What are the necessary and sufficient conditions for succeeding with an organizational occupational health intervention?

Whereas plenty is known about causes of employee ill-health, the knowledge about how to succeed with the implementation of organizational occupational health interventions (OOHI) that target these causes is yet in its infancy. Thus far, we have learned about how various, isolated factors affect implementation outcomes.

The problem is that factors affecting implementation do not appear in isolation. Instead, multiple factors are present simultaneously, in various combinations.

We lack knowledge about which factors are necessary and/or sufficient to succeed with implementing OOHI, and which combinations of factors affect implementation. This knowledge is needed to advance the theoretical development of the field. The aim of this project is to explain under what conditions implementation of OOHIs succeed or fail.

This is done by applying a mathematical analytic method – coincidence analysis – that allows comparison of different cases while retaining complexity in terms of multiple factors and large variation between cases.

In this, the complexity of real-world implementation can be mirrored and makes it possible to answer research questions about which factors that are necessary and/or sufficient for successful implementation, how factors combine, and how multiple pathways can cause the same implementation outcome.

We will use a unique data set containing rich qualitative and quantitative data from a two-year long period during which an OOHI was implemented in 64 preschools, involving over 1800 individuals. The data includes a wide range of factors relating to individuals, the intervention and the organizational context.

The project creates an empirical foundation for a highly needed theory development that can help explain under which conditions implementation of OOHIs succeed or fail.

These are also the type of questions that practitioners engaged in implementation struggle with, making the findings highly applicable to practice.