A recent presentation by Sadie King, Senior Researcher/ Consultant (TIHR), from our ‘Food for Thought‘ lunchtime talk series.

Mental Well-being Impact Assessment (MWIA) was originally developed by the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and partners in 2003. The tool aims to orientate policy makers, commissioners, programme/project and service managers to consider in depth the wide ranging impact of proposals (from new services to implementing change) on the mental well-being of the target group. The tool is a step by step process beginning with a desk based screening tool, and culminating with a full workshop engaging multiple stakeholders that leads to a co-produced action plan. The actions aim to develop the positive impacts on well-being and mitigate against any negative ones.

Since its development, a wide range of initiatives, programmes and services have used MWIA in both high level strategic and grass roots projects. Areas as diverse as housing, arts, health, education, workplace and town planning have been covered. There are many MWIA reports produced as a result. This lunchtime talk explains the development of MWIA, its strengths and weaknesses, and its synergies with the Tavistock Institute’s work in supporting change in organisations. The talk invites an exploration of the tool in relation to the Tavistock’s traditions and in particular it’s potential to support bespoke and co-produced work place well-being programmes in a wide range of sectors.

A recording of Sadie’s talk can be found below.

Recording of the talk

Sadie King is a Senior Researcher/ Consultant at the TIHR. Sadie’s background includes 6 years of public service experience as a policy officer in local government and in the NHS in mental health promotion. This experience has involved working with a range of stakeholders from politicians and senior strategy professionals to front line workers and service users. One of the key themes of this work has been understanding how public services and work place policies impact on equality and the well-being of people in organisations and communities. It is within this context that Sadie became a practitioner of an approach developed at the South London and Maudsley Mental Health Trust (SLaM) called ‘Mental Well-being Impact Assessment’ (MWIA) . Current work with MWIA in partnership with SLaM has included community impact of regeneration of South London park and a series of workshops assessing the impact of current work place challenges on groups of staff within Kent County Council. Sadie is also currently working on Human Trafficking (in particular the Nigeria – UK context) and Equity in Higher Education across the European Union. Other research interests include understanding and supporting the systems supporting young offenders and the role of faith in community mental well-being.

Update: 24th June 2015 – Mental Wellbeing Impact Assessment: A one day Introduction and Screening Workshop (run by SLAM)

Download details here.