eprintid: 10170979 rev_number: 7 eprint_status: archive userid: 699 dir: disk0/10/17/09/79 datestamp: 2023-06-05 08:37:09 lastmod: 2023-06-05 08:37:09 status_changed: 2023-06-05 08:37:09 type: article metadata_visibility: show sword_depositor: 699 creators_name: Cole, Charles L creators_name: Barry, Charlotte creators_name: Saunders, Rob creators_name: Billings, Jo creators_name: Stott, Joshua creators_name: Buckman, Joshua EJ creators_name: Greene, Talya creators_name: Cirkovik, Mirko creators_name: Pilling, Stephen creators_name: Wheatley, Jon title: A service evaluation of phased- and stepped-care psychological support for health and social care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic ispublished: pub divisions: UCL divisions: B02 divisions: C07 divisions: D05 divisions: D79 divisions: F66 divisions: FH7 keywords: Primary care, cognitive–behavioural therapies, common mental disorders, psychosocial interventions, trauma note: Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited. abstract: BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionally affected the mental health of health and social care workers (HSCWs), with many experiencing symptoms of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. Psychological interventions have been offered via mental health services and in-house psychology teams, but their effectiveness in this context is not well documented. AIMS: To evaluate a stepped-care psychological support pathway for HSCWs from Homerton Healthcare Foundation Trust in London, which offered psychological first aid, evidence-based psychological therapies and group-based well-being workshops. METHOD: The service evaluation used a pre-post approach to assess depression, anxiety, functional impairment and post-traumatic stress disorder symptom change for those who attended sessions of psychological first aid, low- or high-intensity cognitive-behavioural therapy or a combination of these. In addition, the acceptability of the psychological first aid sessions and well-being workshops was explored via feedback data. RESULTS: Across all interventions, statistically significant reductions of depression (d = 1.33), anxiety (d = 1.37) and functional impairment (d = 0.93) were observed, and these reductions were equivalent between the interventions, as well as the demographic and occupational differences between the HSCWs (ethnicity, staff group and redeployment status). HSCWs were highly satisfied with the psychological first aid and well-being workshops. CONCLUSIONS: The evaluation supports the utility of evidence-based interventions delivered as part of a stepped-care pathway for HSCWs with common mental health problems in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the novel integration of psychological first aid within the stepped-care model as a step one intervention, replication and further testing in larger-scale studies is warranted. date: 2023-05-25 date_type: published publisher: Royal College of Psychiatrists official_url: https://doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2023.66 oa_status: green full_text_type: pub language: eng primo: open primo_central: open_green verified: verified_manual elements_id: 2025827 doi: 10.1192/bjo.2023.66 medium: Electronic pii: S2056472423000662 lyricists_name: Cole, Charles lyricists_name: Pilling, Stephen lyricists_name: Saunders, Robert lyricists_name: Billings, Joanne Lynn lyricists_name: Buckman, Joshua lyricists_name: Greene, Talya lyricists_id: CLCOL98 lyricists_id: SPILL91 lyricists_id: RSAUN21 lyricists_id: JLBIL35 lyricists_id: JBUCK18 lyricists_id: TGREE62 actors_name: Bracey, Alan actors_id: ABBRA90 actors_role: owner funding_acknowledgements: [Royal College of Psychiatrists]; 201292/Z/16/Z [Wellcome Trust] full_text_status: public publication: BJPsych Open volume: 9 number: 3 article_number: e95 event_location: England issn: 2056-4724 citation: Cole, Charles L; Barry, Charlotte; Saunders, Rob; Billings, Jo; Stott, Joshua; Buckman, Joshua EJ; Greene, Talya; ... Wheatley, Jon; + view all <#> Cole, Charles L; Barry, Charlotte; Saunders, Rob; Billings, Jo; Stott, Joshua; Buckman, Joshua EJ; Greene, Talya; Cirkovik, Mirko; Pilling, Stephen; Wheatley, Jon; - view fewer <#> (2023) A service evaluation of phased- and stepped-care psychological support for health and social care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. BJPsych Open , 9 (3) , Article e95. 10.1192/bjo.2023.66 <https://doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2023.66>. Green open access document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10170979/1/a-service-evaluation-of-phased-and-stepped-care-psychological-support-for-health-and-social-care-workers-during-the-covid-19-pandemic.pdf