Participants
Ditte Tofteng, Mia Husted, and Kurt Aagaard Nielsen (RU), Kirsten Juul Andersen (The Travelling Theatre) and Malene Friis Andersen (NRCWE)

Purpose
To reduce the amount of work-related stress for home care-workers in the western district of the Municipality of Næstved and to prevent strains on the working environment.

Brief description
High-speed work and high emotional demands, physical strain and a high frequency of musculoskeletal disorders, high absenteeism, recruitment problems, high turnover of staff and temporary staff; occurrence of violence and intimidation. NRCWE studies on health and job satisfaction show that all these factors play an important part in workplaces in the elderly care sector, and that they increase the risk of work-related stress and psychosocial working environment problems. In addition to this, the western district of the Municipality of Næstved is also facing a reorganization of work due to a major merger - processes of change like this may further cause work-related stress.

Against this background, the western district entered into a collaborative effort concerning an action research project with researchers from the Centre for Working Environment and Working Life. The project will, through dialogue meetings and seminars for all employees and managers, reduce the amount of work-related stress and strains on the working environment.

The dialogue meetings of the project will include three elements: "The red zone" - a debate-enhancing theatre performance (www.rejsescenen.dk); presentations on findings from surveys and recent workplace assessments; and dialogues on problems, solutions and dilemmas raised by the theatre performance and the presentations.

After the dialogue meetings a series of seminars for all employees are initiated, focussing on, respectively, job satisfaction and stress for employees; management and stress; and workplace committees and stress. The seminars will involve research-based knowledge about the relationship between working environment, stress and job satisfaction, and knowledge about agreements and legislation. Furthermore the participants will be working project-oriented, launching new "Stop Stress" initiatives.

A brochure describing the project and its activities has been produced - Download it here (only in Danish).

The project is managed by Ditte Tofteng and Mia Husted, based on their experience with management of change projects relating to action research in sustainability, marginalization and working life. Evaluation and documentation of the project's methods and results is performed by Kurt Aagaard Nielsen. Furthermore the project is carried out in extensive collaboration with psychologist Kirsten Juul Andersen from The Travelling Theatre, and Malene Friis Andersen from NRCWE contributes to the project seminars.

The project is carried out with financial support from the Prevention Fund and runs from 2010-2012.

Contact:
Ditte Tofteng, tofteng@ruc.dk
Mia Husted, miah@ruc.dk