At Affinity Health at Work, we're thrilled to be working on a new initiative in collaboration with the Institute for Employment Studies the Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM) and the Society of Occupational Medicine. This project, called OSCAR (Occupational Stress Consultation and Research), is funded by the Health and Safety Executive

Through OSCAR, we're diving into three key areas with the goal of informing practice and policy:

1. Define & Identify: How is work-related stress defined and identified by organisations and GPs?

2. Prevent & Reduce: What interventions are effective for preventing and reducing work-related stress?

3. Barriers & Enablers: What are the enablers and barriers to organisations effectively reducing the risk of work-related stress?

As we explore these areas, we have a valuable opportunity to gather insights from the work-related stress research, policy, and practice community. That's why we're launching our Call for Evidence!

Why Is Evidence Important?

To propose solutions that are likely to be effective, it's crucial to consult evidence from a range of sources. Drawing on the principles of evidence-based practice from Barends, Rousseau and Briner's (2014), we understand that the chances of a positive outcome can be improved by:

• "Acquiring" the best evidence

• "Appraising" its quality and relevance to determine how much we can trust its conclusions

• "Aggregating" the selected evidence to build a comprehensive understanding

• "Applying" the findings to inform decisions and solutions

• "Assessing" the effectiveness of the chosen solution and identifying areas for improvement

Project OSCAR is currently at the "acquiring" stage, and through our Call for Evidence, we're seeking to gather the best available evidence on our research questions.

What Do We Mean by Evidence?

Evidence can take many forms. As suggested by the CIPD, examples include:

• Best available evaluated scientific research: e.g. systematic reviews, qualitative research, randomised controlled trials
• Practitioner expertise and judgement: e.g. grey literature, case studies
• Stakeholder preferences/values: e.g. internal and external stakeholder perspectives, interview findings
• Organisational data: e.g. Survey data, retention rates

For Project OSCAR, we're eager to hear from a wide range of stakeholders—employers, clinicians, Occupational Health/wellbeing leads, advisory agencies, charities, professional bodies, unions, academics, and more. By "acquiring" evidence from diverse sources, we aim to gain a comprehensive view of what's already known so that we can focus our efforts on addressing any gaps through further research.

We'd love to hear from you, whether you have a lot of information to share or just a little. Here are some ways you can contribute:

• Share references to research you've encountered on work-related stress (all types of evidence are welcome)

• Upload any files or papers you have

• Provide bibliographies or reference lists from any relevant work

• Offer thoughts on what has worked (or not) in your organisation

You can submit evidence through the form linked on our site or via email at oscar@affinityhealthatwork.com. If you'd prefer to discuss your thoughts, simply email us, and we'll be happy to arrange a virtual call.

Our Call for Evidence is open until the end of September.

If you're unsure whether you have any evidence to contribute, want to get involved in other ways, or simply wish to stay informed about project updates, please register your interest

—we'd love to stay in touch.

Useful Links

Project OSCAR webpage

Project OSCAR call for evidence

Register your interest