The effect of active occupational stress management on psychosocial and physiological wellbeing: a pilot study
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
The effect of active occupational stress management on psychosocial and physiological wellbeing: a pilot study Tomislav Jukic1, Alojz Ihan2, Vojko Strojnik3, David Stubljar4* and Andrej Starc5
Abstract Background: The aim of the study was to address the working population with an occupational stress prevention program using mHealth solution and encourage them for healthy lifestyle choices. Methods: Seventeen participants were randomized from the corporate setting. A 24alife app with a good compliance program was selected. Test battery has been designed to test the physical readiness, psychological evaluation and biological blood markers for stress. Participants were followed up after 30, 60 and 90 days, respectively, within the intervention period. Weight of participants was tracked three times per month. Univariate analysis compared the continuous variables by One-Way Repeated-Measures ANOVA test when the data were normally distributed, or Wilcoxon rank sum test for abnormal distribution of variables. Results: Participants used the app with a compliance rate of 94.1%. The psychological evaluation revealed higher motivation for work, lower burnout scores and participants gave subjective responses of better general wellbeing. Some of the participants lost up to four kg of body mass. Physical readiness has also improved. Conclusions: Results of mHealth projects on corporate could include primary health care institutions and health ministry to extend the existing system to patients’ pockets where they can monitor their disease and increase the ability of self-care. Keywords: 24alife, E-tools, Healthcare applications, Occupational health, Prevention Background The psychological and physiological effects of stress in the workplace have been established as the risk factors for mental and physical health problems [1]. Along with the mobile applications, that make our life easier, the trend in the past few years focused on solutions that aim the most personal value of an individual – health [2, 3]. Psychological responses to stress are often associated with negative emotions. Cognitive processes, such as rumination and worry, can prolong stress responses. *Correspondence: [email protected] 4 Department of Research & Development, In-Medico, Mestni trg 11, 8330 Metlika, Slovenia Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
Such recurring activation of cognitive representation of stress, called preservative cognition, can induce physiological activation of stress-response systems [4]. Those cognitive processes are considered to act as psychological responses to prolonged stress and are usually indicated by negative emotions such as anxiety, depression and anger [5]. Occupational strain, has been shown to lead to general decrease in wellbeing, psychological strain with increased anxiety and depression, and lessen cognitive abilities, such as concentration and productivity at work, along with increase in biological stress markers [6–8]. It has been shown that ph
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