Resource persons as a means to improve workplace practices – experiences from eight prevention projects

Abstract

I n the article, we describe the experiences of eight workplaces regarding their use of resource persons to implement health and well-being improvements. The term ‘resource persons’ refers to selected employees who are given competences and assigned a task to develop, support, and sustain a change in their own and their colleagues’ work practices. Our study is a multi-case study with eight projects as cases. The projects we selected were all but one financed by the Danish Prevention Fund, and aimed at improving the psychosocial work environment, or promoting health and well- being in the workplaces. In many of our cases, their experiences with resource persons were positive and the resource persons succeeded with their task, and managed to sustain the new work practices, after the funded project ended. Their success was primarily conditioned by management support and task clarity.