Can Large-Scale Self-Referral Psycho-Educational Stress Workshops Help Improve the Psychological Health of the Population?

Improving the long-term psychological health of the population is an ambitious but consistent goal in the National Service Framework for Mental Health (MHNSF). Large-scale self-referral psycho-educational Stress workshops, run in one geographical area for members of the general public, had been shown to be effective and to reach those who had not consulted their GPs about their stress problems. A key aim of this study was to explore whether this workshop format, which may help achieve the MHNSF goal, can be generalizable to other areas of differing deprivation. We compared outcome and levels of take-up of Stress workshops run in three geographical areas, differing in degrees of deprivation, as well as characteristics of self-referrers, including baseline scores, sociodemographic details and treatment-seeking patterns. In all three areas, experimental group participants showed less anxiety, stress and distress at 3-month follow-up compared to waiting list control group participants, with no geographical differences in effectiveness. No differences in initial stress and anxiety scores were found. GP consultation rates varied between 50–72%, with the highest consultation rates in the most deprived area. Surprisingly, enquiries about workshops correlated negatively with area deprivation indices. Some sociodemographic differences were found. A certain amount of self-selection for these workshops seems to have occurred; this may be a function of help-seeking for psychological help in deprived areas being different to that in less deprived areas. Nevertheless, large-scale Stress workshops have been found to be equally effective for those who self-referred in areas differing in deprivation, reaching people with stress problems who may not have consulted their GPs. While they did not reach all groups of people, they may have the potential to help improve the psychological health of the population.

LARGE-SCALE HEALTH PROMOTION STRESS WORKSHOPS FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC: A CONTROLLED EVALUATION

Large-scale cognitive-behavioural Stress Management workshops were run for members of the general public as part of a city-wide mental health promotion campaign. Four groups were compared: a workshop run over one day (Full-Day), one run over two half-days (Half-Day), a non-specific intervention control group, and a waiting list control group. Results indicate that the participants in the workshop groups improved more than those in either of the control groups, supporting the idea that the psychoeducational approach can be valuable and economical in a health promotion and public health context. The use of this format in clinical situations and in primary care settings is also discussed.

COMPARISON OF EFFECTIVENESS OF LARGE SCALE STRESS WORKSHOPS WITH SMALL STRESS/ANXIETY MANAGEMENT TRAINING GROUPS

This study investigates whether large-scale, day-long stress management workshops open to the general public can work as well as small, weekly groups run for referred clients. It is suggested that the self-referral route may enable some people who might otherwise have been ‘‘filtered out’’ from the traditional health services to get help for their stress-related problems. Analysis showed that the large-scale format was just as effective with a more distressed subgroup as was the small weekly format for formally referred clients, which suggests that the effectiveness of this approach is not only related to a restricted client group. It would appear that the low drop-out rate, the effectiveness of the workshops and the severity of problem handled within this format indicates potential value in this type of approach.