Mental Health & Wellbeing Toolkit

Research Project – Fully funded by the National Lottery Community Fund

As the summer holidays approach, this fully funded research project provides the opportunity to support further research on the Mental Health and Wellbeing Toolkit Programme.
Initial research has indicated that the programme (two-hour online sessions delivered once a week for four weeks, completely free) provides skills and strategies that proactively protect and enhance participant’s resilience, coping and wellbeing, as well as reducing stress.

Research Overview

The Mental Health and Wellbeing Toolkit programme was designed and is delivered by a chartered counselling psychologist.

  • Once you have registered you will be invited to complete a secure online questionnaire (approx 30 minutes)
  • Participants will then be randomly allocated to either the Experimental or Control Group

The Experimental Group participants will –

  • Have their attendance confirmed on their preferred programme’s (dates below) two-hour online sessions, which take place once a week for four weeks.
  • Be sent the links to the online sessions which are delivered on Microsoft Teams.
  • One month after completion of the training, be invited to complete the initial online questionnaire again, with the addition of some questions about their experience and the impact of the programme (approx 35 minutes)

The Control Group participants will –

  • Be invited to complete the initial online questionnaire again one month after experimental group’s training delivery completed (approx 30 minutes).
  • Be provided with a range of dates to complete the programme at a later date if they would like to.

If you would like to take part in this research then simply complete the registration form by clicking the register button below.

Mental Health and Wellbeing Programme – Experimental Group Dates

When you register you will be able to select the programme that you would like to attend if you are randomly selected for the Experimental Group.

 

Programme A

Session 1 – Monday 25th July –     12pm – 2pm

Session 2 – Monday 1st August –  12pm – 2pm

Session 3 – Monday 8th August – 12pm – 2pm

Session 4 – Monday 15th August – 12pm – 2pm

Programme B

Session 1 – Monday 25th July –   2.30 – 4.30pm

Session 2 – Monday 1st August – 2.30 – 4.30pm

Session 3 – Monday 8th August – 2.30 – 4.30pm

Session 4 – Monday 15th August – 2.30 – 4.30pm

Programme C

Session 1 – Wednesday 27th July – 10 – 12pm

Session 2 – Wednesday 3rd August – 10 – 12pm

Session 3 – Wednesday 10th August – 10 – 12pm

Session 4 – Wednesday 17th August – 10 – 12pm

Research Mental Health and Wellbeing Toolkit Programme

Thank you for considering taking part in this research. To inform your decision, below is an explanation of why the research is being undertaken, who is undertaking the research, and the structure of the research, along with information on how your privacy is respected and data secured. If there is any further information that would aid your decision, full contact details for all involved in the research are provided at the end of this document.

Research Focus – The online Mental Health and Wellbeing Toolkit Programme aims to provide participants with a range of skills and strategies to proactively protect and enhance their resilience, coping and wellbeing, and reduce stress.

Benefit of taking part in this research – The aim is for the participants who complete this research to develop a range of skills and strategies with the aim of having a positive impact on their mental health and wellbeing.

The programme aims to provide participants with a range of skills and strategies to proactively protect and enhance their resilience, coping and wellbeing. Research indicates that building resilience, recognising when resilience is depleted and knowing what actions to take at an early stage before becoming overwhelmed / stressed has a positive impact on mental health and wellbeing. By also building coping skills, individuals can proactively affect the factors impacting their mental health and wellbeing by seeking the actions and/or support that they need to protect and enhance their mental health and wellbeing.

Background to research – The research is a follow-up of a pilot study testing the impact of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Toolkit Programme which was designed and delivered for the research element of the USW Professional Doctorate in Counselling Psychology. The pilot study findings (summarised below) suggested that the Mental Health and Wellbeing Toolkit Programme was successful in improving participants’ mental health and wellbeing, a finding that this study intends to test further.

Mental Health and Wellbeing Toolkit Pilot Study Results Summary – The quantitative measure’s results (paired samples t-tests) indicated that participants’ Resilience, Hardiness, Meaningfulness / Purpose, Coping / Self-Efficacy and Wellbeing all increased significantly following the intervention. There was also a marginally significant increase in participants’ Regulation of Emotion and Cognition, and a marginally significant decrease in their level of Stress. The qualitative results were equally encouraging, as all participants reported that the intervention had a positive impact on their mental health and wellbeing. The four qualitative themes that emerged from the data expressed the participants’ view that the intervention had a positive effect on their wellbeing, that the learning process was beneficial, the session experience positive and participants found that they were able to apply the intervention’s strategies widely. Conclusion: The findings suggest that the pilot Counselling Psychology informed intervention was successful in improving participants’ mental health and wellbeing.

Research Method – Once you have registered, one week before the programme starts, you will be asked to complete an online questionnaire. The link to the questionnaire will be sent to your email address.

The first part of the questionnaire relates to demographic information such as gender, age and job role e.g. manager, teaching assistant.

The second part is made up of validated self-report measures. These are the DASS – 21 which measures depression, anxiety and stress, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale which measures resilience, and the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale which measures mental wellbeing and the Coping Self-Efficacy Scale which measures ability to cope effectively with life challenges. All of these measures have been selected as they have robust evidence that measure what they say they measure. Although some of the questions within the scale will seem similar, this is a deliberate part of the scale design so all questions should be answered in order to achieve the most accurate results.

The third part of the questionnaire has questions which ask your opinion and provide space for you to type brief answers.

Once the questionnaire is completed, you will be notified by email whether you have been randomly allocated to either the Control Group or the Experimental Group. If allocated to the Experimental Group your programme attendance dates will be confirmed and the links to the sessions provided. If allocated to the Control Group, you will still complete the post programme questionnaire but you will be offered alternative dates when you can attend the online training if you still wish to.

    Online Training – The programme is delivered online via Microsoft Teams. This means that you will need access to a laptop, tablet or PC with a camera, microphone, and internet access in order to take part in the training. A mobile phone is not suitable for participation in this training. Joining instructions, including the link to the online training and your individual login and password, will be emailed to you prior to the training commencing.

    Right to Withdraw – Participation is completely voluntary. At any point in the study, you can stop participating or refuse an invitation to the next part of the study. You can withdraw your data after participating up to two weeks after the post-participation questionnaire is completed without giving any reason and without any consequence (after this point data is anonymised meaning an individual’s data can no longer be withdrawn as an individual’s data cannot be identified). To withdraw, contact info@anxietyaction.org

    Consent – Your consent will be sought before completing each questionnaire and at the outset of the online programme. Data collected in this study will be held anonymously and securely in line with British Psychological Society Code of Human Research Ethics (2014), the Data Protection Act (2018) and GDPR guidelines (2018).

    Confidentiality – All data is anonymised when the research is analysed and presented. The cut-off date for withdrawal of your data is two weeks after you have completed the post-training questionnaire.  On completion of the study the key to the anonymised data which has been kept separate from the data will be destroyed. This means that after this point withdrawal from the study will not be possible as individual data can no longer be identified.  Anxiety Action Wales CIC is the data controller with regard to this personal information, and it is committed to protecting the rights of individuals in line with the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) and the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This means that your confidentiality will be respected, and all appropriate measures will be taken to prevent unauthorised access and disclosure.

    Information use – Information gathered in this study will be used as part of the ongoing research of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Toolkit programme and to inform the development of future programmes. This means following completion of gathering and analysing data the information will be presented as a research paper and summarised information may also be disseminated to the wider community via social media, presentations, conferences, publications, and other appropriate dissemination routes.

    All information is anonymised and held securely.

    For more information or to raise a complaint – Please contact Anxiety Action Wales CIC – info@anxietyaction.org 

     

    Mental Health & Wellbeing Toolkit - Feedback

    Programme Participant

    “I honestly believe that the knowledge and understanding gained from these training sessions has started to change my life.

    I know that sounds like a huge statement, especially after three sessions, but I’ve struggled with anxiety and PTSD for several years. When I have started to feel out of control or anxious in the past three weeks I have used the different tools such as the Worry Tree and the Locus of Control to challenge my own thoughts and it has honestly worked.

    I have started to see an improvement in my sleep with focusing on what I’ve been able to achieve in the day before I go to sleep, rather than things that have been out of my control during this pandemic, and I have certainly had less restless nights. I am honestly so excited for everyone to receive the training so we all have these little toolkits to help us in managing our own mental health and support our colleagues.”