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We want to find out about your experiences of your free NHS therapy services – would you be willing to help?
Q. What’s the project about?
The project is being carried out to understand what difference Employment Advisers make to this service, and whether their support helps people in the long term. We also want to find out ways that the support can be made better in the future. To explore this, we will be speaking to clients who take up this support, and those who decide not to.
Q. Who is carrying out the evaluation?
This evaluation has been commissioned by the Work and Health Unit (WHU) a joint unit between the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). The evaluation is being carried out by a partnership of independent research organisations (who are not connected to the government). The partnership is led by IFF Research, and includes ICF Consulting, Bryson Purdon Social Research (BPSR) and the School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR).
Q. What am I being asked to do?
We are asking you to consent to have some of your personal details shared with IFF Research. Your therapist or an employment adviser will go through each of the pieces of information you are being asked to share and you can say yes or no to each. This is so we know that you have given your consent for information about you to be shared. The information we’re asking for includes things like your name, address and contact details but also information like your employment status and whether you go on to receive any employment support as part of your treatment.
Q. If I consent, what happens next?
For now, you will only be consenting for your information to be passed on to the independent research company IFF Research. They will use your contact details to send you a letter to explain more about the evaluation we are doing and ask if you’d be willing to take part. Your information will be transferred securely to IFF Research, and only held on their secure systems, where only the team directly involved in the evaluation will have access. You have two months from now to inform your provider should you change your mind about receiving a letter. If you change your mind this will not affect your care in any way, and will not affect your benefits you may be receiving now or in the future.
Q. What is the evaluation?
IFF Research will be calling people that have received free NHS therapy services to find out more about their experiences. Whether you take part or not will not affect your care in any way, and will not affect any benefits you are on, now or in the future. If you do decide to take part, the interviewer will arrange with you a convenient time for them to call back and do the interview with you. The interview will take around 20 minutes and any information you give will be treated as strictly confidential. We will only break this confidentiality if we believe that you and/or someone else is at risk
You do not have to decide at this point if you want to take part in the evaluation, just tell us whether you are happy to receive a letter with more information about what is involved.
Q. What is the letter about?
The letter gives more details about the evaluation and the telephone interviews. When you receive the letter, if you don’t want to take part in the evaluation, you can ‘opt out’ by calling or emailing the evaluation team (the letter will give you the details). The letter will clearly state the date from which IFF Research will start calling individuals - this is likely to be around two weeks from when letters are sent. You will be able to opt out at any point after receiving the letter but opting out prior to the specified date will ensure that you are not called by IFF Research. If you decide to opt-out then no one will contact you about the evaluation again. If you do not ‘opt out’ when you receive the letter, an interviewer from IFF Research will give you a call over the phone and ask if you would like to take part in the evaluation. It is totally up to you whether you do or not, there is no obligation to take part. Whether you take part or not will not affect your care in any way and will not affect your benefits you may be receiving now or in the future.
Q. What if I say I’ll take part, but then I change my mind?
You can change your mind at any time. If you don’t want to take part, you can just let the evaluation team know at any time, and they will not contact you again (their contact details will be on the letter). Even if you do decide to take part, and start doing the interview, you can still stop at any time. It is completely up to you. Whether you take part or not will not affect your care in any way, and will not affect your benefits you may be receiving now or in the future.
Q. If I decide to take part in the evaluation, what will happen to the survey data collected?
Responses from all individuals taking part in the evaluation will be reported in aggregate form, meaning your responses to questions are collected in a way that they will not identify you If you decide you do not what your data to be included in analysis, you have two months from the point of participation to inform the evaluation team. This will not affect your care in any way, and will not affect your benefits you may be receiving now or in the future.
Survey data will be retained for 7 years after the end of the evaluation, i.e. until May 2027, and then destroyed. By this we mean removed from all digital systems and back-ups held by any member of the evaluation team. You can request that your data is withdrawn before this date by contacting ISO@IFFResearch.com and giving the reference Talking Therapies Evaluation. Until the point data is destroyed, you also have the right to request access your survey data. You can request access to your data by contacting Christabel Downing or Rachel Keeble at IFF Research on 0207 250 3035 or email TalkingTherapies@iffresearch.com
Q. Where can I find more information?
If you have any questions you can ask your therapist or employment adviser, or contact Christabel Downing or Rachel Keeble at IFF Research on 0207 250 3035 or email TalkingTherapies@iffresearch.com