Greater Manchester Working Well Early Help evaluation

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Greater Manchester Working Well Early Help evaluation

  • IRAS ID

    260723

  • Contact name

    Richard P Crisp

  • Contact email

    r.crisp@shu.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    Sheffield Hallam University

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    3 years, 5 months, 7 days

  • Research summary

    This research project will evaluate the Greater Manchester Working Well Early Help programme (WWEH). WWEH was set up to deliver an effective early intervention service to between 11,000 and 14,000 Greater Manchester (GM) residents who are in work but become ill and risk falling out of the labour market, or who are newly unemployed due to health issues. The research will evaluate whether the WWEH programme can:

    • Result in a higher proportion of people who return to work and are sustained in work than would otherwise have been possible without the service
    • Improve health and wellbeing for participants
    • Contribute to a reduction in the number of days lost to sickness absence for those in employment
    • Reduce time spent by clinicians on non-clinical work in primary care for this cohort
    • Reduce health inequality within this cohort

    The evaluation will use a mixed methods approach involving: analysis of programme monitoring data; qualitative in-depth interviews with programme participants as well as stakeholders delivering the programme; an employer survey; and annual learning review workshops to identify key learning. Data collected will be used to explore participants’ interactions with the service and wider support networks; their barriers to returning to work; and any improvement and outcomes they achieve. The evaluation will play a key role in generating learning from the Programme and evidencing both the successes and shortfalls of the service’s early intervention model.

  • REC name

    North East - Newcastle & North Tyneside 2 Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    19/NE/0117

  • Date of REC Opinion

    20 Jun 2019

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion