Evidence strength and quality |
Strategies must provide evidence of effectiveness regarding the proposed or similar interventions in similar contexts featuring a representative sample of employees and a control group, where feasible, using valid and reliable measures. |
Relative advantage |
Strategies must be perceived to provide an advantage over the implementation of an alternative or no solution. |
Adaptability |
Strategies must allow flexibility on intervention completion times, the pace of progression, access options, and the format of provided materials. |
Design quality and packaging |
Strategies must ensure that the design of the intervention is based on an explicit understanding of users, their tasks, and environments and provides guidance (eg, reminders, knowledge base, progress tracking, and feedback); considers opportunities to integrate intervention features with organizational processes; creates personalized, informative, and nonstigmatizing content that encourages user participation; provides user adaptable content and tasks (ie, increased user control); allows access via additional modalities (eg, ability to print content) and formats (eg, video and audio); includes formative and summative usability testing and accessibility evaluations; highlights a strict approach to privacy and data security; and considers a multichannel recruitment strategy. |
External policy and incentives |
Strategies must identify and comply with applicable privacy legislation and policy regulations. |
Structural characteristics |
Strategies must consider the capacity of stakeholders to complete assigned tasks and account for turnover and other restructuring activities. |
Networks and communications |
Strategies must involve all stakeholders, include onsite testing of required technology, and establish clear communication procedures at the planning stage. |
Implementation climate |
Strategies must be cohesive and compatible with the organization’s culture (eg, high turnover and highly active working environment), ensure that interventions can be used in distraction-free environments (ie, free from excessive noise), account for prior negative experiences with similar interventions, secure support from senior management for strategy implementation, and leverage existing programs by embedding interventions into them. |
Tension for change |
Strategies must consider the impact of implementation on-the-job security of stakeholders and how that affects their perception of proposed changes. |
Compatibility |
Strategies must adequately reflect the implementation needs of the organization and its existing processes and policies; be aligned with stakeholders at different organizational levels; provide adequate separation between work and working with the intervention; and avoid stigmatization, especially of employees with mental health conditions. |
Organizational incentives and rewards |
Strategies should offer incentives for using the intervention and consider incorporating gamification components to offer these incentives. |
Readiness for implementation |
Strategies must ensure that stakeholders are involved in strategy development, aware of the strategy and their role in it, equipped with the necessary tools and access, and adequately trained to implement the strategy. |
Leadership engagement |
Strategies must secure support from all stakeholders, especially an active and engaged senior management who strongly sanctions and advocates for the intervention. |
Available resources |
Strategies must provide organizational support for implementation, intervention support for users, dedicated time and private spaces for completing interventions in the workplace, less time-intensive interventions, alternative options to live-participation activities (eg, live webinar recording), low-cost technology-based options (eg, email) for interventions, reliable cloud data storage, access from varying device types, and implementation cost estimates with demonstrated cost-effectiveness. |
Access to knowledge and information |
Strategies must provide information that sets realistic expectations about the intervention and how to implement it. |
Knowledge and beliefs about the intervention |
Strategies must clearly articulate the role of the organization in the development of the intervention and address privacy and stigmatization concerns associated with using mental health interventions. |
Self-efficacy |
Strategies must accommodate users whose performance is affected by symptoms (eg, lack of motivation) associated with their health conditions (eg, depression) and a lack of confidence using technology. |
Individual identification with organization |
Strategies must consider users’ perception of and level of commitment to the organization. |
Other personal attributes |
Strategies must address a lack of motivation (eg, due to symptoms associated with health conditions) to adopt and consistently use interventions and to seek help. |