Anne Etzelmüller

Friedrich-Alexander-University of Erlangen-Nürnberg | FAU · Department of Psychology and Sport Science

Recent reports indicate an increase in mental health problems among the general EU population in recent years. Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and public organisations are particularly vulnerable as they have often scarce knowledge and resources to effectively manage workers’ mental health and wellbeing. The general aim of the H-WORK project is to design, implement and validate effective multi-level assessment and intervention toolkits providing new products and services to promote mental health in public organisations and SMEs, evaluate individual and organisational outcomes of the adopted measures, and provide recommendations for employers, occupational health professionals and policymakers. The project aims to design, implement and exploit an integrated toolkit (H-TOOLS) which will provide managers and CEOs to effectively assess organisational psychosocial risk (HAT), implement the most appropriate interventions (HIT), and evaluate individual and organisational outcomes of the adopted measures (HET). Implementation of the H-WORK Toolkits will occur in ten intervention sites across five European countries, including five public organisations (healthcare, higher education, governmental) and five SMEs. Moreover, the data and experience generated during the implementation process will allow for development of further H-WORK products and services. Specifically, H-WORK will design, test and deploy the H-WORK Innovation Platform which will include novel digital services such as Benchmarking Calculator and Decision Support System that will facilitate the spread and uptake of the H-WORK solutions across Europe, and ensure the long-term sustainability of the project outcomes. The H-WORK project will significantly contribute to coordinated strategies for occupational health and safety and will foster health, social and economic prosperity in the EU.

ImpleMentAll will develop, apply, and evaluate tailored implementation strategies in the context of on-going eHealth implementation initiatives in the EU and beyond. Common mental health disorders account for an alarming proportion of the global burden of disease. Being regarded as an evidence-based psychotherapeutic eHealth intervention, Internet-based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (iCBT), has the potential to answer to this societal challenge by providing an efficacious and efficient treatment from which more people can benefit. As a result, various iCBT implementation projects are currently conducted across the world. We propose to use this natural laboratory to develop and evaluate a toolkit for tailored implementation strategies that is expected to make implementation trajectories more efficient.

The MasterMind project aims to implement and upscale evidence-based computerised Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (cCBT) and videoconferencing enabled collaborative care services (ccVC) in routine mental healthcare practice and targets to reach over 5,230 patients in routine care in 15 European regions. The effectiveness of these implementation projects will be evaluated with the objective to identify the factors that promote or inhibit implementation and up scaling of cCBT and ccVC for treating depression in routine practice. The resulting summative evaluation will provide insight into the factors that influence the implementation and up-scaling of cCBT and ccVC in a variety of real political, social, economic and clinical contexts. It will provide insight into the perspectives of involved stakeholders, and result in concrete recommendations for implementing and up-scaling cCBT and ccVC for depression in different mental healthcare contexts.