[The "UPGRADE" Study Protocol: Creative Strengthening Groups as an Innovative Preventive Intervention for Healthcare...

Health care workers are subjected to particular job strains. Besides workload, exposure to the risks of violence and traumatic experiences can result in negative health effects. To date, there are hardly any preventive interventions. Supported by the German Innovationsfonds, we want to evaluate the effectiveness of a more intensive intervention for health care workers, the Creative Strengthening Groups. In this randomised controlled trial, 366 participants will be assigned to the intervention or the control group. The intervention group will participate in the Creative Strengthening Groups. At baseline and follow-up, all participants will complete questionnaires. The primary outcome is the change in job satisfaction as measured with the validated Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ). Secondary outcomes will be obtained by questionnaires that include items on psychosocial working conditions and organisational changes. We hypothesise that participation in the UPGRADE intervention will improve job satisfaction and thus constitute a structural and behavioural prevention strategy for the promotion of psychological well-being of health care workers.