Background
ML was commissioned to conduct an evaluation of the KWSEL portal and Employee Assistance Programmes on behalf of the Southeast London regional board to assess what impact the programme has had on staff health and wellbeing. We investigated the impact the portal and Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP’s) have had on health and care staff within the region. An evaluation was conducted to illuminate aspects of programme process, context, and outputs. The evaluation documents the innovative work of the KWSEL portal and EAP’s, to understand how well the portal addresses the needs of the service users to support informing the future directions of commissioning staff wellbeing services and service design.
KWSEL portal
The Keeping Well Southeast London portal emphasised accessibility for all and was used to collate the various health and wellbeing initiatives in London available to NHS staff, it included information on different topics such as menopause, financial wellbeing, and more. It considered the varying characteristics and diversity of NHS staff as it highlighted religion, culture, gender differences and was designed to be used by health and social care staff.
Staff could access free and confidential wellbeing and psychological support through the digital portal which included access to self-help resources, self-assessment, live chat and a community forum. Prioritisation for access to psychological assessment and treatment through Adult Improving Access to Psychological Therapies is available to staff working in organisations that are funded through or partnered with NHS or local authority commissioned services.
The services were delivered in partnership between the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Services provided by South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, Bromley Healthcare and Mind.
Methods:
This included mixed methods primary data collection from staff, programme delivery teams, and secondary platform data to understand the benefits of the platform and barriers to engagement, alongside other insights to support future commissioning decisions.
We utilised a mixed-methods design based 3 key theoretical frameworks, including the Process and Effect Evaluation Framework – for complex HWB interventions in complex systems. We built a specific evaluation framework to meet the required areas of enquiry, including surveys and interviews. We analysed the data using descriptive statistics and thematic analyses.
Findings:
KWSEL stated objectives for health and wellbeing portal:
- Single point of access – consistent finding that KWSEL is a “one stop shop” for staff HWB, lower awareness in social care
- Inclusive and adapted – consistent feedback on breadth and relevance of resources, with room to improve based on survey feedback (22% reported that resources were not useful for them)
- Widely accessible – digital accessibility of portal and responsiveness of support services were consistently reported for users, although wide recognition that more awareness raising of the platform to staff was needed
Access & user experience – consistently positive reports of user-friendly portal and timely access to support services (only 9% reported the service was not easy to use), alongside a trusted, independent and anonymous source of support; however, awareness was higher in certain groups (e.g. managers) and autonomous workers remain harder to reach (e.g., community)
User experience & benefits – good experience of both portal and support services, including response times and follow-up, with only 25% reporting the service had no impact on wellbeing and 75% stating they would use the service again; although these scores were marginally favourable for clinical vs. non-clinical
Improvements – Options for future improvements suggested were more face to face and group session, reports of self-referral as a barrier, and providing clarity on relation to other HWB services
Comparison to EAP – KWSEL were perceived more favourably in terms of user experience, appearance, responsiveness, and anonymity compared to workplace EAPs, while only 13 survey respondents had accessed both 85% rated KWSEL more favourably
Impact
Overall, we found that KWSEL had a positive impact on health and social care staff in Southeast London, both individually and culturally, based on the findings of the evaluation. However, the project highlighted opportunities to improve the service, again from an individual level to a system level. Additionally, KWSEL has been inclusive for different groups, and this must continue with harder to reach groups. The project team provided various in depth, actionable recommendations for KWSEL stakeholders and regional leads to consider refining, improving and expanding the programme.
Please note: Unfortunately, due to a lack of funding the KWSEL health and wellbeing portal for health and social care staff is no longer running,
Project Members:
Aleks Saunders, Evaluation Lead (previous)
Hannah Iannelli, Senior Organisational Consultant
Chris Attoe, Head of Research and Development (previous)
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