Supporting staff wellbeing in healthcare settings through multi-levelled creative psychological intervention – a feasibility study

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background There is growing evidence that the arts and arts-based therapies can support the wellbeing of healthcare workers. However, there are few large trials, limiting the use of such therapies in routine practice. Aim To establish the feasibility of introducing a multi-levelled, evidence-based creative psychological intervention delivered by qualified arts psychotherapists and targeting the wellbeing of NHS clinical staff. Methods This is a feasibility study with pre/post mixed methods design, the first to explore the value of an evidence-based, multi-levelled creative psychological package targeting the diverse needs of clinical staff within different healthcare settings. The intervention wasadapted from a 12-session group therapy titled Arts for the Blues into a three-level package that included: (i) one-off drop-in sessions to release tension, (ii) workshops for staff development, (iii) group sessions for psychological support. It was delivered by qualified arts psychotherapists (i.e., art, drama and dance movement psychotherapists) and used brief evaluation forms, arts-based data and standardised outcome measures to establish acceptability. Results Findings indicate difficulties with recruitment, but the 49 participants placed high value on the different levels offered. All the outcome measures used identified positive change and indicated medium to large effects of the multi-levelled intervention on improvement of wellbeing and resilience, as well as reduction of distress, anxiety, depression and trauma. Conclusions Although the small sample does not allow the generalisation of results, the study suggests that this multi-levelled creative psychological intervention offers acceptable support. Implications for practice/policy/research Further research is needed to establish the effectiveness of this intervention with specific teams of professionals. However, the diverse options proposed in this intervention need to be considered further for routine practice, expanding on current job descriptions for art psychotherapists. Plain-language summary Pressures on healthcare services mean that healthcare workers need support for their wellbeing. It is possible that the arts and arts therapies can offer this support, but we need to conduct more research to be certain. In this study we wanted to see if clinical staff working in health services liked a new creative intervention we developed based on our review of the research literature. We modified this intervention from the Arts for the Blues model, a 12-session group therapy that uses a mixture of different artistic forms. We used this new model to support the wellbeing of clinical staff in a large hospital in the North West of England. We did this in three different ways: Creative activities for the whole organisation to release tension (up to 30 min) Creative psychoeducational workshops with teams for staff development (up to 4 h) Creative psychotherapy sessions with individuals in a group for psychological support (up to 18 h). Arts psychotherapists, including art psychotherapists, designed the content of this work and facilitated their delivery. We collected information from 49 clinical staff before and after each of these activities through questionnaires and a brief evaluation form. Although clinical staff were very busy, they liked the different options of the intervention and their wellbeing scores improved. We need to do further research with a larger number of participants. However, the findings so far show that art psychotherapists can work not only with patients, but also with other healthcare workers to improve their wellbeing.