What Worked, What Didn’t, Moving Forward

What worked:

Staffing

  • Mental Health First Aid and other awareness training for tutors delivering the programme were essential to ensure that learners presenting with more challenging symptoms were supported and signposted appropriately.
  • An additional tutor in the sessions, particularly during the IAG week was necessary to ensure that any learners requiring unplanned 1:1 support could receive it without disrupting the flow of the session.
  • Having an experienced adult learning tutor was beneficial as this ensured that sessions were well planned, well resourced and accessible to everyone, regardless of literacy levels.

Delivery

  • Spending additional time on the initial IAG sessions using the Thinking, Getting, Keeping model was beneficial. This put learners at ease, helped to break down the barriers of the unknown and ease them into class.
  • The importance of adopting a coaching model became apparent early on in the programme and the Thinking, Getting, Keeping model is well aligned to the GROW coaching model. A coaching approach, coupled with an art based learning experience was possibly very different from the everyday interventions encountered from a health (prescription/medical appointment) or unemployment (benefits/job centre appointments) perspective. This approach comes with no expectation (apart from attendance) and no command or directive. Learners are given time to explore their own situation and consider what they would like to achieve from the course in their initial IAG session. As learners grow more confident in their abilities and self expression through the art techniques learned each week, the coaching conversations go beyond what they would like to achieve from the course, and more into what they would like to achieve more long term. This is where funding for this unique type of delivery is essential. An initial IAG session may only scratch the surface of possibility for learners and start the thinking process, the success of using a coaching model during the course depends on the funding available to conduct the subsequent 1:1 coaching conversations as required.
  • Feedback from learners suggests that learning in a group where other learners experience similar difficulties is beneficial.
  • Refresh sessions on a range of topics helped to re-engage learners, provided an additional social opportunity and introduced learners to the possibility of learning another subject.
  • Learners achieved huge successes in both learning goals and personal goals and feedback was overwhelmingly positive. This positivity on exiting the course must not be allowed to deteriorate and learners should ideally leave the programme with a clear destination in mind which offers the support required to achieve sustained mental wellbeing.

What didn’t work:

  • Our assumptions that learners would like a dedicated social media network to continue to support each other. In reality a secure Facebook page did not take off, mainly due to limited capacity within the team to maintain/update it and promote its use.
  • The use of the tablets was difficult in a classroom environment. Although undoubtedly a more efficient method of collating and sending vital research information, learners found the use of technology challenging and possibly stressful. Difficulties arose from problems with internet connections, a lack of digital skills (tutor and learners) and learners’ sense of having learning time interrupted. Whilst all adult learning services endeavour to keep their ICT systems and staff knowledge up to date through regular CPD, all staff are at different points in their ICT knowledge and vary in confidence when embedding ICT into their classrooms. On reflection, additional staff development in the use of ICT could have been delivered early on in the programme to help address some of the day to day issues encountered in class, such as the confident use of Mifi devices to address the connectivity issues and to increase confidence in using the tablet devices effectively in navigating the online surveys. These difficulties could have impacted on the learners in one of two ways; either negatively in further compounding the belief that ICT is difficult to use and unreliable, or positively in showing that everyone has something to learn with regards to ICT and that it is ok to ask for help. However this was perceived in class, to date 19 learners have progressed onto a beginners IT course following their LEARN to Live Well programme.
  • Having tutors employed on a sessional contract makes it difficult to fit in the inductions and IAG sessions needed to ensure positive progression. In Halton’s case, the tutor worked part time and also on other courses. We were very fortunate in that the same tutor delivered over the full 2 years of the project, had that tutor resigned from her role it would have been very difficult to recruit a timely replacement due to lengthy council recruitment processes, currently standing at approximately 3 months. This would have led to a whole term without delivery and further time spent on training/induction etc.
  • The initial idea of organising an art exhibition with the canvases that learners produced. We had hoped that this would raise the profile of the project and engage a new audience. However, learners were understandably reluctant to part with their canvases and so we were only able to photograph a small sample of the work produced (see Padlet page).
  • Partnerships did not materialise as we had hoped. We spent a large amount of time in the early days of Year 1 talking to mental health colleagues (NHS/CCG Adult Mental Health services, MIND, IAPT, 3rd sector organisations) to discuss our initial thoughts for the project and to ensure that our delivery complemented and enhanced their organisational aims as well as the clients they supported.

The initial response was extremely positive, all organisations agreed that there was a definite need for additional resource in providing mental health support in Halton and welcomed our ideas for a holistic type course offering learning, support and progression options. However, despite the documented need for mental health support services in the borough and our efforts in raising awareness of the programme amongst mental health professionals and organisations in the borough, referrals onto the programme were extremely low. We were unable to determine why this was. We know that our product is good and that it changes lives, however can only conclude that there is a lot of work to do in bridging the gap between adult learning services and health services which traditionally have had 2 completely different outcomes, ie education and health, with no operational link between the two. Whilst there is a lot of goodwill between the two services, the belief and confidence that is needed to work together both strategically and on a day to day basis is clearly not yet established.

We found that learners were mainly referred through 2 key project partners; Halton’s Bridge Building Team and Halton People into Jobs, a local service that works with JCP and Work Programme clients supporting them back into the workplace. There werevery few referrals from Mental Health colleagues. This was very frustrating for the project team who continued to invite themselves onto NHS/CCG forums, attended local mental health events and promoted the research wherever possible in the belief that they could make a difference to those who met the research criteria.

What Next:

  • Continue to deliver a modified version of the LEARN to Live Well programme with our ESFA Community Learning funds although this reduced funding will mean that the level of 1:1 support on offer during the pilot will need to be scaled back significantly. This will have a significant impact on the coaching element of the delivery which was so successful in the research project. Whilst we have committed to funding the initial IAG sessions which were invaluable in supporting learners onto course and in starting the positive thinking process, there just isn’t sufficient funding available to continue a coaching model which has been shown to facilitate long term outcomes for learners.
  • Continue to promote the programme through NHS / CCG avenues to better align services and encourage referrals to maximise the support available in the borough.
  • Continue to deliver the programme in children’s centres to support parents of very young children who may be isolated because of transport and/or childcare.
  • Continue to deliver the Youth Connect 5 programme to parents in schools.
  • Source an affordable Mental Health First Aid training package (preferably online) to add to our compulsory induction training list for all tutors. Having an online package will mitigate against staff turnover and ensure that, even if trained staff move on, Mental Health First Aid will continue to be available to every new member of staff.
  • Support our currentLEARN to Live Well tutors who have expressed an interest in gaining a coaching qualification as a result of the project.

Other Lessons Learned:

As project manager, I was not a newcomer to research having carried out social research as part of a degree and a masters programme. However, this project has opened my eyes as a researcher and has, at times, been like herding cats. Whilst my previous experience has been conducted in a somewhat contrived environment, this project has welcomed learners from a very select and unpredictable cohort of learners, each bringing a different perspective to the project. Understandably, attendance has been erratic and this has caused problems in obtaining valuable project data. Ensuring that all staff members remain up to date with the requirements of the project and that sufficient resource is available as required has also been a challenge, as has the ongoing work in trying to raise the profile of the research project in order to keep referrals coming in and a maintain a sufficient pool of participants.

Whilst the primary focus has always been to do our very best for the learners to keep their anxiety levels to a minimum, the need to maintain the integrity of the research amongst so many variables has, at times, been challenging and all of these variables have ultimately impacted on our ability to collect sufficient, accurate data which the research obviously requires. However, these are lessons learnt for us as a service and has better prepared us to conduct further research in the adult education sector in the future.