Insights and learnings from the WorkWell Program

Share in our insights as we build an evidence based approach for creating and maintaining a mentally healthy workplace with learnings from the WorkWell Program and extended partnerships.

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About the evaluation

We're evaluating WorkWell to understand if the program is making a positive impact on Victorian workplaces.

WorkWell is a $50 million, 5-year government-funded program delivered in partnership with WorkSafe Victoria and the Department of Health. WorkWell aims to support employers to prevent mental injury and create safe and mentally healthy workplaces. By giving employers access to knowledge sharing, funding and resources, we support them to make systems level changes with big impacts.

In order to understand if WorkWell is making a positive impact on Victorian workplaces, we're continually evaluating the efforts and resources of the program. These include the Toolkit, the Mental Health Improvement Fund, and Learning Networks. The insight we gain through the evaluation of these program streams will form the evidence base for creating and maintaining mentally healthy workplaces across Victoria.

Emerging Outcomes of the WorkWell Program

WorkWell has completed its annual evaluation of the program, resulting in the WorkWell Emerging Outcomes Rport. This report identifies key evidence-based emerging insights for creating mentally healthy workplaces, such as the importance of partnerships, and reveals the first evidence for predicting psychological safety.

Learn more about each of the program streams

How we are evaluating WorkWell (methods)

We are using a range of different methods to evaluate the WorkWell program:

What we are measuring

We're measuring how a workplace changes its understanding of and behaviour around workplace mental health as a result of engaging with the WorkWell program. We measure this based on three levels of change:

  1. Change Level 1: Measuring the participation levels of businesses with the WorkWell program
  2. Change Level 2: Measuring how the WorkWell program has influenced workplace behaviours
  3. Change Level 3: Measuring the impact that the WorkWell program has had on preventing mental injuries in the workplace

As of December 2020, WorkWell has just passed its halfway point. At this point, we've been able to collect data about the level of participation, and we are beginning to see the emerging trends of how WorkWell has influenced workplace mental health. We won't know the full impact of the program until it is complete, but we hope to have some initial insights around outcomes in early 2021.

Change Level 1: Measuring participation (data available)

We evaluate which employers and workers are engaging in the WorkWell program and how. This helps us develop effective, tailored strategies to build capacity and confidence in preventing mental injuries in the workplace.

Change Level 2: Measuring influence (data emerging)

We are looking to evaluate the actions and activities being undertaken across the WorkWell program to build a clearer picture of the level of commitment and consultation needed to create change in the workplace.

Change Level 3: Measuring impact (no data available yet)

Here we evaluate the positive and negative outcomes, and intended and unintended outcomes, of the WorkWell program. This allows us to understand the role of the interventions in creating change in the workplace and preventing mental injury. We measure this via the Workplace Wellbeing Insights Survey, as well as a review of claims data for workplace injuries.

As at December 2020, we are only just past the halfway point of the program. Results of the impact evaluation will become available in early 2023, after the program ends in late 2022.

Social network analysis

Social network analysis shows how the nature and strength of participating partnerships change over time.

The Social Network Analysis shows us the power of partnerships in influencing behaviour change in the workplace. Over time, most partners are collaborating, representing a significant investment of time and support. Collaborating offers the strongest level of support to the partnership and involves exchanging information, altering activities, sharing resources, but importantly, enhancing the capacity of another for mutual benefit and to achieve a common purpose.

The Social Network Analysis unveils critical factors that lead to creating mentally healthy workplaces, including championing partners as change makers to influence behaviour change and supporting the creation of mentally healthy workplaces. WorkWell supports relationships with peak employers, unions, consultants, academics, not-for-profit organisations and government departments to work together for collective impact.

Source: VicHealth 2016

10000+ registered users  

A total of 10,000+ registered WorkWell Toolkit users, being owners, managers, HSRs +

25 funded pilot projects  

with 334 participating workplaces

6 Learning Networks  

with 37 partner organisations

3300+  

webinar participants

Learn more with the month-by-month results of the social network analysis

Check out the interactive maps below for more detail about each month of the funded programs and the Learning Networks. The data sets are only captured for the first six months of the partnership, because after this time we see little to no change.

Learning Networks

Round 1 Mental Health Fund recipients

Round 2 Mental Health Fund recipients