Mental Health Employment Advisors co-located in Job Centres

There is a long history of unemployment having an adverse impact on health with a reduction in psychological wellbeing and greater incidence of anxiety, depression, poor mental health and risk of suicide (10-12). Whilst poor mental health and wellbeing can be a predictor for unemployment (13), spells of unemployment have been found to predict reduced quality of life and life satisfaction after the age of 50 (14). There is a need for funders and mental health systems to support policies and practices that address long-term unemployment and its impact on mental health and wellbeing (11). The NHS Kernow adult mental health strategy for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly supports the adoption of the prevention concordat for better mental health. Improving population wellbeing through targeting the wider determinants of health such as employment and health inequalities is a core component of the strategy.

Since 2018, The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) grant funded Mental Health Employment Advisors (MHEA) being co-located in eleven job centres across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly to support individuals with their mental health and wellbeing and help them back into employment. With additional funding from Public Health, this service comes to an end on the 30th September 2022. This service has been delivered by Pentreath, a charity formed in 1991 to provide support and guidance to people experiencing and recovering from mental ill health across Cornwall (24). The intervention targets adults aged 16+ years who accessed a job centre and self-declared that their mental health acted as a barrier to accessing appropriate employment. The intervention includes supporting people over a 2-4 month period, which includes an initial assessment to identify their mental health needs, ability to work and then identify a personalised action plan to help them back into employment and improve their mental health and wellbeing.

With the service coming to an end in September 2022, there is a need to address the ongoing economic pressures and rising living costs on society. This new contract specification covers the commissioning of the MHEA project co-located in eleven job centres across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, as well as the Devonport job centre, to ensure that people living in the Southeast of Cornwall using job centres in Plymouth also receive the support they need. This new service will run for the next three years. This will start on the 1st October 2022 to prevent there being a gap in service provision. This will work closely with the job centres through co-location to support adults aged 16 years and over who declare that their mental health acts as a barrier to employment. Those delivering the service must be co-located to meet the needs of individuals and have knowledge of local support for their employment and mental health and wellbeing needs, as well as other needs such as substance mis-use, housing and wider lifestyle issues including debt and finances. The service must deliver positive outcomes for local people accessing job centres, which includes moving towards employment (e.g. new employment, training, volunteering and other social value) and clinical improvements in mental health and wellbeing. This specification lays out the requirements of this contract.