Health-led Employment Trials Evaluation

12-month outcomes evidence synthesis

This report presents findings from the evaluation of the Health-led Employment Trials (HLTs). These tested the provision of Individual Placement and Support (IPS) – a well-evidenced voluntary employment support programme for people living with severe and enduring mental illness in secondary care – with a group experiencing mild/moderate mental and/or physical health conditions in primary and community care settings.

Estimates of impact on employment, earnings, health and wellbeing used a randomised controlled trial (RCT) design, with outcomes taken from linked survey and administrative data sets. An economic evaluation estimated the value of the impacts set against the costs of delivering the IPS services. A process evaluation using surveys and qualitative research explored implementation.

The trials recruited 9,785 people across 2 sites between May 2018 and October 2019. In Sheffield City Region (SCR), 6,110 people were recruited including an out-of-work group (SCR OOW) and a group in employment but struggling (SCR IW). The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) trial recruited 3,675 people, all of whom were OOW. The IPS service offered support for a total of 12 months, with 9 months of support to find employment and 4 further months of in-work support.