrolledstudyofamulticomponentinterventiontopromoteasustainablereturntoworkofworkersonlongtermsickleaveproworkpromotingasustainableandhealthyreturntowork AT hollyblake protocolforafeasibilityrandomisedcontrolledstudyofamulticomponentinterventiontopromoteasustainablereturntoworkofworkersonlongtermsickleaveproworkpromotingasustainableandhealthyreturntowork AT craigbartle protocolforafeasibilityrandomisedcontrolledstudyofamulticomponentinterventiontopromoteasustainablereturntoworkofworkersonlongtermsickleaveproworkpromotingasustainableandhealthyreturntowork AT guydaly protocolforafeasibilityrandomisedcontrolledstudyofamulticomponentinterventiontopromoteasustainablereturntoworkofworkersonlongtermsickleaveproworkpromotingasustainableandhealthyreturntowork AT juliethassard protocolforafeasibilityrandomisedcontrolledstudyofamulticomponentinterventiontopromoteasustainablereturntoworkofworkersonlongtermsickleaveproworkpromotingasustainableandhealthyreturntowork AT richardkneller protocolforafeasibilityrandomisedcontrolledstudyofamulticomponentinterventiontopromoteasustainablereturntoworkofworkersonlongtermsickleaveproworkpromotingasustainableandhealthyreturntowork AT carolinemeyer protocolforafeasibilityrandomisedcontrolledstudyofamulticomponentinterventiontopromoteasustainablereturntoworkofworkersonlongtermsickleaveproworkpromotingasustainableandhealthyreturntowork AT seanrussell protocolforafeasibilityrandomisedcontrolledstudyofamulticomponentinterventiontopromoteasustainablereturntoworkofworkersonlongtermsickleaveproworkpromotingasustainableandhealthyreturntowork AT stevenmarwaha protocolforafeasibilityrandomisedcontrolledstudyofamulticomponentinterventiontopromoteasustainablereturntoworkofworkersonlongtermsickleaveproworkpromotingasustainableandhealthyreturntowork AT charlottekershaw protocolforafeasibilityrandomisedcontrolledstudyofamulticomponentinterventiontopromoteasustainablereturntoworkofworkersonlongtermsickleaveproworkpromotingasustainableandhealthyreturntowork AT kristinanewman protocolforafeasibilityrandomisedcontrolledstudyofamulticomponentinterventiontopromoteasustainablereturntoworkofworkersonlongtermsickleaveproworkpromotingasustainableandhealthyreturntowork AT joannayarker protocolforafeasibilityrandomisedcontrolledstudyofamulticomponentinterventiontopromoteasustainablereturntoworkofworkersonlongtermsickleaveproworkpromotingasustainableandhealthyreturntowork AT louisethomson protocolforafeasibilityrandomisedcontrolledstudyofamulticomponentinterventiontopromoteasustainablereturntoworkofworkersonlongtermsickleaveproworkpromotingasustainableandhealthyreturntowork AT fehmidahmunir protocolforafeasibilityrandomisedcontrolledstudyofamulticomponentinterventiontopromoteasustainablereturntoworkofworkersonlongtermsickleaveproworkpromotingasustainableandhealthyreturntowork |