From Yearly Checks to Daily Progress: Evaluating Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) in Systematic Work Environment Management (SAM) Within the Municipal Sector

Launched by KAROLINSKA INSTITUTET · Mar 18, 2025

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This trial asks whether a new way of organizing workplace health efforts can help municipal workplaces improve conditions that support employee health. It tests Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) as part of systematic work environment management (SAM). In short, the study compares two groups: an Experiment group that uses GAS to set and track group-level health goals within SAM, and a Control group that continues with usual SAM processes. The main thing researchers will look at is how employees respond to an annual survey over about two years, using a five-point scale where higher scores mean better outcomes. It’s a randomized, parallel-design study led by Karolinska Institutet (with Mälardalen University) in the Swedish municipal sector, with enrollment ongoing since August 2024 and an estimated completion at the end of 2027.

Who can participate and what to expect: eligible work units are in the municipal sector with more than 5 employees and no current major changes happening in the unit. Both adults and children are included in the wider eligibility, and healthy volunteers can participate. Data are collected at the group (work unit) level and kept confidential. If your unit joins the Experiment group, managers will get GAS training and begin using a 5-level scale to set and monitor goals related to health-promoting factors, with progress plotted over time. If your unit is in the Control group, you’ll continue with standard SAM practices. Participation details, including privacy and data sharing (currently undecided), are coordinated by the study teams at Karolinska Institutet and Mälardalen University.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • work unit must have \>5 employees, working within municipal sector, no other major organizational changes
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Units with \<5 employees, other major organizational changes