A pilot public health intervention using virtual lifestyle assessments during the COVID-19 pandemic:Located in Cornwall, South West of England

Abstract

Poor mental wellbeing in the workplace has been subject to extensive research. There is a need to better understand the effectiveness of novel approaches such as virtual lifestyle assessments to improve employee mental wellbeing, which is the focus of this study. A co-produced novel workplace virtual lifestyle assessment (VLA) was developed to support the needs of the workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic. Changes in mental wellbeing using validated outcome measurement tools were observed. These were the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (SWEMWBS), Patient Health Questionnaire-2 for depression (PHQ-2) and Generalised Anxiety Disorder Scale-2 (GAD-2). Individual SWEMWBS scores were used to calculate Social Return on Investment. A total of 318 people participated between May 2020 and January 2023. Adults receiving a VLA experienced improved mental wellbeing, which resulted in an SROI ranging from £6.55 to £16.13 per pound invested. This novel health promotion approach could provide a cost-effective way of improving wellbeing outcomes of those in employment with distributed workplace and home working across rural and urban areas. Further research and more complex longitudinal modelling are required to overcome the limitations of this study and better understand the benefits of this workplace intervention.

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DOI

https://doi.org/10.1080/15555240.2025.2600040