Research Plus

Workplace health and wellbeing

There is little evidence for the effectiveness of brief workplace interventions to improve mental health and wellbeing, this systematic review of 20 studies found. Five studies included ‘high-stress’ occupations, such as policing, healthcare and education, while others studied manufacturing and office populations. The review found no evidence on the effectiveness of brief stress-management techniques, relaxation, mindfulness meditation, massage, or multidimensional interventions on employee mental health and wellbeing, and only limited evidence on the effectiveness of brief positive-psychology interventions. Nine studies compared brief with usual (ie longer-term) versions of the same type of intervention, and found limited evidence that longer-term positive psychology and mindfulness interventions were effective. Most studies had a high risk of methodological bias due to lack of randomisation (just seven studies were randomised), selection bias and other factors.

Scandinavian Journal of Work Environment & Health 2017; 43(2): 99–108. doi:10.5271/sjweh.3616.

Tags evidence based practice health work and wellbeing stress

Occupational Health at Work April/May 2017 (vol. 13/6) pp40