Supporting employers and their employees with mental hEalth conditions to remain eNgaged and producTive at wORk (MENTOR): A feasibility randomised controlled trial

Arianna Prudenzi*, Kiranpreet Gill, Michael MacArthur, Olivia Hastings, Talar Moukhtarian, Feroz Jadhakhan, Krishane Patel, Charlotte Kershaw, Errin Norton-Brown, Naomi Johnston, Guy Daly, Sean Russell, Louise Thomson, Fehmidah Munir, Holly Blake, Caroline Meyer, Steven Marwaha

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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Abstract

Employees with mental health conditions often struggle to remain in employment. During the COVID-19 pandemic, these employees faced additional stressors, including worsening mental health and work productivity. In 2020, as part of a larger programme of work called the Mental Health and Productivity Pilot (MHPP), we developed a new early intervention (MENTOR) that jointly involved employees, managers, and a new professional (Mental Health Employment Liaison Worker, MHELW). The intervention involved trained MHELWs delivering ten sessions to employees with existing mental health conditions and managers (three individual sessions and four joint sessions) over twelve weeks. These sessions aimed to improve psychological flexibility, interpersonal relationships, and engagement of employees. This feasibility randomised controlled trial aimed to examine the feasibility and acceptability of the intervention from the perspective of employees and managers using a mixed methods approach. The intervention was largely considered feasible and acceptable. Initial findings suggest there may be benefits for employees productivity, mental health, and managers' mental health knowledge. Logistical challenges acted as a barrier to the participation of employees and managers in the trial and their retention throughout its duration. The major strengths of this study were the co-design and inter-disciplinary approach taken. Overall, findings suggest that this novel intervention has potential but needs some adjustments and testing in a larger sample.
Original languageEnglish
Article number100720
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of Contextual Behavioral Science
Volume31
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 7 Jan 2024

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgment:
This research was supported by Midlands Engine (https://www.midlandsengine.org/). The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the funder. The funder provided support in the form of salaries for all the authors, but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific roles of these authors are articulated in the ‘author contributions. The funders had and will not have a role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. They accept no responsibility for the content.

Keywords

  • Mental health
  • Workplace
  • Intervention
  • Line managers
  • Productivity
  • Interpersonal relationships
  • Psychological flexibility
  • Employee engagement

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