Action Towards Inclusion: Keyworker Perspectives on Employability Support for People Furthest from Employment, 2021-2022

This collection comprises 12 qualitative interview transcripts with employability “keyworkers” who provided support and interventions to individuals participating in a UK employment support programme that ran from 2017 to 2023.

Interviews were conducted between November 2021 and February 2022 and explore keyworkers’ roles, practices, and perspectives on supporting participants, particularly those experiencing mental health problems or mental distress, towards employment outcomes.

Topics covered include keyworkers’ professional backgrounds and day-to-day support processes; the employment-related challenges participants face; how participants describe and conceptualise mental health experiences (including the language used and perceived origins of difficulties); and whether contextual factors such as location (e.g., remote or urban settings) and digital exclusion affect participants’ wellbeing and engagement. Interviews also examine how participants encounter the welfare benefits system and the extent of keyworker involvement in welfare/benefits support, including the influence of Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) structures and requirements and any tensions between programme objectives and benefits processes.

Finally, the interviews elicit reflections and learning points, including what keyworkers perceive as most helpful for participants, what improvements are needed, and messages for service providers, keyworkers, and programme funders, as well as reflections on programme design and the implications of the programme ending in 2023.