Stress Management Intervention Assessment – Field Study Results

Abstract

Background. The implementation of a stress management intervention could be assessed in terms of the process and effects. It is not the achieving of the goals, but the manner of implementation that has the predominant influence on the effectiveness and permanence of the results. Research aims. The main aim of this article is to answer the questions: Do employers use stress management interventions? If so, how do they assess them? Are they implemented after taking into consideration the causes, costs, and effects of stress?. Methodology. The answers are based on the results of a survey study conducted in 331 companies. In the survey four indicators were used to evaluate the process of the implementation: assessment of the level of stress, analysis of financial costs of work-related stress, psychological costs, and identification of the sources of stress. Key findings. The results show that the level of stress and its sources have been analysed in more than one third of the companies in the sample of organizations that made some kind of intervention. Financial costs have been analysed in 2.4 and psychological in 7.1% of these organisations. The reasons for this situation are diverse: low level of awareness among stakeholders, too few resources or/and methods of measuring those factors, lack of knowledge.