The Health and Work Champions project between Public Health England and the Royal College of Occupational Therapists involves 60 occupational therapists and other professionals who are training the healthcare workforce to ask about health and work. Employment is one of the most important determinants of life expectancy and people with disabilities have far below the national employment rate of 75%. For those who want to work, it is important to support these aspirations.
The aim of the Health and Work Champions project is to create a culture change, so it is routine practice for all health professionals to talk about employment with the people they provide services for. Health professionals have a vital role in giving people the skills, belief and confidence to make the adaptations needed to remain or return to work. As part of developing the evidence base for this approach, we are now releasing the evaluation of the first phase of the project, undertaken by the University of Salford. This evaluation reveals that in a six-month period, 487 staff were trained and there was a statistically significant improvement in their knowledge and confidence to talk about employment within clinical practice. The project also had a high positive impact on the Health and Champions’ personal and professional development. The success of this first phase of the project has informed the second phase of Health and Work Champion recruitment and training and its evaluation, which is currently reporting.
Read the executive summary via the project page
For a copy of the main report please email Cassie.Fraser-Shanley@rcot.co.uk.
If you have any queries about the project, please email genevieve.smyth@rcot.co.uk