This project aims at developing insight on “work related stress” issues in health and social care organisation, with the goal to develop approaches for early recognition of stress potentials and training modules that allow reacting to them and preventing the outbreak of stress.

To do so, the consortium will analyse the impact of all aspects of the business including, personnel, management style, work organization and organizational structure, work-life balance, demographic changes and the need of upgrading unskilled and skilled workers, information overflow through modern communication expectations, stress caused by poor fit with the workplace (e.g. when people accept jobs below their skill levels in order to avoid unemployment), physical and mental  health issues (e.g. linked to ergonomic issues, working hours and routines).

Besides work based learning for people already employed in the organisations, the project will also focus on how young people have to be prepared in order to sustain their health and their employment until retirement in an economic situation where changing employers and sectors is becoming part of a regular employment history.

The intention of the project is to develop an approach and carry out pilot tests that will allow users to identify and deal with stress related issues in their own organisations and prepare the ground for new employment opportunities based on a sustainable and quantifiable stress management concept. This educational model can then be incorporated into existing programmes for (young) professionals who work closely with personnel systems, or can be implemented as a standalone programme for existing practitioners.

The objectives and the results are:

Develop an education module based on experiences in industry which will equip professional working in industry with the necessary knowledge and skill sets needed to deal with the Work Related Stress issues that occur in a continuously changing work environment.

Develop a “suite of practical tools” that can be used by suitably trained professionals to quantify stress levels in an organisation and at an individual level, especially with regard to the ability to work under pressure.

Design and pilot test an appropriate training approach for young people with the objective to enable them to cope with the challenges on the labour market by reducing the stress factors either before being employed or when they start their professional career.