Behavioural Activation for Low mood and anxiety in Male NHS frontline workers: The BALM programme

Frontline National Health Service (NHS) staff are at increased risk of mental health difficulties. Male frontline workers often do not seek help and might be disproportionately affected. Behavioural Activation is an effective treatment that can be used as an early intervention to help stop these difficulties getting worse. It is particularly suited for adaptation as a gender-sensitive intervention because of its practical, action-oriented strategies that are consistent with a strengths-based masculinities approach.

We will first develop a self-help Behavioural Activation booklet tailored specifically for men who are working on the NHS frontline. As part of this, we will talk to men from different NHS frontline jobs to ensure the booklet is designed in a way that is helpful and appealing to them. In the second part of the study, we will evaluate how effective the intervention is. We will recruit 45 men at risk of low mood who are working on the NHS frontline. We will send the booklet to them, and train support workers to help them use the booklet. We will evaluate whether it helped their mood and also interview them to find out how useful they found it. We will then roll it out across the NHS.