Project Health Ghana gets Sponsorship from European Academy

Project Health Ghana gets Sponsorship from European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology

Steve McCarthy, Editor

NOTTINGHAM, UNITED KINGDOM - European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology (EAOHP) announced Project Health Ghana, a Ghanaian non-profit Organization, as the recipient of their 2014 Small Grant Fund. This funding will specifically support Project Health Ghana’s advocacy and public education on Workplace stress and its influence on health and wellbeing, the Workplace Stress-free Café.

Project Health Ghana, renowned in Ghana for mostly public health advocacy, especially on online and media tobacco control policy advocacy, will use the funding to offer evidence-based approach to advise government agencies, employers, employees and the general public on how to curb and manage psychosocial and organizational stress at the workplace. It will also be used to provide links to recent reports and literature on work stress that is relevant to Ghanaians. This program is expected to commence in late March 2015.

Project Health Ghana is also collaborating with Asia Pacific Center for Work and Safety at University of South Australia to launch a nationwide online survey, the Ghanaian Workplace Barometer Project later in 2015. This study aims at providing empirical evidence of the Ghanaian psychosocial work conditions to and their relationships with wellbeing, health and productivity.

“Project Health is conducting an important groundbreaking research and also exposure awareness program,” stated Dr. Wilfred Agbenyikey, the Founder and President of Project Health Ghana. “There have been dramatic changes in the way work is organized and carried out in Ghana over the past two decades mainly due to the inflow of foreign direct investments and industrialization. Sensitizing the general working public of the ill effects of the stressors that may accompany these organizational structures and also measuring the levels of stress risk factors Ghanaians are exposed to are important in improving occupational health. We are grateful to EAOHP and University of South Australia”

“The EAOHP is pleased to support the Workplace Stress-free Café initiative being launched by Project Health Ghana. Research has shown that issues such as work-related stress, bullying and harassment and violence at work are not only limited to developed nations. There is strong evidence which suggests that even developing countries are not spared from the health and economic impact of psychosocial risks and work-related stress. There is therefore a need to address these issues through advocacy and awareness rising at the individual, organizational as well as at the policy level. We are certain that the Workplace Stress-free Café initiative will help address these issues in Ghana ” Dr. Aditya Jain, the Executive Officer of the EAOHP added.

Project health Ghana’s research team comprises of internationally and locally experienced and recognized occupational health, organizational psychology and workplace stress experts. This public health work could not happen at a better time. The Ghana National Occupational Safety and Health Policy draft bill which was developed in 2009 and abandoned is back on Ghana governments’ agenda, this research work and advocacy program will be significant in not only educating the public but also proving the policymakers with relevant empirical information on workplace stress.