This blog summarises a rapid review of health and wellbeing interventions in healthcare, published by the Institute for Employment Studies (IES).

Last week Zofia Bajorek and Jenny Holmes from the Institute for Employment Studies published their rapid review of health and wellbeing interventions in healthcare. The review captures papers published in the last 10 years which focussed specifically on wellbeing interventions (both physical and mental wellbeing) in healthcare settings. They review two types of intervention; those focussing on treatment (e.g. once a health and wellbeing issue has been identified) and those focussing on prevention (e.g. interventions to prevent a health and wellbeing issue). Below is a summary of findings taken direct from the executive summary, its well worth a read. To find out more take a look at their paper (https://www.employment-studies.co.uk/resource/health-and-wellbeing-interventions-healthcare)

Treatment

• timely access to face-to-face physiotherapy treatment resulted in a reduction of self-reported pain and increased productivity
• early access to a telephone-based sickness absence management service which provided quick access to interventions also led to reported reduced levels of sickness absence by those who used the service
• interventions that focussed on both the promotion of physical exercise and improved nutrition were reported to result in positive changes in health behaviours
• stress management tools delivered via a web-based programme was seen to reduce self-reported nurse stress, with participants who spent more time on the programme reporting greater improvement
• in some cases ‘psychological based’ interventions could improve mental wellbeing, including more ‘person-directed’ approaches to reducing burnout, and mindfulness-based stress reduction courses

Prevention

• studies suggested that a ‘whole-systems’ approach (i.e. focussing on a number of different schemes to address different aspects of employee wellbeing) could be beneficial for improving both quality of work and wellbeing outcomes
• developing appropriate ‘spaces’ in the physical healthcare environment (for example, rest, sleep and eating facilities) helped healthcare staff feel valued and supported by their organisations
• a range of ‘group-based’ mental health interventions were also identified to provide safe spaces for staff to openly reflect and share the various challenges they experience within their role (e.g. Schwartz Center Rounds’)
• other mental health interventions thought to be helpful include those that focussed on ‘wider aspects’ of work, including team interactions, flexibility and autonomy, and interventions that healthcare staff actually ‘want’ and think will be effective

The authors highlight the variability in quality of evidence and methodology and conclude “The results indicated that there is currently limited evidence of a ‘best-practice’ intervention, and there may not be a one-size fits all solution to wellbeing interventions. However, the interventions that did have positive uptake and where positive wellbeing outcomes were reported were those that included a ‘whole-systems’ approach where healthcare staff could engage with the interventions that best suited their needs”. (p3)