Impact of management change and an intervention program on health care personnel.
BACKGROUND
There has been a major shift in the organization and responsibility for the provision of geriatric care in Sweden. This was believed to be stressful. We therefore decided to launch a controlled intervention program on health care personnel aimed at enhancing their adaptation and ability to cope. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of management change on psychosocial parameters of health care personnel and the effects, if any, of a structured intervention program.


METHODS
Two separate wards were randomly allocated to be either intervention (I) or control (C) ward. The I-ward personnel were subjected to a psychologist's structured 10-session intervention program for 20 weeks. The program consisted of an initial educational part followed by a practical problem-solving discussion part. A structured questionnaire on psychosocial issues was answered by the participants before (0 weeks), immediately after (20 weeks), and 10 weeks after the intervention (30 weeks).


RESULTS
There were no significant changes in the psychosocial parameters of the C-ward personnel. In the I-ward, however, there was a significant increase in work demand as well as in positive feelings about work, as compared to the C-ward at the 30-week follow-up. There was also significantly better work comfort in the I-ward.


CONCLUSIONS
We did not find any anticipated negative psychosocial effects on health care personnel undergoing an organizational change. However, by offering a structured intervention program to one group of health care personnel, we found some positive psychosocial effects. Future research is needed to pinpoint which factor or factors in the intervention program were the most crucial for the effects to occur.
Lökk
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CT
Department of Clinical Neuroscience and Family Medicine, Section of Geriatrics, Huddinge University Hospital, Huddinge, Sweden.
Arnetz
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BB
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015279:Organizational Culture; D010346:Patient Care Management / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010563:Personnel Turnover / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011897:Random Allocation; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden