Perceived Individual and Systemic Impact of a Digital Wellbeing Package for Health and Care Workers Five Years Post-Release: A Qualitative Study

This study explores health and care workers' perceptions of the longer-term influence of a rapidly developed digital support package designed to promote psychological wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic. A qualitative design was used, involving semi-structured interviews with 20 health and care professionals, including frontline clinicians and senior leaders, who had used and disseminated a theory-informed digital wellbeing package, accessed globally by 82,425 users within its first year. Interviews conducted in 2025 examined participants' accounts of perceived effects at individual, professional, and organisational levels. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis informed by public mental health, organisational resilience, and implementation science perspectives. Four themes were identified: enhanced psychological wellbeing and coping; changes to professional practice and fatigue management; reframing resilience as a collective and organisational responsibility; and the sustainability and ongoing relevance of the resource beyond the pandemic. Participants described experiences such as reduced stress and anxiety, improved sleep and emotional regulation, sustained use of cognitive-behavioural strategies, and perceived improvements in functioning at work. Some participants also reported that the resource informed their thinking about leadership, psychological safety, and wellbeing practices, and described its continued relevance five years post-release. These qualitative findings illustrate how the digital wellbeing intervention was experienced by participants and how they interpreted its relevance over time. The study suggests that digitally delivered, theory-informed resources may have perceived value for individual capacity building, professional practice, and organisational approaches to resilience within health systems facing ongoing structural pressures.