West Midlands Combined Authority health-led trial

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Health and employment support; Not Applicable

• Registration Number: ISRCTN17267942
• Lead Sponsor: Department for Work and Pensions

Brief Summary

2023 Funder report results in https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-led-employment-trials-evaluation (added 12/05/2023)

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Results First Posted: 1900-01-01
• Study Start: 2019-10-28
• Study Completion: 2022-03-31
• Last Update Posted: 22 May 2023

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 3682

Inclusion Criteria

1. Registered with a GP practice in one of the following health geographies at the point of the initial meeting: Wolverhampton; Dudley; South and Central Birmingham; Sandwell and West. If a trial participant moves out of the area they will continue to receive the service, if feasible. If not feasible, they will be considered to have dropped out
2. 18 years or older
3. Have a self-defined health condition or disability which presents obstacles to them gaining work
4. Has been out of work for 4 or more weeks and have expressed an interest in finding paid employment

Issues around informed consent and capacity are of course key gateways into the WM IPS service trial, but these are not part of the inclusion criteria, which are primarily aimed at referring professionals. Informed consent and capacity are essential, but are assessed by the Employment Specialist at the first meeting, if the individual meets other inclusion criteria.

It was decided that the following would not feature as part of the inclusion criteria: having sufficient command of English to take part in the procedure (because this could possibly be discriminatory and a small proportion of those referred may have limited levels of English, given the local demographic); physically capable of undertaking the study procedures (the ‘spirit’ of IPS is not to discriminate or base assessment on any factors other than the individual’s perception of their own capability); likely to be available for the planned duration of the study (the WM IPS service would like to keep the criteria simple, this could be hard for a referring clinician to assess).

Exclusion Criteria

1. Not registered with a GP in one of the outlined areas
2. Less than 18 years’ old
3. Not capable of undertaking/attending for the study procedures due to any long-standing condition (e.g. moderate to severe learning disability or presenting with late stage dementia)
4. People who are not out of work
5. People who have been out of work for less than 4 weeks
6. People in work but job in jeopardy (e.g. long-term sick leave)
7. People who have a job offer
8. People who are currently on a state-funded employment programme (apart from Job Centre Plus or programmes where employment is not the primary focus) or relevant research programme

With regards to the exclusion criteria, consideration has been given as to whether individuals with a progressive condition (such as cancer, degenerative neurological disease etc.) or those with a condition likely to improve rapidly (e.g. currently temporarily impaired after successful treatment) should be included or excluded. It was decided not to include these factors in the inclusion/ exclusion criteria. In relation to the former, with medical treatment people with these conditions can make functional gains and may wish to return to work - and would need support to do so. In relation to the latter, the criteria for inclusion specifies long-term health conditions or disabilities, and it is unlikely that this criteria would be interpreted by a health professional as a brief stint of ill health.

Study & Design

• Study Type: Interventional
• Study Design: Not specified