Impact case study database

Psychological stress is a leading public health problem that can affect all individuals to varying degrees and can lead to severe disease and chronic conditions. In line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Three (‘Good Health and Wellbeing’), under our theme of ‘Healthy Individuals and Healthy Workplaces’, we have: (1) improved the psychological health of more than 900 people in 7 workplaces; (2) informed the creation of 6 new psychological health roles; and (3) created/improved psychological health policies in 2 organisations.

Our research has had significant impact in three sporting contexts: (1) Stoke City Football Club (SCFC); (2) Great Britain Paralympic Archery; and (3) Great Britain Rowing. We then extended our impact’s reach by transferring our programmes to: (4) Hampshire Police Constabulary; (5) Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service; (6) The Royal Air Force; and (7) Impact International. Evidence of the improvements in psychological health, the job roles created, and the new psychological health policies are highlighted below:

Stoke City Football Club (SCFC): In October 2013, to apply our research findings in practice, SCFC funded (GBP60,000) a PhD researcher focussing on challenge responses to stress. As a result of this research, 200 people (adults including athletes, coaches, and support staff and children in mid-late adolescence 16 – 21 years) benefitted from improved psychological health through learning to have a challenge response to stress. In particular, our applied and collaborative research with SCFC involved applying psychological techniques across: (1) individual– (one-to-one psychological work with athletes); (2) team– (interactive workshops on managing stress); and (3) organisational–levels (creating a challenge culture) to benefit psychological health.

Building on this impact, in 2017, SCFC funded (GBP60,000) a second PhD researcher to focus on the psychological health of the early-mid adolescents in the organisation (8 – 15 years). For the first time with younger children, through novel psychological programmes to enable individuals to perceive stress as a challenge, we enhanced the psychological health of a further 200 people (adults including coaches, and support staff and early-mid adolescents). This is the first time the organisation has invested in two funded impact-focussed PhD roles (2013 – present) focussed on challenge responses to stress for all the Academy children (8 – 21 years). Due to the success of this research, in 2017, a new job was created (headcount: 1; FTE 1), titled ‘Performance Psychologist’. The Performance Psychologist role is the first of its kind at the organisation. ‘ Because of the underpinning research we have come to understand and conduct with Staffordshire, the approaches both Joe and Jen [Staffordshire University PhD researchers] have implemented, and the endorsement of the psychological work within the club, a Mental Health Policy has been created within the last 12 months (2019). This is the first time that as an organisation we have had this in place' [ 5.1].

In 2019, SCFC developed the organisation-wide mental health policy in direct response to the positive effects of our research on challenge responses to stress [ 5.2]. The policy covers the first team and academy (approximately 1,000 people). In performance terms too, our collaborative research has ‘ *contributed to 7 academy players making their debut in the first team whilst being at the club, comparatively more than in recent years (1 player in over 10 years previously)*’ [ 5.1].

Great Britain Paralympic Archery: In 2014, we coined ‘Smarter Thinking’ to help individuals and workplaces enhance their psychological health through applying Rational Emotive Behavioural Coaching principles. We implemented a Smarter Thinking programme with eight elite disability athletes. The programme led to short- and long-term improvements in psychological health (e.g., anxiety), physiological health (i.e., blood pressure), and on performance outcomes (evidence published in a peer-reviewed journal cited in Section 3: [ 3.5]).

Great Britain Olympic Rowers: Based on our research on challenge responses to stress, we created a psychophysiological protocol to assess individuals’ psychological health. In 2014, as preparation for the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games (2016), we applied our novel protocol to 40 Olympic rowers) which equipped them to manage their psychological health: ‘ *I believe that through the work completed, we created a structure that has helped athletes become aware of their responses to competitive situations, and approach competitions positively (improving psychophysiological health outcomes).*’ In turn, and significantly, Great Britain Rowing ‘ embedded’ our research into their practice with all rowers who were preparing for the Olympic Games. Specifically, our research ‘ led to interventions in attempting to prepare athletes for the upcoming competition’, thereby maximising preparation for the Olympic Games: ‘ From this we were able to better prepare for the games, providing individual support to each of the 40 athletes’ [ 5.3].

Impact International: Extending outside of sport, in 2016, to build further on our research on belonging and psychological health, Impact International funded a PhD researcher (GBP60,000). Impact International are a global creative change company that maximise human potential through their unique experiential learning practice. They have 17 offices worldwide, working across 40 countries with over 400 clients worldwide ( www.impactinternational.com). Our research collaboration focussed on leadership and stress from a social identity perspective led to projects with UK-wide businesses (e.g., the Co-op) and overseas organisations (e.g., Santander, Farmlands - a cooperative based in New Zealand) that, in turn, improved the psychological health in their workforce. For instance, based on our research, psychological programmes were delivered that led to reductions in objective stress levels (measured by hair cortisol) and improved psychological health of 50 people, managers at the Co-op. The PhD research led to Impact International using hair cortisol tests on their clients’ workforce for the first time. As a direct result of the success of the PhD project, from November 2019, Impact International created a new role in their organisation – ‘Junior Consultant’ – focussed on improving psychological health [ 5.4].

Hampshire Police Constabulary: In 2018, we applied our Smarter Thinking intervention with 50 people, (Constabulary personnel) and reduced their objective stress levels – measured via hair cortisol – thereby enhancing individuals’ health. The Assistant Chief Constable (Hampshire Constabulary) stated: ‘ … the performance psychology approach and perspective that the team brings has helped improve our overall performance, individual well-being and is helping to change the way we operate as a force’ . In direct response to the positive effects of our collaborative research, Hampshire Constabulary created a new psychological health role: ‘ *From this work, the two-year temporary role was created, with the job title being ‘Force Performance Psychologist’. This role has recently been evaluated and it has been established that a more permanent arrangement is justified, and has led to the permanent appointment of the psychologist.*’ This role has improved workplace psychological health, with the Assistant Chief Constable stating: ‘ I believe that through the work conducted, we have coped more effectively with the policing challenges over the last few years, and we see reduced sickness absence days, better morale and general wellbeing amongst those who have benefited from her [new Force Performance Psychologist] input’ [ 5.5].

Royal Air Force: In 2017, Wing Commander Craig White of the Royal Air Force (RAF) began a PhD co-supervised by Slater, focussing on psychological health and resilience. This project developed the ‘Leading for Resilience’ programme that was co-delivered and evaluated with 350 people (Royal Air Force personnel) across a range of squadrons. The Commandant of the RAF’s Robson Academy of Resilience stated that: ‘ The research conducted has been innovative and something we haven’t seen before in terms of both the content and approach to delivery’. The research led to psychological health improvements for the 350 personnel involved: ‘ The sessions have led to personnel reporting improvements in their leadership, sense of belonging, and resilience in terms of their ability to deal with the unique and pressurised demands of being in the RAF, as well as their ability to help others manage stress, too’ . Following the improvements in psychological health as a result of our applied research programme, the Royal Air Force have developed a new resilience-based activity – Resilience Eagle – and have updated their Health and Wellbeing policy. The Resilience Eagle is based on our research and it has been ‘ embedded within the wider Eagles programme. The Eagles programme delivers a first-class range of activities across the UK and abroad designed to enhance the resilience of RAF personnel’. Regarding the Health and Wellbeing Policy, the social elements of psychological health are now included (previously they had been overlooked) with White ‘ leading the progression on the social resilience aspect of RAF policy’ [ 5.6] .

Staffordshire Fire and Rescue: In 2019, our Smarter Thinking programme improved the psychological health of 18 people at Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service. In an applied control trial, compared to 16 control personnel, 18 personnel improved their psychological health by engaging with our onsite one-to-one Smarter Thinking programme. In this externally funded consultancy project (GBP9,000), the personnel reported benefits including feeling more capable of approaching and dealing with adversities in future, as well as believing that they were more able to respond adaptively to adversity through greater emotional control, empathy for others, and composure facing negative experiences (evidence published in a peer-reviewed journal: [ 5.7]).

Development of a ‘Smarter Thinking’ App: In 2018 we created a new platform for measuring psychological health by developing a psychometric tool to assess individuals’ Smarter Thinking. The tool is based on Rational Emotive Behavioural Coaching (published in a peer-reviewed journal cited in Section 3: [ 3.6]). To make this programme open to all, we created www.smarterthinkingprofile.com. In the first 12 months since launch, more than 500 people completed the profile and received a report, raising their awareness of their own psychological health. In addition, we created a smartphone app (SmarterThinking2) to improve individuals’ psychological health by promoting rational beliefs, and the app has been fully completed by more than 950 people. This is an ongoing project that will continue to be extended to encourage more ‘Healthy Individuals and Healthy Workplaces’.