Reducing Pain-Related Sickness Absence Through Workplace Health Literacy: A Hybrid II Study

Summary

The primary aim of this study is investigate whether a workplace intervention targeting employees' and managers' understanding of pain and communication (called occupational health literacy) can reduce pain-related sick leave and help employees and managers to better understand and manage work-related health matters. The study also aims to learn how the program works, who it works best for (or not), and how it can be successfully used long-term in real workplaces, especially in production environments.

The study will e.g. examine whether the program:

* reduces the number of sick days caused by pain,
* lowers how much pain employees feel, and
* improves employees' and managers' understanding of health and how to improve it.

Expectation:

Employees who participate in the program will:

* take fewer sick days because of pain,
* experience less pain, and have better health knowledge and skills than employees who continue with normal workplace practices.

The study will identify:

* what makes the program difficult or easy to introduce at workplaces,
* which strategies help it succeed, and
* what factors make the program continue working over time.

Goal:

Help workplaces adopt and maintain the program successfully.

Conditions

• Healthy
• Musculoskeletal Disorders
• Occupational Health
• Occupational Health Literacy

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Cognitive behavioural therapy-inspired digital education on pain and communication

The main content of the intervention consists of 4 elements: 1. An educational day session for the local workplace champion, with a main focus on the ability to faciliate a digital education for the employees and managers. 2. An initial needs and resource assessment at the workplace focused on pain and health literacy, with participants from all organizational layers; employee, managers, HR and the workplace champion. The assessment aims to empower workplaces to self-assess their needs, contributing to own autonomy and direction. The session is facilitated by the researcher. 3. 2\*2 hours and 1\*2 hour booster session of digital education for the employees and managers seperately, focusing on pain knowledge and communication, and finding solutions for work. 4. A period of 4 months with structured 10-minutes 1:1 dialogues between an employee and the manager every 3-5 weeks, using the tools and communication from the educational content.

OTHER

Local work environment guidelines

While waiting for cross over, the control group can use available resources within the local working environment initiatives at the workplace.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Southern Denmark

  collaborator OTHER

• National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Denmark

  lead OTHER_GOV

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE

Model

CROSSOVER

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

68 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2027-03-01

Primary Completion

2028-03-31

Completion

2028-05-30