The Workplace Mental Health Intervention program for the enhancement of Mental Health Literacy and the reduction of stress and burnout among workers: The (WPMHL) Project

The intervention program is comprised of two main elements: an organisation-directed component and an individual-directed psychoeducation training. For the organisation-directed component, a workplace environment scan, using a standard protocol and the Moos’s Work Environment Scale (WES), will be conducted by a social worker with expertise in workplace issues at the commencement of intervention program prior to the individual-directed component. Different dimensions of the work environment, including workload (work pressure and task requirements); personal growth (professional growth, support, achievement value and growth); conflict and management relationship, will be assessed to gain a better understanding of the workplace issues at different sites. Information will be gathered via a staff survey with a questionnaire specifically design for the project that also includes the WES, and some face-to-face interviews to gain a better insight into the local issues of each site. De-identified and aggregated information collected from the assessment will be provided to the management of each participating site with professional interpretation of the findings and possible strategies for resolving the identified issues will be offered. Site management is encouraged to make use of this information to improve the work environment during the intervention and follow-up period. For the individual-directed component, participating sites will adopt the well-studied evidence-based Workplace Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) with the inclusion of a module on stress reduction and burnout prevention. Adopting the e-Health and e-Learning approach, this is a blended training consisting of a series of self-paced online e-Learning modules. Through a series of 18 hours of online sessions, participants will acquire essential knowledge and understanding on the fundamental concepts before having face-to-face sessions. To provide some interaction time with the instructor, participants will attend 6-hour face-to-face sessions (in one day or two sessions) for hands-on practice. Upon completion of the full program and passing a standard quiz, a certificate will be issued to the participant for a qualification of a Mental Health First Aid Officer in accordance to the standard of the Mental Health First Aid, Australia (https://mhfa.com.au/mental-health-first-aid-officers). For the process evaluation of program implementation, in accordance to the structured Process Evaluation guidelines proposed by Sauders et al., four important indicators are to be included. The indicators are listed below, with expected targets and methods of assessment in brackets: • Fidelity – the extent of each of the program elements is implemented as planned (100% assessed by a checklist for program delivery with all elements listed for each site); • Dose Delivered – the amount of all intervention components are delivered (100%, assessed by a checklist for all items included in each component of the intervention for each site); • Dose Received – the extent of each of the program elements is received by all involved in the program, e.g. the organisation and the end-receivers (100%, assessed by the a checklist for program delivery with all elements included for each site); • Reach – the extent of the total program delivered to the target population is in accordance to a pre-set value (at least 90%, calculated from the information gathered from the above three indicators). The evaluation will be conducted through data collection by the social worker and/or the psychoeducation instructor. To maintain or to improve the fidelity of the program, the project team will work closely with all participating companies to ensure dropouts are reduced to the minimal. Another layer of assurance in terms of the implementation of the program is that the target companies are committed to the project. Keeping contacts with all participants will be a preventive measure. On the other hand, participants will be informed at the beginning of the program that there will be a closing ceremony for the project at the end when the graduating certificate will be awarded with the naming of Mental Health First Aid officer.