Dataset Information

User needs gathering for the design of information and communications technology-supported occupational stress management intervention: A quantitative study.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

The software industry is considered a growing industry with a high propensity to cause stress reactions among employees due to its demanding and technology-driven nature. There are convincing shreds of evidence that information and communications technology (ICT) interventions can effectively solve stress-related disorders. However, several identified constraints have hindered its potential benefits, such as poor adherence, lack of engagement, high attrition and lack of personalisation.

Objective

The study presented in this article aims to gather the user needs of software employees in Sri Lanka to identify design ideas for an ICT-supported intervention for occupational stress management (ICTSMI) in the software industry.

Materials and methods

The study followed a quantitative approach using an online questionnaire in which three key areas were investigated: (1) stressors, (2) coping strategies and (3) design preferences. A total of 408 valid responses were collected and analysed using SPSS software.

Results

Findings revealed that the majority of software employees were with a moderate level of stress. They perceived work stressors and role stressors as common causes of stress. The most frequently used coping strategy was to seek social support, followed by digital activities and sports and physical exercises. The male and female design preferences varied to a greater extent but only slightly varied based on their job category. However, findings suggested the necessity of further elicitation of user needs to support the design process.

SUBMITTER: Weerasekara M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9500269 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan-Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

User needs gathering for the design of information and communications technology-supported occupational stress management intervention: A quantitative study.

Weerasekara Manoja M Smedberg Åsa B ÅB Karunathilaka Ganga G Sandmark Hélène H

Digital health 20220101

<h4>Introduction</h4>The software industry is considered a growing industry with a high propensity to cause stress reactions among employees due to its demanding and technology-driven nature. There are convincing shreds of evidence that information and communications technology (ICT) interventions can effectively solve stress-related disorders. However, several identified constraints have hindered its potential benefits, such as poor adherence, lack of engagement, high attrition and lack of pers ...[more]

PMID: 36159157

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Many public health programs and interventions across the world increasingly rely on using information and communications technology (ICT) tools to train and sensitize health professionals. However, the effects of such programs on provider knowledge, practice, and patient health outcomes have been inconsistent. One of the reasons for the varied effectiveness of these programs is the low and varying levels of provider engagement, which, in turn, could be because of the form and mode of content used. Tailoring instructional content could improve engagement, but it is expensive and logistically demanding to do so with traditional training. OBJECTIVE:This study aimed to discover preferences among providers on the form (articles or videos), mode (featuring peers or experts), and length (short or long) of the instructional content; to quantify the extent to which differences in these preferences can explain variation in provider engagement with ICT-based training interventions; and to compare the power of content preferences to explain provider engagement against that of demographic variables. METHODS:We used data from a mobile phone-based intervention focused on improving tuberculosis diagnostic practices among 24,949 private providers from 5 specialties and 1734 cities over 1 year. Engagement time was used as the primary outcome to assess provider engagement. K-means clustering was used to segment providers based on the proportion of engagement time spent on content formats, modes, and lengths to discover their content preferences. The identified clusters were used to predict engagement time using a linear regression model. Subsequently, we compared the accuracy of the cluster-based prediction model with one based on demographic variables of providers (eg, specialty and geographic location). RESULTS:The average engagement time across all providers was 7.5 min (median 0, IQR 0-1.58). A total of 69.75% (17,401/24,949) of providers did not consume any content. The average engagement time for providers with nonzero engagement time was 24.8 min (median 4.9, IQR 2.2-10.1). We identified 4 clusters of providers with distinct preferences for form, mode, and length of content. These clusters explained a substantially higher proportion of the variation in engagement time compared with demographic variables (32.9% vs 1.0%) and yielded a more accurate prediction for the engagement time (root mean square error: 4.29 vs 5.21 and mean absolute error: 3.30 vs 4.26). CONCLUSIONS:Providers participating in a mobile phone-based digital campaign have inherent preferences for instructional content. Targeting providers based on individual content preferences could result in higher provider engagement as compared to targeting providers based on demographic variables.

Dataset Information

User needs gathering for the design of information and communications technology-supported occupational stress management intervention: A quantitative study.

Introduction

Objective

Materials and methods

Results

Publications

User needs gathering for the design of information and communications technology-supported occupational stress management intervention: A quantitative study.

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