Room 307, Wednesday, July 9th, 2:30 – 3:50 pm
A major challenge when evaluating organizational interventions is knowing whether the outcomes we observe are due to the intervention itself or to some other competing cause or contextual factor that is unrelated to the intervention. When using non-experimental evaluation designs that do not involve a control group, uncovering competing causes and contextual factors becomes very important for making judgements about what else is going on that might explain the observed program effects (or lack thereof). Overlooking measurement of these factors (i.e., “effect modifiers”) runs the risk of drawing erroneous conclusions regarding a program’s effects. These methodological problems are relevant for studies evaluating Total Worker Health® and other organizational interventions for improving mental well-being and psychosocial working conditions.
The “Effect Modifier Assessment” (EMA) protocol is a qualitative protocol that identifies competing causes and contextual factors extrinsic to an organization-level intervention program. This method utilizes focus groups to gather data from the intended program beneficiaries about organizational factors and their relevance to the investigated program. The EMA can be delivered in person or in a virtual environment. In this workshop we will demonstrate the EMA data collection protocol through role-playing; describe the data analysis procedures and resources needed; and give participants practice in framing the evaluation questions used in an EMA workshop. Attendees will leave the session with tools to use the EMA in their studies.
Learning Objectives:
By the completion of this workshop, participants should be able to:
- Understand how competing causes and contextual factors can threaten validity when assessing program effects.
- Prepare for and facilitate an effect modification assessment (EMA) focus group.
- Understand methods to interpret and present results.
Presenter Bios:
Suzanne Nobrega, PhD, is Center Co-Director and Outreach Director for the Center for Promotion of Health in the New England Workplace (CPH-NEW) at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. CPH-NEW is a NIOSH Total Worker Health (TWH) Center for Excellence. Her work focuses on Total Worker Health research translation, evaluation, continuing professional education, and dissemination. Dr. Nobrega has implemented the Effect Modification Assessment (EMA) protocol to evaluate a university institutional change effort to improve gender equity for STEM program faculty. She received the 2018 Eusebio Rial-González Innovation & Practice Award in Occupational Health Psychology from the European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology for her role in advancing participatory workplace programs to promote worker safety and wellbeing.
Kasper Edwards, PhD, is a Senior Researcher at the Technical University of Denmark, Department of Department of Technology, Management and Economics. His research focuses on wellbeing, productivity and effectiveness and is currently engaged in two research projects: 1) Wellbeing and hybrid work and 2) Organization of municipal healthcare in Denmark. He has attracted funding from private, national, and international funding agencies. He has a strong interest in qualitative research methods for evaluation and was one of the original developers of the EMA method to identify intervention modifiers. Dr. Edwards is an often-used speaker on productivity and wellbeing, social capital and the implications of algorithmic management and provides consulting on wellbeing and participatory approaches to organizational change.
Mazen El Ghaziri, PhD, MPH, RN is Associate Professor and Associate Chair at the Solomont School of Nursing, Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Lowell. His research is focused on workplace health promotion, safety, and well-being mostly within the public sector, with a specialization in primary and secondary prevention of workplace violence in correctional and healthcare settings. He is a co-investigator with the Center for the Promotion of Health in the New England Workplace, a NIOSH Total Worker Health Center for Excellence. Dr. El Ghaziri has designed, implemented, and analyzed EMA workshops in several workplace settings including higher education, corrections and healthcare.
Serena Rice, MS, is a project manager and master trainer at the Center for the Promotion of Health in the New England Workplace (CPH-NEW) at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. She has extensive experience as a labor educator and organizer, and as a researcher using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Since joining CPH-NEW in 2017, Serena has collaborated with workers in healthcare, corrections and education to create evidence-based workplace interventions and trainings that protect and promote worker health, safety and well-being. She has implemented and evaluated participatory programs and has run EMA workshops in both corrections and healthcare settings.