• Project number: F 2397
• Institution: Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA) / Burghof-Klinik, Rinteln / IEGUS, Institut für europäische Gesundheits- und Sozialwirtschaft GmbH, Berlin
• Status: Completed Project

Description:

In cooperation with the mental hospital "Burghof-Klinik" in Rinteln, a psychosomatic consultation in the workplace (PSIB) should be established in companies in Lower Saxony, accompanied and evaluated by the BAuA.

The goal of the PSIB is the early recognition of psychological disturbances or mental disorders and the avoidance of clinical manifestation of disease, going along with long-term sickness absence. In Germany, experiences with the psychosomatic consultation in the workplace are limited. This project aims to increase the scientific knowledge about PSIB and will approach this psychotherapeutic intervention within the worksite from different perspectives. For the evaluation of the PSIB a qualitative study design was selected, consisting of focus groups and expert interviews with representatives of the companies as well as personal interviews with the users of the PSIB. Within a 1-year follow-up we will analyze the usage and the perception of the PSIB, the further access to the health care system and the way companies deal with mental illness in the workplace.

This study is the third part of a bundle of research projects entitled "Mental disorders in the workplace and return to work". The main goal of the bundle is to describe the situation of employees with common mental disorders and to provide work-oriented suggestions for primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention as well as an improved RTW-process in Germany.