People working in the homelessness sector are at a heightened risk of burnout, often working difficult hours and with emotionally charged, public service-oriented work. Existing evidence from the United States has shown that a light-touch social support intervention can have significant impacts on workforce wellbeing, sickness, and turnover.

We conducted a randomised controlled trial with people working in the homelessness sector in the UK to test an intervention that comprises weekly emails, each on a different theme, which aim to create a sense of social support and belonging in workers, and in so doing reduce burnout, which is the primary outcome measure for this study. Half of the participants were randomly assigned to receive the intervention, while the other half were not, and received no additional intervention.

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Findings In Brief

While the intervention was well-received by participants, the findings suggest a limited and inconsistent impact on burnout and wellbeing outcomes.

Feedback from participants suggests heavy workloads may have limited their engagement with the emails, potentially impacting the trial's outcomes.

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Recommendations in Brief

Light touch interventions may be insufficient for substantial wellbeing improvements in the UK homelessness sector. Targeted interventions may offer some benefit, but support must also address structural realities like high workloads and limited time for engagement.

Further research, including innovative and robustly tested approaches, is needed to determine what improves wellbeing for frontline homelessness staff.