Preventive Occupational Health Intervention to promote Quality of life of nursing staff aged 45 years and older
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN14793147 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN14793147 |
| Protocol serial number | N/A |
| Sponsor | Ministry of Research, Science and Arts Baden-Württemberg |
| Funder | Ministry of Research, Science and Arts Baden-Württemberg (Germany) |
- Submission date
- 19/06/2015
- Registration date
- 08/07/2015
- Last edited
- 18/08/2023
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Completed
- Condition category
- Mental and Behavioural Disorders
Plain English summary of protocol
Background and study aims
Shortfalls in nursing numbers already exist throughout most European countries. Demographic changes in the structure of the population have profound consequences for work strain as well as for working conditions in health care. Working conditions have changed within the last years (e.g. increase of people in need for care, number of patients with multimorbidity (suffering from a number of health conditions), time pressure, and documentation obligations) leading to an worsening of work strain and work related stress. Prior research indicates that work ability of nurses decreases with age. Poor workability seems to be closely related to an intention to leave nursing. As a consequence to those changes according to the statistics by the German Federal Statistical Office there will be a real shortage of full time nursing staff within the next 10 years. Aggravating this situation, nursing causes a lot of psychological and physiological stresses. Many studies have shown that levels of psychological distress at work are high in healthcare workers. Health and pension insurance statistics indicate high sick leave rates among nurses due to mental health-related diagnoses. In order to cope with the mentioned problems there is a need to develop prevention programs that address the workforce of nursing staff aged 45 and older to enable them to remain healthy until retirement age. In the last decades the effectiveness of general preventive strategies of dealing with work related stress has been examined in a number of studies. Most of those strategies such as cognitive-behavioral or relaxation techniques focus on individual coping strategies. In addition organizational interventions (programs) focus on the development of the individual´s working environment. Our aim was to develop and to evaluate a complex prevention program that combined key elements of a SOC Training (Selection, Optimization, Compensation) with other components of occupational health interventions, guided by theory and evidence.
Who can participate?
Nurses who are at least 45 years old.
What does the study involve?
A small group treatment (a group consists of approximately 10 employees) is offered to eligible participants. All participants are randomly allocated to either a control (waiting Group) or an intervention group. The training given to the intervention group includes 7 sessions, 2 hours a week for a period of 7 weeks. After a 6 weeks break there is another Booster-session. The control Group (waiting Group) receives the same treatment after a break of several weeks after the Booster-session of the intervention group. The training contains several components including relaxation techniques, life Review, working with age stereotypes, promotion of nurses’ individual strategies to adapt and to cope actively with their working conditions based on the principles of "selection, optimization and compensation (SOC)".
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
All participants will be assessed by a professional team at the beginning of the study. Participants of both groups may benefit from the small Group intervention. By taking part in this study there are no risks of physical injury or harm.
Where is the study run from?
University Hospital of Heidelberg, the University of Duesseldorf and the University Hospital Ulm (Germany)
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
September 2013 to July 2015
Who is funding the study?
Ministry of Research, Science and Arts Baden-Württemberg (Germany)
Who is the main contact?
Dr Imad Maatouk
Imad.Maatouk@med.uni-heidelberg.de
Contact information
Scientific
Im Neuenheimer Feld 410
Heidelberg
69120
Germany
 ORCID ID |
0000-0002-8030-1182 |
|---|
Study information
| Primary study design | Interventional |
|---|---|
| Study design | Randomized controlled two-armed multicentre trial in a waiting list control group design |
| Secondary study design | Randomised controlled trial |
| Study type | Participant information sheet |
| Scientific title | Healthy Aging at work - Preventive Group Intervention to promote Quality of life of nursing staff aged 45 years and older |
| Study objectives | The aim of the study is to assess the efficacy of a Group intervention targeting well being and Quality of life in nursing staff aged 45 years and older. The primary hypothesis of the randomized controlled trial (RCT) is that compared to the control Group (waiting Group), the intervention group shows a better outcome regarding well being (WB) and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) at follow-up |
| Ethics approval(s) | Ethics Committee of the University of Heidelberg, Glockengießerei 11/1, 24/03/2014, ref: S-663/2013 |
| Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied | Nursing provides a lot of psychological and physiological stresses that affect well being, health related Quality of life and workability of an aging workforce (nurses aged 45 years and older). |
| Intervention | A small group treatment (a group consists of approximately 10 employees) is offered to eligible participants. All participants are randomly allocated to either a control (waiting Group) or an intervention group. 1. Intervention group: The training given to the intervention group includes 7 sessions, 2 hours a week for a period of 7 weeks. After a 6 weeks break there is another Booster-session. 2. The control Group (waiting Group): receives the same treatment after a break of several weeks after the Booster-session of the intervention group. The training contains several components including relaxation techniques, life Review, working with age stereotypes, promotion of nurses’ individual strategies to adapt and to cope actively with their working conditions based on the principles of "selection, optimization and compensation (SOC)". |
| Intervention type | Behavioural |
| Primary outcome measure(s) |
1. Well being, measured by the WHO-5-questionnaire after the Booster session of the intervention |
| Key secondary outcome measure(s) |
1. Depressive symptom severity measured by the PHQ-9 after the Booster session |
| Completion date | 31/07/2015 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Health professional |
|---|---|
| Age group | Adult |
| Sex | All |
| Target sample size at registration | 144 |
| Key inclusion criteria | 1. Nurses who were practicing their job 2. Aged 45 years or older 3. Not part of the management team 4. Knowledge of German 5. Given written approval |
| Key exclusion criteria | 1. Occupational disability or to work over a longer period 2. Cognitive impairment 3. Serious physical or psychiatric illness. |
| Date of first enrolment | 25/03/2014 |
| Date of final enrolment | 10/06/2014 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- Germany
Study participating centres
Heidelberg
-
Germany
Duesseldorf
-
Germany
Ulm
-
Germany
Results and Publications
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | Yes |
|---|---|
| IPD sharing plan summary | Available on request |
| IPD sharing plan |
Study outputs
| Output type | Details | Date created | Date added | Peer reviewed? | Patient-facing? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results article | results | 19/01/2018 | 22/01/2019 | Yes | No |
| Dataset | Data with missing values | 19/01/2018 | 18/08/2023 | No | No |
| Dataset | Data with replaced missing values | 19/01/2018 | 18/08/2023 | No | No |
| Participant information sheet | Participant information sheet | 11/11/2025 | 11/11/2025 | No | Yes |
| Protocol (other) | 19/01/2018 | 18/08/2023 | No | No |
Editorial Notes
18/08/2023: Protocol and datasets added.
22/01/2019: Publication reference added
