New Research Highlights Gaps in Workplace Mental Health Interventions
Europe, 1 May 2026 - International Labour Day 2026 focuses on ensuring a safe and healthy working environment, with particular attention to psychosocial risks such as work-related stress, excessive workload, and mental health. Recently published PROSPERH research underscores both progress and critical gaps in organisational efforts to protect workers.
A recent PROSPERH-led systematic review published in the International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health highlights that organisational-level interventions - those targeting working conditions, job design, and management practices - can improve employee mental health. However, the evidence remains limited and uneven across sectors.
The review found the strongest evidence for the healthcare sector, where all identified studies reported improvements in at least one mental health outcome, including reduced burnout, stress, and depressive symptoms. These findings suggest that organisational change - such as adjusting workloads, improving leadership support, or redesigning work processes, can play a meaningful role in protecting employee wellbeing.
In contrast, evidence from other sectors remains scarce. Only a small number of studies were identified in industries such as construction and telework-based environments, highlighting a significant research gap at a time when psychosocial risks are increasingly recognised across all forms of work.
While some interventions demonstrated positive effects, the review also points to challenges in sustaining improvements over time. This raises important questions about the durability of workplace mental health strategies and the need for ongoing support rather than one-off interventions.
This research also identified early evidence that organisational interventions can benefit employees in telework settings, including improvements in positive mood and wellbeing. As remote and hybrid work models become more widespread, these findings highlight the importance of adapting workplace health strategies to evolving work environments.
Work-related stress, high workloads, and poor mental health are no longer peripheral concerns - they are central to creating safe and sustainable workplaces. PROSPERH reinforces organisational factors as key drivers of mental health at work and that effective interventions must go beyond individual coping strategies.
The world of work is changing rapidly, and too many workers, especially those in construction, precarious employment roles, and remote settings, are being left behind when it comes to mental and physical health support. PROSPERH is building the evidence-based tools that employers and policymakers need to act. This Labour Day, we urge every organisation to treat worker mental and physical health not as an afterthought, but as a fundamental right.
Prof. Ella Arensman, PROSPERH Coordinator, Head of School of Public Health, University College Cork and Chief Scientist, National Suicide Research Foundation, Cork, Ireland
On International Labour Day 2026, PROSPERH calls for safer and healthier workplaces, aligning with the theme for 2026 which promotes the importance of addressing psychosocial risks as a core component of occupational safety and health.
In connection with International Labour Day, PROSPERH is holding a webinar on 15 May 2025 (13:00 – 14:00 CET) where four international experts will discuss: Upstream promotion of mental health and physical health in the workplace – Addressing challenges in changing environments. Registrations are now open via this link.
EAAD Contact person:
Carolina Piña
carolina.pina@eaad.net
About PROSPERH
PROSPERH (Positive Mental and Physical Health at Work in a Changing Environment) is a Horizon Europe-funded project developing and validating an innovative multi-level workplace health intervention. Delivered via the PROSPERH Portal, comprising both an employee app and a website for HR professionals and managers, the intervention is being tested across 11 countries.
More information: www.prosperh.eu or on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/company/prosperh-project-eu
Reference
Giovanis E, Ozdamar O, Aust B, Cresswell-Smith J, Cerga Pashoja A, Leduc C, et al.; PROSPERH Consortium. Systematic review update of organisational-level mental health promotion interventions: evidence from healthcare, construction, and telework-based mobile work settings. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2026;99(2):10. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-025-02193-0
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the Health and Digital Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. UK participants in Horizon Europe Project PROSPERH are supported by UKRI grant numbers 1010118 for St Mary's University and 10109311 for University of Stirling. Australian participant Griffith University is supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council.
