Effectiveness of a team-level participatory approach aimed at improving sustainable employability among long-term care workers: a randomized controlled trial

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate one-year effects of a team-level participatory workplace intervention on need for recovery and satisfaction of the needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness among long-term care workers by means of a randomized controlled trial.

METHODS: Teams of long-term care workers were randomly assigned to the intervention group (ten teams; N=78) or the wait-list control group (ten teams; N=58). The intervention consisted of a problem inventory, related to the needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness, a brainstorm towards solutions and an action plan divided over three meetings guided by a facilitator. The primary outcome was need for recovery and secondary outcomes were the satisfaction of the needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness. Outcomes were measured at baseline and after 6, 9 and 12 months. Linear mixed model analyses were performed in R.

RESULTS: There was no significant difference in need for recovery between groups over time. The intervention group did show a slight improvement of the satisfaction of the need for relatedness over time, while in contrast, the control group showed a decrease over time. The satisfaction of the need for autonomy and competence did not significantly differ between both groups over time.

CONCLUSIONS: The approach had no significant effect on the primary outcome need for recovery. The intervention did have a significant positive impact on the satisfaction of the need for relatedness, possibly because, after a period of being unable to be close, it provided opportunity to gather and work together as a team.