Effectiveness of interventions to improve job-related wellbeing of employees working from home: a rapid review

Abstract

Abstract We conducted a rapid review examining the effectiveness of organisational interventions intended to improve job-related wellbeing of adult employees working from home. A systematic search was conducted on MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Social Sciences Citation Index in June 2021. Studies were included of adult employees working from home, with wellbeing interventions implemented by organisations for all (or groups of) employees and study designs with any (or no) comparator group. Outcomes were quantitative/qualitative data related to employee psychological and subjective well-being. A total of 1906 unique records were retrieved, of which five studies with a total of 332 participants were included. All five studies included an online intervention, and each had a different type of intervention: well-being and performance coaching; positive psychology coaching; employee empowering sessions; corporate wellbeing programme; and yoga. Interventions showed a pattern of reducing stress levels and enhancing wellbeing. Review results should be interpreted with caution due to study small sample sizes, occurring during the pandemic and having inactive control or no control group, which may mean fluctuating levels of stress unrelated to interventions. The nature of the rapid review meant grey literature may have yielded more studies. This review was registered on Prospero (CRD42021262655).

Keywords

• Rapid review
• Wellbeing
• Home working
• Stress
• Coaching
• Positive psychology,