Designing, Implementing, and Evaluating Sustainable Interventions in Organizations : The How-to of Improving Worker Health and Well-being

Work can benefit workers' health and well-being by offering a sense of meaning, social connections and a source of income. Yet an increasing number of workers report experiencing stress in their jobs, caused by job insecurity, working long hours, excessive workload, and the like, with significant implications for both mental and physical health.

Designing, Implementing and Evaluating Sustainable Interventions in Organizations offers a systematic approach to fostering worker health and well-being through participatory organizational interventions. These types of interventions address the underlying root causes of workplace stressors and give workers a voice in prioritizing needed changes. Synthesizing evidence of best practices, this book describes the six intervention phases included in the Nielsen Intervention Model: Preparation, Evaluation Planning, Screening, Action Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation. Two case studies provide concrete methods and tools and illustrate the ways in which context can require variations in planning, implementation, and evaluation. The book also engages in a broad examination of the implications of social policies and regulatory environments for intervention practices. This evidence-based and step-by-step approach to build healthy organizational work environments is an essential toolkit for improving well-being on the job.

Karina Nielsen, PhD, (1973-2024), was Professor of Work Psychology at the Institute of Work Psychology, University of Sheffield (2016-2024), and remains widely recognized for developing and testing models for how organizations can design, implement, and evaluate organizational interventions to promote worker wellbeing. She was principal or co-investigator on more than twenty research projects; author of over 140 refereed publications, 40 book chapters and two edited books; and was recognized for her work through multiple awards. She additionally served in positions with the National Research Centre for the Working Environment in Copenhagen (2003-2013) and at the University of East Anglia (2013-2016).

Glorian Sorensen, PhD, MPH, is Professor Emerita of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts. Her research has contributed to the scientific foundation integrating occupational safety and health with other worksite interventions to promote worker health in the work organization as well as in workers' safety and health behaviors. Sorensen is the Founding Director for the Harvard Center for Work, Health and Well-being, funded since 2007, has published over 250 peer-reviewed journal articles, and has been recognized for her work through multiple awards.

Nadia El-Salanti, with a BA and MSc in Psychology from the University of Copenhagen, is an authorized Expert in Work- and Organizational Psychology. Since 2013, she has been with Novo Nordisk, leading the development and implementation of a global mental well-being and stress prevention strategy. With a strong belief in participatory processes, she aims to translate academia into practical tools and counseling. Previously, she served as head of Global Health & Safety in a large biotech company and worked in a research-based consultancy focusing on occupational health psychology for 10 years.

Michael Munch-Hansen holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in History of Ideas, and a Master of Science (MSC) in Psychology from Aarhus University, Denmark and has over 30 years of experience as a consultant targeting organizational development, mental health, and health and safety in general. He works as independent occupational psychologist and has collaborated multiple times with the National Research Centre for The Working Environment in Denmark to translate theory into models, tools and processes to be used in participatory organizational interventions. One of many examples of this work is the IGLO-model, a central guiding framework used in this book.