Das Chronobiologie Projekt der Klinik Wartenberg ging in die zweite Runde. Wenn ein Chronobiologie Folgeprojekt…
The chronobiology project at the Wartenberg Clinic entered its second round. If a chronobiology follow-up project is funded by the same health insurance company that funded the first project, then it has usually been a success.
The ChronoClinic project (2021-2022), which has now come to an end, was the direct follow-up project to the successful study “COPEP – Chronotype-optimized personnel resource planning” (2019-2021). Its outstanding results have motivated us not to stand still, but to go further. While COPEP followed a strict scientific study design, ChronoClinic was much more extensive in terms of measures. The objectives have remained the same in principle:
The aims of the chronobiology project at Wartenberg Clinic
On the part of the employees:
- Reducing the risk of illness, especially in the area of mental stress (burnout, depression, psychosomatic consequences, etc.)
- Improvement of personal well-being
- Increase in the average duration of sleep
- Improving the quality of sleep
On the part of the company (based on the general objectives of the hospital’s internal OHM)
- Reduction in absenteeism (long-term)
- Reduction of the error rate (long-term)
- Increasing motivation
- Improving the care situation
- Strengthening employer branding
- Recruitment of skilled workers in particular. for the structural extension
IMPORTANT! Participation in all steps of the project was voluntary. The employees were free to decide whether they wanted to take part in the project, just take the test or go through all project stages.
Chronobiology - Measures
1 – Information event on the project
2 – Project brochure
3 – Chronotyping with the BodyClock hair root test
4 – Individual, 25-page results reports for all project participants
5 – Individual ChronoCochings
6 – Determining the recommended working window
7 – Support with personal questions about the project or your own private/professional situation
8 – COPEP® – Development of the new chronotype-optimized working times
9 – Monitoring the new working hours with questionnaires/evaluation of the questionnaires
Results of the chronobiology project at Wartenberg Clinic
The results confirm the findings of the COPEP study and even go beyond them in individual aspects.
The results of the ChronoCoaching sessions were also rated very positively. Although everyone receives a very comprehensive 25-page results report together with their chronotype after the hair root test, this is “only” individually tailored to their chronotype, but not to their professional/private/social situation. In the ChronoCoaching sessions, the recommendations listed in the results report were included in order to then discuss approaches for measures to implement these recommendations in the individual professional/private settings.
Excerpt from the feedback
“The results report and our conversation gave me a whole new understanding of my sleep and eating issues,
For which I am very grateful!”
“The results report and our conversation gave me a whole new understanding of my sleep and eating issues,
For which I am very grateful!”
“I was skeptical at first and would never have thought that this project would bring me so much added value.”
“If it actually becomes possible for me to go to work an hour later, then I would be happy!”
“Thank you very much for taking the time for me and for the many valuable tips!”
“The project has also become a project for our family.”
Chronobiology project - Conclusion
Across both projects, the results are now based on
- 186 Chronotyped employees
- 122 individual ChronoCoaching sessions/interviews with female employees incl. determined recommended working window
- 100 Recommended work windows approved for use in working time and shift planning
We were once again able to prove that taking chronobiology into account has a positive impact on various aspects of operational work after just a short time. COPEP (chronotype-optimized personnel resource planning) is certainly the ideal solution. But just knowing what chronotype structure a department/company has provides many aha moments as a basis for improvements. This means that operational information on chronobiology and, above all, chronotyping in conjunction with the individualization of the results report through ChronoCoachings are already solid basic measures that make up a large part of the overall success of a chrono project.
It is worth mentioning that this project was able to be fully implemented and completed with these positive results, especially in a care environment that has been severely affected over the last 2.5 years and despite the extreme strain on staff due to the pandemic. This is mainly thanks to the enthusiasm and flexibility of all the project partners and in particular those responsible at the Wartenberg Clinic.
Project partners
