Distress Brief Intervention Pilot Programme evaluation: findings report

Evaluation

The Scottish Government commissioned an independent evaluation of the DBI pilots. The evaluation only covered the four initial areas in which the DBI programme was piloted, and focused on those aged 18 and over^[1].

Aims

The aims of the evaluation were to determine:

• The extent to which the DBI programme was implemented as intended, identifying variation and any associated impacts.
• The impacts of the DBI programme on services, practitioners and individuals.

Approach

The evaluation adopted a mixed-methods approach. Data were collected between 1^st January 2019 and 30^th April 2020 from the following sources:

• DBI Level 1 and 2 practitioners – through interviews and focus groups, and a survey
• People accessing DBI – through surveys (at the start of the DBI, at the end, and follow-ups 3 months afterwards), and interviews
• DBI service leads – through interviews
• Aggregate routine DBI data
• Agencies referred to by DBI Level 2 practitioners – through a survey

The evaluation also included a health economics analysis, which summarised the disaggregated costs together with a range of outcomes.

Ethical approval was obtained from the West of Scotland Research Ethics Service. The Health and Social Care Public Benefit and Privacy Panel granted approval for data linkage, which was an element of the evaluation.