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Objectives: The main aim of the present study is to present the Occupational Resilience Assets Questionnaire (ORA-Q), a questionnaire developed in three different levels (organizational, occupational, and personal) for assessing resilience resources at work. The purpose of the ORA-Q is to improve and facilitate research on resilience processes in the workplaces. Further the stress-buffering valence of the considered dimensions have been tested, too., Methods: The development of the questionnaire is based on a survey of a sample of 1,518 Italian employees aged 18-55 years. Altogether 45 questions were tested with exploratory factor analysis, internal consistency and criterion validity., Results: All the scales have good reliability. Principal component analysis enable to identify the hypothesized factors. Logistic regression analysis confirm the role of all resilience assets as buffer against stress conditions., Conclusion: The Occupational Resilience Assets Questionnaire is a valid and reliable tool for international research and workplace surveys. The questionnaire seems to be comprehensive and to include the most relevant resilience resources according to several important theories on this topic. Differently from many tools for the assessment and improvement of the psychosocial work environment, the ORA-Q is useful as resilience measure in the workplace. Its three-level structure facilitates surveillance, benchmarking and evaluation of interventions., Competing Interests: The authors of this article have no conflict of interests to disclose., (Copyright© by Aracne Editrice, Roma, Italy.)

Training programs for health care workers aimed at controlling job-related stress (person-directed, person-work interface and organizational interventions) demonstrate only short-term effect in reducing stress levels. Medium-long-term results could be achieved only through well-articulated programs, which involve health administration managers and nursing staff in a solid and enduring prevention-centered approach. Informative interventions conducted in hospital for preventing job-related stress have a particularly good response rate among nurses and other members of medical support and technical staff. Physicians don't seem to respond to these interventions since they have more decision-making autonomy and develop reward mechanisms; for these reasons, they feel to have less need for training/support interventions. Finally, our results confirm the need for a more-active stress management policy in hospitals and other health care institutions.

Recent developments in the studies on personal and organizational well-being efficaciously fit the issue of psycho-social risk assessment and its inherent implication for well-being promotion in the workplace. The advance in theory permits to define operative models for health and safety promotion and to project interventions directed to protect and to enhance workers' health and safety conditions. It will then be possible to move from the 'treatment model' to the 'health model' in workplaces. An example of the application of the new model is presented.

Research on work stress has focused to date for the most part on the environmental and psychosocial factors inducing stress and great strides have been made in assisting both individuals and organizations in managing distress. This, however, is only half of the battle. As a complement to healing the wounded, there is need to explore models of intervention aimed at the promotion of well-being at work through the development and reinforcement of health-promoting factors. An important contribution toward this goal comes today from Positive Psychology, a new current of research focused on investigating the qualities and predictors that enable individuals to flourish. Within this perspective, health is seen not as the absence of disease and of risk factors but rather as the presence of those resources that underpin wellbeing. Among the new theoretical constructs emerging from Positive Psychology, of particular relevance to the domain of occupational health psychology is the notion of adult resilience. A definition of this notion is proposed and a review given of the main resources of resilience identified in the literature. Particular attention is given to the dimension of meaning, which seems to act as an important health-protector in the work setting. Resilience factors may also play a role in the implementing of interventions oriented both to distress prevention and wellbeing promotion. Establishing and maintaining an effective dialogue between researchers and practitioners in the field of work health promotion is strongly recommended.

The clinical cases of psychosocial disturbances that the Occupational Doctors find in their daily activity frequently are characterized by difficult differential diagnosis. These cases frequently must be faced with limitations of the work ability not easy to define and with unclear prognosis too. A useful help in the evaluation of these cases can be offered by the Clinical Units for the evaluation of work related stress, for the specialized joined support of Psychologist and of Occupational Doctors these Units can assure. We report the protocols of diagnosis of our clinical unit and the main characteristics of the patients more recently evaluated.