Stress at work is the most prevalent work-related disease in the Netherlands. Occupational stress can lead to short-term complaints, and on the long run to more severe effects such as burn-outs. This is problematic both for the employee and the organisation. Next to personal and business-related problems this causes economic burdens. Especially in the youth care sector professionals experience much occupational pressure (‘werkdruk’), which can lead to occupational stress. Furthermore, the implementation of the youth act (‘Jeugdwet’) in 2015 has shifted the organisation of youth care to the municipalities. Hereby, many reorganizations and budget cuts occurred, causing even higher stress levels among youth care professionals.
Our client TNO asked us to investigate whether the occupational stress among ambulatory youth care professionals could be decreased. In order to come up with an effective intervention our project consists of several phases. First, we will determine significant stressors and consequences within the ambulatory youth care sector by analyzing a survey and interviewing experts. Then, existing interventions and their effectiveness will be reviewed. Also, we will organize a brainstorm event to think of new interventions and evaluate them. When an intervention fits our requirements of feasibility and effectivity, we will test this intervention with a pilot. Together, based on these subparts we will generate two deliverables: a theoretical report on occupational stress and interventions as well as a practical result based on our pilot.
