A Multidisciplinary Occupational Medicine-Based Intervention Protocol for Conflict Prevention and Crisis Management in High-Stress Professional Environments.

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Workplace conflict and aggression pose significant psychosocial risks across diverse professional sectors. This protocol outlines a novel, university-based educational intervention. Developed by a multidisciplinary team from the University Hospital of Pisa, Italy, including occupational physicians and a psychiatrist specializing in work and organizational psychology, its primary purpose is to enhance conflict prevention and crisis management skills. While initially developed and tested within the veterinary sector due to its identified vulnerabilities, the intervention is inherently generalizable to any high-stress professional environment characterized by intense client, customer, or public interactions. Methods: The intervention integrates didactic instruction with active, immersive learning through tailored role-playing scenarios simulating real-world challenging encounters. This study protocol details the structured methodology for evaluating the immediate effectiveness of this training. We are using a specifically developed efficacy scale to assess outcomes. Results: The results demonstrate a significant improvement in all assessed skills from the pre-training to the post-training evaluation. For every item on the scale, the median scores increased, indicating a positive shift in overall group performance. The p-value for each item was <0.001, confirming that the observed improvements were statistically significant. These results demonstrate enhanced conflict resolution skills, improved communication, and an increased sense of self-efficacy among participants. Conclusions: This protocol offers a comprehensive and generalizable approach to addressing workplace psychosocial risks through an innovative educational intervention. A key future goal involves advancing this training methodology by integrating virtual reality (VR) environments with AI-driven avatars for role-playing, aiming to achieve a more realistic and impactful learning experience and sustained behavioral change.