Thriving At Work: Evaluating a New Psychological Health Training Program
Canada’s National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace provides a framework for healthier organizations, but awareness and implementation have been uneven. The Canadian Mental Health Association Manitoba-Winnipeg and RRC Polytech developed the first micro-credential aimed at promoting psychological health and safety in the workplace.
Maria’s project undertakes a formative evaluation of the micro-credential. It focuses on how the training is experienced, what participants learn and how it may influence workplace practices, with an emphasis on opportunities to improve the program.
A 2018 survey of 1,010 workplaces found that only 17% were aware of the National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace and fewer than 2% had fully implemented it.
Mental illness was identified as the leading cause of disability, with an estimated annual cost of $51 billion in Canada when the project was developed. The National Standard was established in 2013, championed by the Mental Health Commission of Canada.
Approach and methodology
The evaluation adapts Kirkpatrick’s Four-Level Training Evaluation Model, which considers participants’ reactions, learning, behaviour and results. This framework is intended to assess aspects of the training experience and its potential influence on participants and workplaces.
This evaluation focuses on the workplace training micro-credential. It is distinct from Maria’s broader doctoral research on mental health and youth justice in Manitoba.
Expected contribution
The study aims to generate recommendations that improve the training’s effectiveness, design and implementation. Stronger evidence about this approach may support wider use of workplace psychological health and safety education in Canada.
About the researcher
Maria Paula Godoy was a second-year doctoral student in Community Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba. She holds a master’s degree in Evidence-Based Social Intervention and Policy Evaluation from the University of Oxford and has more than a decade of experience in applied and community-based health research.
Her broader doctoral work examines the intersection of the mental health and youth justice systems in Manitoba. She brings a human-rights and equity perspective to research intended to inform practical, evidence-based change. During the project period, her doctoral studies were supported by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Doctoral Fellowship.
