Center for Work, Health, & Well-being Resources

The Thriving from Work Questionnaire (TfWQ) was developed by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Center for Work, Health, and Well-being to measure the positive contribution work can play on a worker’s overall well-being. It is a 30-item long survey instrument covering six domains and an 8-item short form drawn from those same items.

This guide describes how to produce a translated version that is defensible, publishable, and — critically — comparable to the existing English, Spanish, and German versions. It draws on our experiences of translating and validating two published TfWQ translation/validation studies (Spanish for Peru/Mexico; German), the Questionnaire’s User Manual, and best practice cross-cultural adaptation methodology.

The central principle: translation is the less time-consuming part of the job. The more demanding part is demonstrating that the translated items still measure the same latent construct in your population. A linguistically flawless translation with no content validation may not be a valid instrument.

Our workplaces shape our health, whether through the stress of our workloads, pay and benefits we receive, interacting with physical surroundings, or obtaining support from colleagues and supervisors. This is as true for addiction treatment organizations as it is for any other workplace. However, the implications of working conditions in these settings are wider since how these workplaces shape worker health also impacts the health of clients seeking addiction treatment. Creating working conditions that support the health and wellbeing of the addiction treatment workforce is therefore central to providing consistent and effective addiction treatment for clients.

The considerable rise in substance use disorders has strained addiction treatment services across the United States, and this strain can be noticeably felt in organizations operating across Massachusetts—a state with one of the highest rates of overdose deaths in the country. The addiction treatment workforce has long been characterized by high rates of turnover and attrition, but with the rising rates of addiction, workforce shortages have greater implications for people seeking addiction care. This may be particularly true for residential addiction treatment facilities, which provide 24/7 care for individuals as they move into recovery.

The Substance Use Provider Occupational Wellbeing (SUPOW) Study aimed to understand how working conditions and larger socio-political influences impact the health and wellbeing of Massachusetts residential addiction providers working in state-funded facilities. This study also sought to identify how the health and wellbeing of providers impacted the organizations at which they worked and client care. As part of this community-initiated study, frontline providers, supervisors, and executive leaders participated in interviews and focus groups to share their perspectives and observations working in residential treatment across Massachusetts regions. As such, all analyses presented in this report are from the perspective of providers and leaders with first-hand experience working in residential addiction treatment.

The Thriving from Work User Manual provides a definition for "Thriving from Work" and why it is important to measure, the process used to develop the Thriving from Work conceptual framework and questionnaires, the full English versions of the two questionnaires including the short-form and the long-form, and their practical applications.

The Thriving from Work Questionnaire Scoring Guide accompanies the Thriving from Work Questionnaire User Manual and was developed to assist both researchers and practitioners in scoring the Thriving from Work Questionnaire using some common approaches. There are a variety of scoring options one may use with the Thriving from Work Questionnaire; the pros and cons of different scoring approaches depend on the goals of the use of the instrument and the context in which the data are collected.

The Thriving from Work Questionnaire has been translated from English to German and validated in populations of workers in Germany.

The Thriving from Work Questionnaire Frequently Asked Questions document describes thriving from work and the Thriving from Work Questionnaires, as well as what these instruments measure and why measuring thriving from work is important.

The Thriving from Work Questionnaire has been translated from English to Spanish and validated in populations of workers in Peru and Mexico.

"Implementing an Integrated Approach: Weaving Employee Health, Safety, and Well-Being into the Fabric of Your Organization" is a detailed step-by-step evidence-based approach to implementing an integrated approach to worker safety, health, and well-being at an organization. With real-world examples, it demonstrates how to inspire key worksite stakeholders to support and participate in an integrated approach; identify goals and objectives for an integrated initiative; target working conditions meaningful to workers and employers; implement policies and practices that create and sustain positive working conditions; and evaluate and continually improve efforts to enhance worker safety, health, and well-being. These guidelines are available in English and in Spanish, with a stand-alone Executive Summary available in English.