Performance at Work
All of our research projects are designed to generate evidence to improve performance at work, for instance:
- Rehabilitation and line manager competencies. This research is underway, and is expected to complete in spring 2010
- The research on Active Mental Health aims to develop a tool to enhance the innate ability of people to be resilient, to maintain control in fast changing circumstances, and to be innovative
- The mental health and wellbeing of people at work is the focus of a randomised control trial to evaluate the effectiveness of the MoodGYM computer based CBT package
Performance and presenteeism: Corporate Sponsor cash has enabled BOHRF to fund the creation of an exciting database by researchers at Keele University This comprises the worldwide literature of 20,000 unique references and almost 2,000 peer reviewed research papers on health, performance, presenteeism, and interventions to achieve optimal performance at work. (See Musculoskeletal Disorders – Performance and presenteeism: new systematic evidence review
Current Projects
Health and performance at work: systematic evidence review: evaluating the impact of back, neck and upper limb pain on work performance and absence
This systematic evidence review “Evaluating the impact of back, neck and upper limb pain on work performance and absence” will interrogate the database referred to on our “Performance at Work” page in order to:
- Summarise the evidence on the overall impact of back, neck and upper limb pain on work performance and absence.
- Assess the separate impacts of back, neck and upper limb pain on work performance and absence.
- Describe the range of outcome measures, used to assess work performance for people with these conditions.
- Evaluate the measures found in terms of their reliability and validity.
This work is expected to be completed in the summer of 2009.
Computerised Cognitive Behavioural Therapy: its effectiveness in organisations and comparison with other CBT methods
BOHRF is funding a feasibility study to find out whether internet based CBT (MoodGYM which is freely available on the internet) is effective in reducing anxiety and depression; and in improving performance at work and attendance at work. At the same time it will evaluate the user satisfaction and cost effectiveness of this approach compared with alternatives. If the objectives of the feasibility study are achieved, then it is anticipated that BOHRF will fund the full pragmatic randomized control trial.
Nearly three in ten of all employees will have a mental health problem of some sort in any given year. People with anxiety and depression take 3½ times as many days off work as people with no mental disorder.
The approach being taken by this research is innovative in that:
- it avoids the fear of stigma that some people have
- it avoids the risk of being “labeled” as “mentally ill” due to health centre visit when such labeling is not necessary
- it seeks to demonstrate effectiveness within the workplace (rather than clinical setting)
- it will compare effectiveness with treatment as usual
- it is the first randomized control trial on cCBT in an organisational setting
Last Update: 04-Apr-2010