Evaluation of Money and Mental Health advice service, Kent

How are the public involved in the project?

Public involvement is embedded in PHIRST LiLaC’s work and activities through the PHIRST LiLaC Public Adviser Panel. This panel meets regularly and is responsible for reviewing involvement processes, and providing advice on engagement and involvement plans across the PHIRST LiLaC team and its research.   

Public advisers on the panel are contributing their expertise and experience around developing and conducting public health evaluations, rather than having direct lived experience of accessing the local welfare system to be evaluated.   

The PHIRST LiLaC Public Adviser Panel will also work closely with PHIRST researchers, advising on the recruitment and conduct of interviews with scheme service users as well as ethical and safeguarding considerations. They will also be actively involved in analysis and interpretation of data from interviews.   

We will work closely with community organisations to identify local people to input into the research and enable their lived experience to inform the way the Money and Mental Health service is designed and delivered in the future. This will help us to understand the local context and to develop effective and acceptable approaches to carrying out interviews with people.

Lay Summary of Research

Growing numbers of people in the UK are finding it hard to make ends meet because of the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis. Having to deal with financial difficulties can be very stressful and lead to poor health and wellbeing. People with low incomes are also most likely to be affected. Citizens Advice is delivering a Money and Mental Health advice service to support people who are experiencing both mental health and money problems living in Kent and Medway. This includes support to reduce debts and to claim benefits, as well as budgeting advice.  

The aims of this evaluation are (i) to understand the impact that the service has on the health and wellbeing of those who receive support (ii) to understand who accesses the service (iii) to understand what works well about the service and what could be improved in future (iv) to understand what costs are involved in delivering the service. 

We will collect information to find out what impact this service has on differences in people’s health and wellbeing and to understand if the service is reaching different groups who might benefit from support. We will interview people using the service to understand their experience of receiving support and how the service may have influenced their health and wellbeing. We will also interview staff involved in delivering the service and from other organisations (e.g. mental health services) who refer clients to the service.