New Housing and Wellbeing Co-ordinators in housing teams. The East Sussex Wellbeing and Employment Service Evaluation (ESWE)
Evaluation completed September 2024
Bird H and others (2026) Integrating Health, Housing and Employment: A Mixed-Methods Evaluation of the East Sussex Well-Being and Employment Service. Health and Social Care in the Community.
Available online at: https://doi.org/10.1155/hsc/4094909
What does the evaluation mean for Local Government?
This evaluation aimed to understand how the East Sussex Wellbeing and Employment (ESWE) service is currently being delivered and the factors that impact its delivery. The evaluation found that the ESWE service had a positive impact on customers’ wellbeing, particularly in areas of mental and physical health, social isolation, lifestyle behaviours, and employability. The service demonstrated great adaptability to customer needs and the strategic co-location of wellbeing co-ordinators with housing officers, seems to facilitate effective service delivery. However, the evaluation also identified areas for improvement, particularly in the consistency of goal setting and the need for more structured support for certain customers. The ESWE service demonstrated significant value for money. The economic evaluation suggested that the service is both effective and economically viable.
Impact The evaluation found that the ESWE service had a positive impact on customers’ wellbeing, particularly in areas of mental and physical health, social isolation, lifestyle behaviours, and employability. The service demonstrated great adaptability to customer needs and the strategic co-location of wellbeing co-ordinators with housing officers, seems to facilitate effective service delivery. However, the evaluation also identified areas for improvement, particularly in the consistency of goal setting and the need for more structured support for certain customers. The ESWE service demonstrated significant value for money. The economic evaluation suggested that the service is both effective and economically viable.
Since the evaluation, the local authority have been honoured in the national homelessness excellence awards (link to story). Daniel Eade (Operations Manager – Partnerships & Prevention Services commented “This project has truly made a difference—not just in lives, but in the way we understand cost avoidance across public services. From reducing A&E visits to GP appointments, the impact is tangible. Bringing together a lived experience group, setting onward goals, and enhancing our data systems has strengthened our approach. Being part of an evaluation of this calibre has shone a light on the work we’re doing, and the support from everyone involved has been fantastic.”
What does the evaluation mean for the Public?
The ESWE Service is a valuable and effective initiative that addresses critical gaps in support for people facing homelessness. Its holistic and flexible approach has positively impacted customers’ wellbeing and demonstrated economic viability.
How are the public involved in the evaluation?
The PHIRST Light research team are committed to ensuring public voices are included throughout the entirety of each evaluation, with an additional emphasis on capacity building for effective and inclusive public contribution within local authorities. We sought to recruit and retain a project-specific PPI group to advise on, and assist with, the evaluation design and delivery. The East Sussex Public Advisory Group (ESPAG) was initially comprised of three service users with lived experience of homelessness, two charity representatives, three service providers and one community link worker. Nine members of the ESPAG provided perspectives on core facets of the evaluation, such as the research methodology and questions through to dissemination planning, ensuring the evaluation was relevant and accessible to service users and the wider public. ESPAG members participated in stakeholder events allowing contribution to development of the logic model, research aims, objectives and methodology. ESPAG members provided document review support and helped develop topic guides for semi-structured interviews with customers (that included changes in language and recommended a pilot). The group also looked at barriers and facilitators, and expected impacts of the (ESWE) in the short, medium and long-term.
Lay summary of research
The East Sussex Wellbeing and Employment Service (ESWE) service was launched in June 2021 as a response to the increasing homelessness crisis in the UK, which saw a 169% rise in rough sleeping between 2010 and 2022. It was initiated in June 2021 to provide individualised wellbeing support for people with various degrees of needs complexity at risk of becoming homeless or having submitted a homelessness application to East Sussex County Council over the last 12 months. Emerging from a project that piloted the role of ‘Housing and Wellbeing Coordinators’ (WBCs), the service provides wellbeing coaching and support focused on customers’ individualised needs relating to their wellbeing and housing status. A core aim of the service is to address the significant economic burden to health care and emergency and temporary accommodation within the housing services.
Local Authority/Partner(s)
East Sussex County Council
PHIRST Light Research Team
University of Lincoln: Professor Mark Gussy, Dr Hayden Bird, Dr Darrin Baines Visiting Professor of Health Economics
Loughborough University: Dr Luisa Vargas, Dr Veronica Varela-Mato
University of Nottingham: Dr Holly Knight
Public advisory group members: Pam Rees
*All PHIRST Light team members contribute to every evaluation