Digital health applications for the work setting often don't use validated materials.

The EMPOWER app advises individual employees and employers on workstress.

It was developed in English and translated in Spanish, Polish, and Finnish.

It aims to improve workstress and mental wellbeing in the workplace.

It will be evaluated in an RCT in the United Kingdom, Spain, Finland and Poland.

We describe the design and development of the European Platform to Promote health and wellbeing in the workplace (EMPOWER) digital intervention that provides an integrative user programme meeting the needs of employees and employers in addressing work stress.

A user-centred design process was followed from January 2020 until November 2021. A tailored algorithm was developed to provide support at the individual employee level and the company level. Each element of the digital intervention was developed in English and then translated in Spanish, English, Polish and Finnish. The digital intervention consists of a website and a mobile application (app) that provides algorithm-based personalised content after assessing a user's somatic and psychological symptoms, work functioning, and psychosocial risk factors for work stress. It has a public section and an employer portal that provides recommendations to reduce psychosocial risks in their company based upon clustered input from employees. Usability testing was conducted and showed high ease of use and completion of tasks by participants.

The EMPOWER digital intervention is a tailored multimodal intervention addressing wellbeing, work stress, mental and physical health problems, and work productivity. This will be used in a planned RCT in four countries to evaluate its effectiveness.

Digital intervention

Workplace

Work stress

Mental health

Wellbeing

Qualitative research

Employees

© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.