nhs staff digital wellbeing via airemail

Conditions: Communication Research; Technostress; Work Related Stress; Burnout, Professional; Well-Being, Psychological

Summary: the goal of this "digital health intervention" study is to test a novel email management tool called "airemail" (version 1, or v1) for its impact on improving key aspects of healthcare email management. the main questions it aims to answer are: * what are the effects of technostress in staff employed by the national health service (nhs)? * can the airemail digital tool improve email productivity? * can the airemail digital tool improve participant digital wellbeing? participants will use airemail for a period of 4 weeks as part of their routine management of healthcare email. this active use period will be preceded and followed by 2 weeks of an "observational mode" in which email use data is collected. researchers will compare participants in the active study group with participants in the contemporary observational group to see if the volume and patterns of email communications have been affected by external factors or airemail use.

the nhs digiwell study is a before and after study of a "digital health intervention" testing a novel digital email management tool called "airemail" for its impact on improving key aspects of healthcare email management. airemail is a microsoft 365 outlook registered add-in, a software programme extending the capabilities of, and automating tasks in, microsoft outlook. the study aims to determine the overall effect of the airemail digital tool over a period of 4 weeks on nhs staff email productivity and digital wellbeing. the active use period will be preceded by 2 weeks of "observational mode" in which email use data will be collected and 2 weeks in which participants will complete induction training. there will be further 2 weeks of "observational mode" following the active period. email use statistics data will also be collected from a contemporary observational group for a 10 weeks coinciding with the time period in which active group participants complete the study.

Eligibility criteria:
inclusion criteria: 1. nhs staff employed at a participating nhs organisation with an active nhs it account, microsoft 365 access, and routinely using the microsoft outlook app on a computer for email management. 2. age ≥ 18 years. 3. able to communicate fluently in english. 4. have been employed in the same nhs trust for at least 3 months prior to study participation and likely remain employed in the same nhs trust for another at least 3 months. 5. contracted to work for ≥0.5 full-time equivalent (fte). 6. willing to complete study assessments and agree to non-identifiable email usage data being collected for the duration of the study. 7. currently has (or agrees to create prior to joining the study) ≥500 megabytes of available storage in their nhsmail inbox (the usual total storage capacity of which is 4 gigabytes), and agrees not to exceed their nhsmail storage quota for the duration of the trial to ensure nhsmail performance is not adversely affected by the airemail digital tool processing and the study data collection. 8. willing and able to engage it support to seek resolution of email related issues as required. 9. meets at least one of the following criteria: a) receives ≥50 emails a day, or b) sends ≥20 emails a day, or c) spends ≥2 hours in email management on a busy day, in/from their individual inbox, or d) feels dissatisfied with their ability to manage email to an acceptable standard. 10. willing and able to complete study training activities - estimated to require approximately 45 minutes over a period of maximum 2 weeks - and to configure their email and use the airemail v1 features as part of their nhs employment for the duration of the study. exclusion criteria: 1. currently absent from work for a period lasting, or likely to last, ≥4 weeks, or have returned from long-term absence/leave of ≥4 weeks in ≤4 weeks before joining the study. 2. plans to take ≥8 working days of annual leave coinciding with study participation. 3. currently participating in another interventional study in the field of digital wellbeing or digital communications. 4. receives high-volume, high-risk patient-related communication. note: this would apply for staff employed in clinical pathway coordinator roles, or similar, where even an hour of downtime would compromise patient care. 5. has any specific accessibility requirements not catered for by the airemail v1 application (for example colour blindness which makes seeing highlighted words in outlook a problem). 6. relies on using microsoft outlook's "categories" feature to manage administrative or clinical workflows.

Keywords: technostress technology related stress healthcare communication email communication national health service email work related stress burnout well-being