O4
THE SUPPLY CHAIN HEALTH INITIATIVE EVALUATION (SHINE) STUDY: INSIGHTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FROM SETTING UP A RANDOMISED CONTROL TRIAL WITH 18 SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZED BUSINESSES
Dempsey1, O. Bullock2, E. J. D. Webb3, A. Martin3, A. Sinclair2, S. Russell2, V. Parsons1, J. Yarker2
1Guy’s and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
2Affinity Health at Work, London, UK
3Academic Unit of Health Economics, Leeds Institute of Health Science, School of Medicine, University of Leeds, UK
Background:
Health and wellbeing services (HWS) are scarce in UK Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs; companies with <250 employees) and are rarely evaluated.
Aims:
Assessing if HWS provided by Large Enterprises and Organisations (LEOs) to SMEs in their supply chain are an acceptable and effective model.
Methods:
A prospective, randomised, cluster study of SMEs from supply chains of three UK LEOs. Intervention SMEs receive a 12-month, co-designed, HWS package from their affiliated LEO, supported by trained study ‘champions’. Control SMEs operate as usual. We will assess changes in work engagement (primary outcome) and secondary outcomes including health-related quality of life across four timepoints (baseline, 6/12/18-months) and conduct an economic evaluation. A qualitative process evaluation will assess implementation obstacles and enablers. A discrete choice experiment will assess SME leaders’ preferences and willingness-to-pay for HWS. Ethical approval was granted by King’s College London.
Results:
We have randomised 18 SMEs (nine per study arm, six per LEO). We experienced several challenges setting up the study:
1) Difficulty in identifying eligible SMEs.
2) Lack of procurement team capacity to support study delivery.
3) Lack of SME capacity to participate.
4) Governance and ethical review-related delays
We overcame these challenges through collaborative and flexible working, and have started recruitment.
Implications:
We offer insights into the realities of setting up a prospective cohort with commercial businesses. We also provide recommendations for future studies, as many challenges we faced will be experienced by other researchers seeking to improve access to HWS in SMEs. Final results to follow.
