Be Mindful Workplace will help disabled individuals to gain employment, backed by funding for the project from SBRI Healthcare in partnership with the NHS Health Innovation Network.
Digital health pioneer Wellmind Health is developing an innovative digital mental health program to help disabled individuals gain employment, in partnership with Evenbreak, the leading disability job board for disabled people, and the Health Innovation Yorkshire and & Humber (Health Innovation Y&H). Be Mindful Workplace aims to help break down the unique barriers people with disabilities face to finding jobs and has been awarded funding in the SBRI Healthcare ‘Competition 27 – Work-related digital innovations for individuals with poor mental health’.
Wellmind Health’s Be Mindful is a digital Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) program, an approach proven to help with anxiety, depression, and stress, which make job-seeking even more challenging. To date it has helped over 14,000 individuals to significantly improve their mental health, spanning primary care, mental health, occupational health, and community-based settings. Co-creating Be Mindful Workplace to address the specific needs of disabled users with people with lived experience of disability, clinicians and employers will ensure it meets users’ needs and the highest accessibility standards.
Individuals with disabilities including physical, developmental, intellectual, neurological, sensory and Neurodivergence face significant obstacles to employment and are disproportionately underrepresented in the workforce, with 54.2% of disabled individuals employed in 2024, compared to 82% among non-disabled individuals. They often experience significant mental health challenges, exacerbated by social isolation, reduced confidence and heightened anxiety.
Heather Cook, CEO of Wellmind Health, commented, “We are thrilled to be working with Evenbreak and Health Innovation Y&H. This timely initiative aligns with the government’s focus on supporting disabled individuals back into employment. By addressing the unique mental health challenges faced by disabled job seekers, we aim to empower them to pursue and sustain meaningful employment. This collaboration underscores our commitment to creating accessible, evidence-based solutions that make a real difference in people’s lives. Together, we can help break down barriers and open new opportunities for disabled individuals.”
The project will see Evenbreak recruit a diverse group of individuals with a range of disabilities into a steering group to guide design and outcomes in a real-world evaluation to test effectiveness.
Adam Hyland, Chief Inclusion Officer Evenbreak, said: “At Evenbreak, we are passionate about removing the barriers disabled people face in accessing meaningful employment. Mental health challenges can be both a consequence of exclusion from the workforce and a barrier to entering it. This partnership with Wellmind Health and Health Innovation Y&H means we can co-create support that is shaped by disabled people themselves. Together, we are ensuring the solution is genuinely inclusive, enabling, and designed to make a tangible difference.”
Health Innovation Yorkshire and & Humber (Health Innovation Y&H) will play a key role in embedding patient and public involvement. Focusing on each stage of the employment journey, Health Innovation Y&H will gather actionable insights to refine the intervention, ensuring it meets real needs and supports best practices for employers.
The project is designed not only to open doors to mental health support for disabled individuals, helping users build confidence and independence to pursue employment. It will also provide an accessible, scalable program to support the NHS’s mental health services and workforce and create a model for other under-served groups.
