Scholarlink

Background <p>#KindnessbyPost (KbP) is a “national kindness exchange”. Participants send and receive a card by post to different, unknown people containing messages of good will. Previous evidence suggests participation in KbP may reduce loneliness and improve wellbeing. We evaluated the outcomes and administrative costs of KbP and explored the feasibility of collecting health economic measures for future research.</p> Methods <p>We used a pre-post, observational study design. Participants in two separate KbP exchanges in 2021 were invited to complete an online questionnaire. It included self-reported measures quantifying psychological wellbeing and loneliness, capability, and healthcare service use. Data were collected at three time-points per exchange: exchange-start (baseline), exchange-end (2&#xa0;weeks), and 3&#xa0;months post-exchange. Administrative cost data were obtained from the KbP programme organisers.</p> Results <p>Across both exchanges, 1,285 responses were received from 1,142 participants. 143 participants completed questionnaires at both exchanges. In total, 623 (48%) participants completed follow-ups at exchange-end, and 414 (32%) at 3&#xa0;months post-exchange. 70% (n = 789) of participants were aged between 31 and 60&#xa0;years. 94% (n = 1,075) of participants were female and 95% (n = 1,078) were of white ethnicity. Compared to baseline, loneliness reduced and wellbeing increased at exchange end (change in loneliness = ‑0.21 units, 95% CI: -0.29 to -0.12; change in wellbeing = 0.68 units, 95% CI: 0.47 to 0.88, respectively) and at 3&#xa0;months post-exchange (loneliness change = -0.40 units, 95% CI: -0.50 to -0.30; wellbeing change = 1.01 units, 95% CI: 0.77 to 1.25, respectively). Capability scores (mean (SD) were calculated at baseline: 0.74 (0.18); exchange-end: 0.75 (0.19); and 3&#xa0;months: 0.76 (0.18)) from available responses. The average administrative cost of delivering the intervention was £0.67-£0.87 per participant, not including in-kind contributions.</p> Conclusions <p>We observed a small, sustained improvement to people’s wellbeing and loneliness following participation in a KbP exchange. Given the study design, causal attribution to KbP is uncertain. However, our results are consistent with previous evaluations and offer preliminary evidence that KbP may be an effective mental wellbeing intervention. Given its low administrative cost and highly scalable design, KbP could also be a cost-effective intervention for improving public mental health, warranting definitive evaluation of effectiveness and cost-effectiveness in future. Our study also demonstrated the feasibility of collecting wellbeing and health economic outcome measures needed for future research.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

#KindnessbyPost: a pre-post, observational evaluation and feasibility study of a participatory public mental health intervention

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月22日

查看全文
  • Marie Le Novere,
  • Caroline S. Clarke,
  • Rebecca Jones,
  • Katey Warran,
  • Brynmor Lloyd-Evans,
  • Luke Sheridan Rains

摘要

Background

#KindnessbyPost (KbP) is a “national kindness exchange”. Participants send and receive a card by post to different, unknown people containing messages of good will. Previous evidence suggests participation in KbP may reduce loneliness and improve wellbeing. We evaluated the outcomes and administrative costs of KbP and explored the feasibility of collecting health economic measures for future research.

Methods

We used a pre-post, observational study design. Participants in two separate KbP exchanges in 2021 were invited to complete an online questionnaire. It included self-reported measures quantifying psychological wellbeing and loneliness, capability, and healthcare service use. Data were collected at three time-points per exchange: exchange-start (baseline), exchange-end (2 weeks), and 3 months post-exchange. Administrative cost data were obtained from the KbP programme organisers.

Results

Across both exchanges, 1,285 responses were received from 1,142 participants. 143 participants completed questionnaires at both exchanges. In total, 623 (48%) participants completed follow-ups at exchange-end, and 414 (32%) at 3 months post-exchange. 70% (n = 789) of participants were aged between 31 and 60 years. 94% (n = 1,075) of participants were female and 95% (n = 1,078) were of white ethnicity. Compared to baseline, loneliness reduced and wellbeing increased at exchange end (change in loneliness = ‑0.21 units, 95% CI: -0.29 to -0.12; change in wellbeing = 0.68 units, 95% CI: 0.47 to 0.88, respectively) and at 3 months post-exchange (loneliness change = -0.40 units, 95% CI: -0.50 to -0.30; wellbeing change = 1.01 units, 95% CI: 0.77 to 1.25, respectively). Capability scores (mean (SD) were calculated at baseline: 0.74 (0.18); exchange-end: 0.75 (0.19); and 3 months: 0.76 (0.18)) from available responses. The average administrative cost of delivering the intervention was £0.67-£0.87 per participant, not including in-kind contributions.

Conclusions

We observed a small, sustained improvement to people’s wellbeing and loneliness following participation in a KbP exchange. Given the study design, causal attribution to KbP is uncertain. However, our results are consistent with previous evaluations and offer preliminary evidence that KbP may be an effective mental wellbeing intervention. Given its low administrative cost and highly scalable design, KbP could also be a cost-effective intervention for improving public mental health, warranting definitive evaluation of effectiveness and cost-effectiveness in future. Our study also demonstrated the feasibility of collecting wellbeing and health economic outcome measures needed for future research.