Process Evaluation of a Work Stress Prevention Approach in Primary Education Exploring the Added Value of Real-Time Feedback During Implementation

Objective: Participatory organizational-level interventions carry a risk of implementation failure. The current study evaluates the implementation of a work stress prevention approach in primary education and reflects on the use of real-time feedback as implementation strategy to prevent this risk. Methods: The process evaluation was conducted at four primary schools in the Netherlands. A framework for evaluating organizational-level interventions was applied using mixed methods. Results: Results show the implementation level varied between schools and was hindered by the intervention context, school size, and planning of the approach. Management commitment and employee involvement seemed important factors for successful implementation. Real-time feedback seemed valuable to further improve implementation, but not to prevent implementation failure. Conclusions: Collecting data on implementation factors before the active phase of the approach, may provide the possibility to anticipate on implementation problems earlier.