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The Working for Wellness Program: RCT of an Employee Well-Being Intervention

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  • Kathryn Page
  • Dianne Vella-Brodrick

Abstract

This paper details the design and evaluation of a positive psychology-based employee well-being program. The effect of the program on well-being was evaluated using a mixed method design comprising of an RCT to assess outcome effectiveness, and participant feedback and facilitator field notes to assess process and impact effectiveness. Fifty government employees were randomly allocated to either an intervention or a control group (reduced to n = 23 for complete case analysis). The intervention group participated in the 6-week Working for Wellness Program and completed measures of subjective, psychological, affective and work-related well-being (SWB, PWB, AWB and WWB) at pre-intervention, post-intervention, and three and 6 month follow-ups. The control group completed the questionnaires only. As predicted, mixed ANOVAs revealed improvements in SWB and PWB for intervention group participants over time relative to control participants but these effects had reduced by time 4. There was a main effect of group on AWB in the predicted direction but no effect on WWB. Participant feedback indicated that the focus on strengths and group delivery were the most effective components of the program. Key issues were sample attrition and a lack of on-the-job support for change. Findings suggest employees can learn effective strategies for sustainably increasing their subjective and psychological well-being. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Kathryn Page & Dianne Vella-Brodrick, 2013. "The Working for Wellness Program: RCT of an Employee Well-Being Intervention," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 1007-1031, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:14:y:2013:i:3:p:1007-1031
    DOI: 10.1007/s10902-012-9366-y
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Justin M. Berg & Adam M. Grant & Victoria Johnson, 2010. "When Callings Are Calling: Crafting Work and Leisure in Pursuit of Unanswered Occupational Callings," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(5), pages 973-994, October.
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    4. Kathryn Page & Dianne Vella-Brodrick, 2009. "The ‘What’, ‘Why’ and ‘How’ of Employee Well-Being: A New Model," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 90(3), pages 441-458, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Kai Ludwigs & Philipp Haese & Kirill Sivy & Sören Weber & Rolf Schrömgens, 2021. "Increasing Employees’ Resources Lets them Take on More Demanding Work Tasks - the Case of the Trivago Flowlab," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 16(3), pages 1305-1319, June.
    2. Selda Koydemir & Aslı Bugay Sökmez & Astrid Schütz, 2021. "A Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of Randomized Controlled Positive Psychological Interventions on Subjective and Psychological Well-Being," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 16(3), pages 1145-1185, June.
    3. Rabindra Kumar Pradhan & Lopamudra Hati, 2022. "The Measurement of Employee Well-being: Development and Validation of a Scale," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 23(2), pages 385-407, April.
    4. Daniels, Kevin & Watson, David & Nayani, Rachel & Tregaskis, Olga & Hogg, Martin & Etuknwa, Abasiama & Semkina, Antonina, 2021. "Implementing practices focused on workplace health and psychological wellbeing: A systematic review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).
    5. Kai Ludwigs & Philipp Haese & Kirill Sivy & Sören Weber & Rolf Schrömgens, 2020. "Trivago Flowlab – a Case Study on how to Improve Employees’ Well-Being in a Corporate Environment," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 15(5), pages 1353-1374, November.
    6. Tom Hendriks & Marijke Schotanus-Dijkstra & Aabidien Hassankhan & Joop Jong & Ernst Bohlmeijer, 2020. "The Efficacy of Multi-component Positive Psychology Interventions: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 357-390, January.

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