Wellbeing Review Report
Introduction to the Dreamachine
Dreamachine is a collaborative, interdisciplinary programme that invites audiences across the UK to explore the extraordinary potential of their own minds. Created by Collective Act, the team brings together Turner Prize-winning artists Assemble, Grammy and Mercury nominated composer Jon Hopkins, and a team of leading technologists, scientists and philosophers.
At the core of the programme is the Dreamachine live experience; a kaleidoscopic, visual journey through flickering light and sound, all experienced through closed eyes. The Dreamachine live experience was presented in the summer of 2022 in London, Cardiff, Belfast and Edinburgh, with more than 30,000 people having experienced Dreamachine already.
Every experience of Dreamachine is completely individual, and audience responses offer a glimpse into how the human brain gives rise to our subjective ‘inner universe’, exploring the ways we each encounter the world, how this shapes our lives, and who we are.
About this report
We were commissioned by Collective Act to conduct a full review of the wellbeing provision throughout the project. We aimed to explore:
● The role of the Wellbeing Officer (WBO), and how it contributed to the overall delivery of the project
● An in-depth understanding of their experiences happening on the ground, as it relates to the wellbeing of the team and the participants
● The effectiveness of the mental health training provided, and subsequent support for the team once in post
● Strengths and limitations to the project design and structure, with consideration for what would have improved the experience
Positionality
Vanessa and Amberlee were initially commissioned by Collective Act to deliver Mental Health First Aid training and a bespoke Mental health awareness course to dreamachine staff who have direct contact with audience members visiting the experience.
Since this initial work Vanessa and Amberlee were then asked to carry out a review as per the brief. Both have no prior affiliation and are independent to the dream machine. Their involvement with the delivery of training to dreamachine staff, saw them best placed to conduct this review and to write this report.
Methods
Data analysed came from the following sources: Daily Wellbeing Reports
Wellbeing Officer Survey
Roundtable + Miro Board
City Quantity Belfast 44
Edinburgh 39 Cardiff 32
City Quantity London 3 Edinburgh 1 Cardiff 2
Data type Quantity
Recording 4 hours
Transcript 71 pages Miro board N/A
A thematic analysis was considered the most appropriate method to analyse these data-sets. The flexible nature of this analysis allowed for both an inductive approach i.e. themes determined by the data and a deductive approach (Caulfield; 2022) i.e. our orientation to this data was based upon our existing knowledge and work within the Dreamachine, which gave rise to preconceived themes.
Fig 1 demonstrates our approach to this thematic analysis.
After analysing the data from the provided data-sets (Daily-Wellbeing Reports and WBO surveys), we designed and facilitated a ‘roundtable discussion’ in November 2022. The full-day session explored and reviewed the experiences of the Wellbeing officers in their roles throughout the Dreamachine, through the lens of wellbeing. Throughout the day, a range of conversations and activities were facilitated to gauge:
● The role of the Wellbeing officer
● Wellbeing Officer experiences throughout the project
● How these experiences impacted the Dreamachine
● The training and support wellbeing officers received
To ensure the day was not too constrained, time allowed for free flowing discussion and time for wellbeing officers to highlight other arising issues.
The structure was informed by this - the first hour of the day was designed to transport them back to their dreamachine experience on the ground, by delving into what they saw and heard at the time. This was a direct response to the survey results, where people reported the effects of reflecting on the experience after so much time. This worked well as ultimately, the consensus was that the dreamachine is was such a unique experience for them, that it was easy to recall the experience. We then spent the middle segment of the day focused specifically on training - what was provided and
how it impacted their ability to support AMs. Lastly, we rounded up the day with a retrospective, which allowed WBOs -
Additionally we wanted to create an artefact/document that would be both a repository where thoughts, comments,insights from the well being officers could be shared and reflected upon and added to by all participants throughout the day; but also stored, drawn upon and referred to at a later stage whilst writing this report and beyond for the ongoing advancement of the dreamachine, hence the decision to use Miro throughout the day.
Also, there was consideration for how we analysed the data and approached the analysis.
Full exploration of findings with examples, excerpts and quotes to punctuate. Categorised into themed headings.
Findings
Theme 1: The responsibility of the role
Responsibility emerged as a theme from wellbeing officers' report of feeling overwhelmed whilst carrying out their roles. Delivering support to audience members was considered a unique privilege: Supporting visitors with a wide range of expressed emotions and hearing their transformative experiences within the reflection space was also a significant feature. However, this was felt a significant responsibility due to unresolved concerns about visitors' wellbeing after they had left the experience.
"And I found that often, you know, that you're that person that might encourage them to seek further support and what you say really matters to their next steps.
It was clear the wellbeing officers understood the broad characteristics of the role. This was evidenced from discussions during the round table day, documented actions and outcomes within wellbeing reports, as well as opinions and insights from the wellbeing surveys.
This content closely matched the key responsibilities identified in the wellbeing officer job description (Fig 2).
Fig 2. Key responsibilities in relation to information elicited from wellbeing officers..
Wellbeing officers felt the level of responsibility in this role was significantly different to roles held previously and was an unexpected element of the role. Mental health first aid training was universally considered comprehensive, valuable and relevant to the wellbeing officers’ ability to support audience members throughout the dream machine. Particularly it allowed
wellbeing officers to be measured in their approach and decision making regarding when and how to approach and initiate helpful conversations with audience members, or to be approached by audience members depending on the situation.
It was also clear that having their own individual dreamachine experience created a deep intrinsic understanding of the significance around the care and guidance audience members required throughout their dream machine journey. This experiential learning enhanced the training they received which in turn led to excellent role execution. Wellbeing officers were able to validate many of the audience members' questions and responses by sharing their own experiences with them. Ultimately, wellbeing officers felt Mental health first aid training gave them confidence and an ability to support visitors in distress and to facilitate discussions in the reflection zone, which was necessary for audience members to process their dreamachine experience.
“The mental health first aid was extremely useful I have really developed the ability to actively listen . “I feel so much more confident in providing wellbeing support because I know the steps and appropriate reactions”.
Wellbeing officers reported receiving compliments from audience members regarding how well supported they felt, noting their professionalism and efficient management of difficult situations e.g.challenging visitors, medical emergencies.
The previous work experiences of the wellbeing officers was a particular strength which contributed to the success in execution of this role as it spoke to the expertise required. When asked, interests in mental health, supporting others, creative industries and curiosity about the dreamachine were factors that drew wellbeing officers to apply for this role. Undoubtedly this provided a solid
foundation which the delivered training was able to capitalise and built upon. Wellbeing officers also recognised this as a positive influence.
“I enjoy working with people, meeting people and helping and have done a few community based roles in the past.”
“The WBO role suited me well I feel very comfortable talking to people about challenging topics and emotion.”
Wellbeing officers were undecided regarding whether the role lived up to their expectations. It seemed that the assimilating huge amounts of information provided in training and the highly unique nature of this immersive experience, coupled with the challenge to offer tailored support to audience members with a wide range of emotions and reactions in a short amount to time, alongside adapting to the novel dreamachine environment in an ongoing way, made this is a difficult question to answer definitively.
Wellbeing officers highlighted that supporting other dreamachine staff was another unexpected element of the role, despite this being specified in the original job description. In this regard, the Mental Health First Aid training remained relevant; Wellbeing officers were well able to apply the principles to offer tailored support and relevant information which was well received by their colleagues.
Instances where wellbeing officers were called to support staff to resolve disagreements/conflict, this felt more challenging and was an area they reported feeling out of their depth, due to not having experience of mediation or any training.
“PG disclosed to WO having a challenging week in/out of work, feeling exhausted. Discussed self care plans for weekend. Felt lighter after talking”.
“Supporting staff was challenging at times and that it was a larger part of the role than i expected. It was really essential and valuable port of the job, but i think i could have benefited from learning mediation skills. because although rate some intense situations arose.”
Recommendations:
● Existing hiring practices for dreamachine staff should remain the same. It was evident that the wellbeing officers' robust experiences, skills and past work backgrounds were central to their ability to execute this challenging role. Additionally opportunities for staff to experience the dreamachine should also remain a priority, and where possible incorporated into the induction process.
● Hiring practices should also continue to ensure staff represent the various individual differences of audience members, and where possible include conditions i.e. light sensitivity. This could be seen as a strength particularly in terms of empathising with audience members who are unable to join the high sensory experience.
● Consideration should be given to the request for mediation training and who should receive this training.alongside who would be best placed to hold staff grievances.
Theme 2: Reassurance, wellbeing and support.
Wellbeing officers demonstrated exceptional skill and utmost sensitivity as they supported audience members, while simultaneously managing the challenges of the role and the wider environment. This can be seen as a reflection of the recruitment and high-quality training they received from the dreamachine. However, wellbeing officers indicated having ongoing worries or anxieties about their own actions and for the wellbeing of audience members. Specifically, visitors who had negative experiences or disclosed difficult life circumstances and displayed significant emotional responses continued to occupy the thoughts of wellbeing officers, after their working day had ended.
“Then there were some people who left or sometimes they just left. without talking to anybody that I, I was a bit worried about that. I did wonder like, are they okay, you know, after they've left, are they, are they gonna be okay? What's happened to them? And yeah, I felt a little bit powerless in that sense.”
It is common for staff in care and support roles to want to go above and beyond designated remit (Wilkinson and Perry-Young 2017). This was evident here amongst the wellbeing officers. The need for reassurance triggered innovation and problem solving which enabled wellbeing officers to develop new ways of working. This in part, provided the much-needed reassurance to allay their anxiety, which in turn benefited execution of the role as further collaborative team working occurred. (See Theme 4 for further exploration of this). In both Mental Health First Aid and Mental health awareness training it was emphasised that not all encounters where support is offered would have a defined or positive end (although most encounters do end that way). Mental Health First Aid training reiterates that signposting to relevant professionals or agencies is key to ensuring they sufficiently discharge their responsibilities. Staff who were not Mental Health First Aid trained, were encouraged to ensure anyone identified as needing support was introduced to a Mental Health First Aid responder.
Wellbeing officers found difficulty holding the above in mind, and were unable to feel reassured that they were fulfilling their responsibilities and executing a challenging role to a very high standard.
Again this can be seen to be due to the role, the project and environment feeling so novel that further measures were needed. Wellbeing officers felt strongly that they should have been offering a post experience follow up to audience members who had been distressed, in addition to the prescribed emotional support and signposting information, even though this was outside the remit of their role. For example, Wellbeing officers in Cardiff invited distressed audience members to return later in the day for a further check in.
“So when I knew people weren't a hundred percent but they wanted to go, I would be like, you know, feel free to go and get some fresh air. We're here until 8:00 PM tonight. If you wanna come back at any time, I'll make you a cup of tea. Just come back and just check in and let me know that you're okay before you go home. And people did do that..”
Reassurance measures adopted by wellbeing officers included use of a shared notebook to document their concerns or anxieties about their interventions or regarding observations of audience members who didn’t want to talk. This enabled them to reflect upon their actions to take away learning points (Further exploration of this point please see section 4).
In this role wellbeing officers were very aware of the need to maintain their wellbeing by being mindful to prioritise their self-care outside of their working hours. This was also emphasised g as central to managing stress, enhanced coping and resilience in both Mental Health First Aid and Mental health awareness training.
“.. I know that when I got home I had my ritual of things, what I did to make sure that I was right.”
It was clear that this was a theme that held great significance and, in many ways, relates to the theme of responsibility. It also speaks to the integrity, sensitivity and empathy of the wellbeing officers.
Recommendations:
● A monthly staff reflection group should be implemented to ensure that staff feel able to manage the challenges that present while supporting audience members through the dreamachine experience.
● The reflection zone would be a protected space where information is shared amongst staff such as what worked vs what worked less well). It can also focus upon self-efficacy and how to complete tasks central to individual roles. For example the uncertainty that remains when audience members do not uptake the support offered, the reflection space will provide time to empathise and normalise their resultant feelings which will confirm and affirm their competence in their roles.
● Another benefit of having this regular protected time is when staff feel they have adequate skills, they are able carry out the demands of their role, and continue doing so, even in periods of adversity (Bandura 1988).
● Additionally the peer support networks that were informally arranged by Wellbeing officers should be formalised and replicated.. This will serve as an additional means of support so staff are not holding concerns alone until the monthly staff reflection group. These meetings again can share best practice and arising concerns. Another benefit of these staff sessions is it will foster a sense of community amongst dreamachine staff.
● A majority of wellbeing officers felt a natural extension of the role was to offer check in support with audience members who experienced distress. While this is beyond the remit of their role, this was still a valid suggestion. As a compromise it is recommended that a follow up email with contact details of national support organisations alongside advice to see GP, should be sent to all audience members 1 day, 1 month and 3 months post dreamachine experience. This solidifies the role and highlights the community aspect of the dreamachine. Given that we now know the significant impact of the experience and the many varied audience responses, this type of communication is logical and highlights an intentional decision to run this project in ways that look after its community and visitors.
Theme 3: Remit, boundaries, role clarity
The WBO role was designed to be broad, which suits the pilot nature of this project well. There were various recognised strengths (mostly centred around the ability to be agile on the ground and collaborate with the rest of the team), though alongside this, the WBOs spoke to issues surrounding their remit, and by extension, a need for clarity around the role. This was particularly seen in the wider context of working alongside other roles in the dreamachine to keep AMs safe.
As the role played out on the ground, it became clear that the role was complex and full - a lot of work went into audience management, which in some cases went quite smoothly but in others required more skill and energy to support those in distress or in some cases, causing disturbance to others in the experience. Considering the skills required for behaviour management, difficult conversations and dealing with conflict, much of this role relied on the expertise and experience of those who are hired [as mentioned above].
“WO intervened to join group and to say that everybody who tries the experience has their own highly individual and unique response, and to try to bring an air of positivity back to the room. This worked and another woman felt able to communicate her own experience of a very positive emotional response to the session”
Strong previous career experiences was common amongst WBOs, and also contributed to the weight of the role - they often reported wanting to do more to support AMs in the roundtable discussion, referring back to previous community roles that allowed them to do that.
“[I] have done a few community based roles in the past. I also realize that there is a very high level of responsibility in [this] role…that level of responsibility working in education, it just felt quite different. You know, having that responsibility for someone's wellbeing is a big thing.”
Within this conversation, boundaries have to be explored as this not only maintains safety for the AMs but also allows the WBO to operate within the limits of their capabilities and role. There seemed to be mixed understandings of what the boundaries were for this role, with WBOs reporting different approaches to similar scenarios. To a certain extent, we speak about this throughout the mental health training provided for each team member, and when it comes to crises and emergency support, the boundaries are clear. What potentially felt less clear was where one role starts and another takes over - in this case the WBOs and LG's. It was felt that in some scenarios, there was a lot of crossovers, and whilst this led to a lot of great collaboration and team working - the blurred lines meant that WBOs and LGs could have done the same role. They suggested wanting training to be consistent across both groups so that more seamless team working could happen with the support of AMs - particularly on busy days where there are multiple ‘incidents’. There were also times where the blurred lines led to a breakdown of communication
“PG spotted someone in distress/ suspected seizure, hit emergency stop and called for LG and paramedic to DM, immediately evacuated DM…(we still weren't aware of what had actually happened)
PG who hit emergency stop was distressed following incident, LG and WBO went to check on PG, WBO then stayed with PG and LG updated patrons re situation.
WBO then checked on tech support, as they witnessed the incident too and found it upsetting”
This scenario was referred to to demonstrate how an emergency stop to the dreamachine led to the impact of unclear remit. There was good adapting and last-minute thinking on their feet, all led by care for the AMs. Despite that, clearer guidelines would have led to this incident going smoother and reducing the need for uncertainty, doubt and reassurance afterwards. The WBO's also supported the tech team, and there has been multiple reports of how supporting other staff across the dreamachine can add pressure when at capacity.
Another potential implication of a lack of remit and/or lack of communication, is how dreamachine spaces are used. There were a few instances of disagreement on how to use spaces, seen in a few of the daily wellbeing reports. Contextualising this during the round table discussion raised thoughts on how a difference in training may exacerbate this - WBO’s are giving clear guidelines on how to use the dreamachine safe spaces in their MHFA training, and this isn't necessarily spoken about across the rest of the team.
Considering how much collaboration and team working happens, there has been small incidences of conflict within internal communication. This feels completely appropriate for a team in this context and acknowledging this led to the WBO's questioning whose responsibility it is to manage conflict. The lack of clarity on whether it sits with them and if so, how this contributes to reporting in the daily wellbeing reports is worth considering.
One of the many strengths in the design of this role was the ability for each WBO to put the AMs first. The daily wellbeing reports highlighted a consistent ability to centre AMs in decision making and collaboration, even when a lack of clear boundaries or remit impacted their experience. Conversations around this in the roundtable discussion highlighted the awareness of this as a pilot project - a constant compassion for processes yet to be finalised. An WBO spoke about how important it is to consider all AMs by maintaining a calm space despite the excitement of the group – this is best practice that should feature in all future iterations of the role.
“AM Briefing included feedback from WO from previous day, reminding guardians in the reflection space to keep a quiet and calm response level at the beginning, and not to reflect back the emotions of participants who may be elated and animated - bearing in mind other members of the group will need a calm atmosphere.”
Recommendations
● Positive feedback and best practice occurring throughout the project, especially if AMs feel moved by how supportive the staff are, should be shared. In many cases, the team have a huge impact on AMs, and it would be worth considering a formal feedback loop in order to ensure best practice is shared in a robust and timely way. Going beyond general feedback such as compliments, this allows for the teamwork to be affirmed, provides reassurance and encourages repetition of ‘what works well’
● A consideration for how each role is defined and works together in collaboration. Where crossovers are unavoidable, guidelines that encourage clarity will help here.
● Whilst each role will receive different layers of training, there might be some information that needs to be consistent across all team members - identifying these will help with improved internal communication and increase trust between team members.
Theme 4: Handovers, note-taking, debriefs and ad-hoc solutions
Much of the consideration for handover and debrief spaces are from the position of reflecting on a pilot project, with an understanding that we are best placed now to identify what might have helped in retrospect. The conversations in the round table discussion often centred around the meeting spaces that existed, and where more might be more helpful in the future.
There was a distinct want and need for handover spaces, and WBO's felt that this space would be crucial for passing on important information at the beginning of each shift and feeling more connected to the colleagues they are working with. This would build on an already positive working relationship that seemed to exist consistently across all cities.
“Sometimes you've maybe had an experience of someone where you're thinking, oh, did I handle that the correct way? Did I say everything that I needed to say that will make that person, you know? We could have potentially maybe used a little bit of the longer crossover because it was helpful for ourselves to, for our own sort of wellbeing, just to hand over on what had happened that day and sort of see that reassurance that what we had said was helpful.”
While there were no formal handover processes, WBO's found themselves creating ad hoc solutions on the ground to fill this need. An example on our Miro board shows a simple guideline that two WBOs adopted when creating a hand over space for themselves. Of course, there is a challenge of time, with the round table discussion revealing that WBOs couldn't see how space could be made to meet and discuss at the beginning of a shift
The desire to introduce handovers led to conversations around 'protecting the handover space at all costs', as a lot of information can be missed at the start of a shift Though this is wanted, there will ultimately always be a challenge of how much time is available for WBO's, once shift patterns and other logistics come into play. It's also worth noting that a handover process won't replace fluid informal internal communication between team members, but could add to and compliment it in a formalised way that encourages safety and information sharing. The round table participants spoke about a set of guidelines that could be created around the handover space, which leaves little room for doubt and allows for more concrete, helpful conversations to be had.
“You need to communicate, not just to one person, but there's was so many different people on shift at different times, it was difficult to follow that through even though they'd have a handover first thing in the morning, they wouldn't be a handover in the PM shift.”
Note taking was considered heavily for this review, as daily wellbeing reports were used as a data set. It's clear how much effort and time went into documentation - reports are full and robust where time allows, and where reporting is brief, the essence of the day is still communicated well in most cases. As mentioned below, a limitation is the inconsistency, as some cities ended up reporting much more than others. There were also differences seen from day-to-day which is expected given how busy some days are compared to others. Bearing the above in mind, it's worth considering the overall aim and intentions for the daily wellbeing reports - to encourage as much uniformity as possible there's room for tighter guidelines on how to engage in this process, including what to include, what not to include, and the level of detail required. For example, there were a few examples in the daily wellbeing reports that identified when an AM suggested their panic attack was their first ever episode. It might be that we want to see this recorded each time an AM indicates this. Another example might be around accessibility needs - we spoke about whether it might be helpful
to take more accurate notes on barriers created for those with mobility accessibility needs in the round table discussion, so improvement can be embedded.
“There was a number of people, including myself, that with the way the seating was, you needed like a foot stall to put your feet on. So people did have to leave early because they physically couldn't sit back without having the ability to put their feet up.”
[Question] “And did that make it into the reports or did that not get documented anywhere?”
“It should have got documented to the front house duty managers because they were bringing them out to me.”
It was particularly positive to see such nuance taken into consideration in some of the notes. An example is when an AM had an emotionally complex experience such as grief and reported difficult emotions attached to it - WBOs were able to differentiate between difficult emotions, where the AM felt engaged and transformed by the dreamachine experience whilst simultaneously processing complex negative emotions. Specifically, notes differentiated between negative emotions vs. negative experiences i.e. not enjoying the dreamachine itself. This is something that could be reflected in guidelines, so this nuance is picked up on more often.
Lastly, it’s worth considering the helpfulness of a debrief process. Debrief naturally occurs between team members after interesting/challenging experiences, but it was suggested that this could become a crucial part of their practice. It was indicated that reasons for this might be to allow for day-to-day peer support and for room to emotionally process any difficult experiences. It taps into earlier thinking around boundaries, as debrief spaces often allow for team members to process and leave situations ‘at work', so it isn't being carried into home life. This would also encourage a sharing of best practice and promote wellbeing as people are able to affirm and reassure each other as they reflect on the decisions they make in their roles. Lastly, well designed debrief processes could also help combat loneliness or isolation in the role.
As applicable to the above reflection about handovers, both of these processes would have to be designed for maximum usefulness, but also with the obvious time restrictions in mind, to ensure we're not intruding on an already heavy workload.
Recommendations:
● A consideration for how a handover might differ from a debrief, ensuring that it's clear what needs each space serves
● One of the team members suggested a live policy process handbook that is embedded in team working and referred to/updated often - we should ensure that guidelines are easily accessible and adhere too without extra strain
Theme 5: time and resources
Time proved itself to be a scarce resort throughout the project - much of this was due to the piloting nature of the project which meant that many details were being ironed out as & when they arosethis feels expected for a new project of this size. Throughout the round table discussion, the impact of time was revealed to have affected the WBOs since the start of the project. Interestingly, this impact can be traced back to the initial recruitment-to-training pipeline - the MHFA and MHA training cohorts was delivered with a quick turnaround, oftentimes after team members had been training or travelling all day for other dreamachine induction activities.
There was a huge impact on team members, including:
- Feeling exhausted by the layout of the training period, and in some cases, the shift patterns on the project
- Uncertainty around need-to-know details meant feeling unprepared, with little time to sort personal priorities
- Lack of time to settle in with colleagues or in some cases, try dreamachine experience ahead of the project starting
This posed a further issue when it led to team members having to miss out on training because they were unable to rearrange any pre-existing plans. Not only did this create a skill gap across the team, but much of the relationship building that happens during mental health training leads to strength and relationships and shared mental health literacy. Some people weren't affected by this but others including parents or those who commute from a distance were unable to mobilise in time. There is high stress that comes with these quick turnarounds felt counter intuitive on the ground - ' the opposite of what the project was trying to achieve'. It's worth reflecting on something one of the WBO's shared in the round table:
There's something about tightness and rushing and not having a chance to breathe. That is a real difficult thing to have alongside being in this dreamachine space where all you're meant to do is breathe and relax and everyone's coming out kind of floating and you are like, who's on shift and what's coming next and what needs to happen next.
Of course, due to varying life circumstances and personal experiences, 1 WBO presented an alternative - that the speedy transition into the role could be a positive as it limited time for overthinking and worrying. Whilst future iterations may not aim for 'speedy transitions', there might be something to take from this to find the perfect balance!
Recommendations:
- Some team members reported coming in half an hour earlier than their shift [unpaid] because the morning meetings that was scheduled in for some of the team felt too
crucial to miss. Considering how spaciousness can be implemented team's work schedule would support the strain on time
- Though it will pose significant challenges, there is ample evidence to support the need for longer league times and more appropriate scheduling throughout the project [particularly with the training/induction period of the start]
Theme 6: Dreamachine logistics and space
Wellbeing officers reported issues in dreamachine locations which had the potential to, or did negatively impact their ability to provide consistent support to audience members, and/ or affected the quality of the audience members' dreamachine experience.
Environmental challenges:
- The London space experienced a leaking roof, excessive overheating and poor ventilation during an unexpected heat wave, which led to shrinking in carpeted flooring. This presented a potential trip hazard to audience members and staff. As a result of these issues, some dreamachine sessions were cancelled for health and safety reasons as it was felt the space was too hot for staff and audience members to safely tolerate without experiencing negative effects to their wellbeing.
-The Edinburgh space was reported as too cold for audience members. This in turn led to blankets being used for longer than anticipated, which in turn affected blankets being ready/available for audience members in subsequent sessions. Maggots were also observed intermittently within the reflection zone.
-The solo reflection space in Cardiff was considered inhospitable, described as cell like and sparse, due to a lack of furniture and so unsuitable for its intended use. Wellbeing officers reported that observing audience members in the reflection zones was an important element for all dreamachine staff. However in London and Ireland, the large size of the reflection space meant the observation element was too big a task for one wellbeing officer to do efficiently.
“Cardiff, we were very fortunate. It was an enclosed space. So when you were in that room you can see everyone very clearly. “
“You can see the body language as well as what they're saying. Whereas in London and Ireland, they were so big one wellbeing officer was definitely not enough because you didn't know what was going on anywhere else in that space.”
-Staffing issues:
Wellbeing officers in London reported staffing issues affected their ability to deliver adequate support to audience members. This was observed as a London specific challenge particularly at weekends where double shifts were not authorised. Reasons for this were unclear.
High staff turnover:
Wellbeing officers reported at various points throughout the run of the dreamachine, newly recruited guardians staff would join but often did not appear to fully understand the role of the wellbeing officer. Nor were they fully aware of established or changes to ways of working which presented certain challenges to supporting audience members. For example, Guardians were unaware of the need to observe audience members for efficient signposting directly to wellbeing officers not lead guardians. This led to audience members being initially directed to lead guardians for an initial conversation with lead guardians then passed to wellbeing officers for further, which felt unnecessary. Furthermore, frequent changes to Front of house staff led to a lack of leadership, poor communication, inconsistencies and things being missed. Wellbeing officer also reported lack of trust occurred as a result.
The forward thinking and professionalism of staff meant that arising issues were escalated to senior managers,who were described as both approachable and responsive.The reaction to the wellbeing officers direct reporting of problems led to them feeling incredibly valued and their suggestions were listened to. It was also reported that where appropriate their suggestions were implemented which again led to enhanced satisfaction in these roles.
Recommendations
● Some of the above environmental challenges created significant consequences for the dreamachine, such as show cancellations. Therefore where possible, any future buildings being considered to house dreamachine live shows should hold in mind these environmental challenges which have to prevent or minimise similar occurrences
● With regard to the staff shortages, one way to reduce the issue of shifts remaining uncovered, would be to promote flexible working wherever possible. Specifically, allowing staff to work double shifts was a working pattern which proved successful when adopted in dreamachine locations.
Recommendations - summary
Evidence-based recommendations linked to analysis of all data set.above results.
Hiring practices
● To be kept the same, however there needs to be an increased lead time between wellbeing officers being appointed and going through induction/training
● Representation; staff mirroring complexity of dreamachine visitors
● Emphasis on community. Taps into the kind of expertise this role attracts
Training
● All dreamachine staff have MH awareness training as a minimum.
● MHFA training to be delivered to staff with direct contact with visitors
Systems and processes in carrying out the role
● Daily Handover meetings
● Daily well being reports to be completed for each session with prompts/examples to ensure it is populated with relevant info
● Mental Health incident response plan
Staff support
● Peer support
● Staff Reflection Zone
● Formalising debrief post challenging incidents
Dreamachine experience
● Trigger Warnings:pre experience /within the medical questionnaire
● At the time of booking visitors should be encouraged to self care pre experience and arrive in good time
● Email follow up to all visitors (post experience 1 day /1 week/1 month)
● Reflection zone must be advertised /considered an important part of the experience. (Timing of experience to include time in Reflection zone)
● The buildings which dreamachine use would benefit from practice runs/being tested in different weather conditions.
Limitations
In the preparation and carrying out of this research, a number of limitations have been noted and has had an impact on the findings and recommendations generated.
As noted in our Methods section, we analysed the Roundtable video primarily, and then reviewed again with the transcript, to ensure insights were not missed. This was crucial to to our process, as the design of the activities and conversation prompts centred around the WBO’s experiences on the ground - how they supported the wellbeing of AM’s day-to-day, the knock-on effect this had on their wellbeing and working relationships within the team, and lastly, whether they felt equipped personally and professionally to carry out this role. Much of these conversations built upon the daily wellbeing reports as we had picked up many themes here already, and it allowed for context and reflection - much of our insights in this report rely on these roundtable discussions. Unfortunately, the Belfast WBOs were unable to attend the Roundtable discussion, and their insights are therefore not included. This does leave a gap in the stories revealed throughout the process, as London, Cardiff and Edinburgh were able to provide representation of their dreamachine experiences, and the Miro board shows this comparison.
In the same vein, it is worth noting that the Daily Wellbeing incident reports for Belfast were fewer in number and also quite brief - we were still able to draw robust examples from these reports, but they are significantly more brief than the other cities. London was the first city to host the Dreamachine, which means it holds ‘pilot’ status in more ways than one. Most noteworthy here is
the absence of Daily Wellbeing Reports - it wasn’t until the end of the project that the dreamachine team realised a daily reporting system was needed. Whilst this reflects the benefits of running a responsive project (it is great to see the daily reports as a solution to the problem, adopted almost immediately), it means that we don’t have the key insights from the daily reporting on the ground for London. Being the pilot city, there likely would have been some interesting observations. To counteract this as much as possible, insights from London were picked up in the Roundtable discussion, Miro board and WBO surveys.
The last limitation to explore is the ongoing challenge of time, as mentioned previously. Throughout the project, time was limited in many aspects - from recruitment-to-induction training pipeline, all the way through to the shift cover process when the team were thin on the ground. The feedback highlighted increased stress and confusion throughout the project, which has been explored in the above findings and recommendations section. The time constraints also affected the training, support and expertise we were able to provide, limiting our offering, and in some cases quality. This was discussed transparently in the Roundtable, with consideration for how this could be eased in the future. It’s clear that in some cases, the tight turnaround was a natural part of running a pilot project at this scale. In others, where added stress is foreseeable, recommendations were shared in the aforementioned sections.
Conclusions
This was indeed a perfect time to take stock and complete an evaluation at this stage of the dreamachine project. Significant amounts of learning had taken place which provided rich opportunities for improvement and growth. This will undoubtedly contribute to the ongoing success of the dreamachine as it moves on to different parts of the UK.. and beyond. This report has highlighted many strengths and successes. Areas for improvement have also been highlighted however these could not have been anticipated and would only have become apparent during the live run of the dreamachine. It must be noted that the suggestions and recommendations contained in this report were elicited and co-produced with wellbeing officers and it was our immense pleasure to train and engage with them in later workshops. They must all be commended for their adaptability, incredible sensitivity,professionalism and care towards audience members. Going forwards, continuing to elicit their experiences on the ground will undoubtedly benefit and build upon the success of the dreamachine, whilst implementing practices to improve it tenfold.
References
Bandura, A. (1988). Organisational Applications of Social Cognitive Theory. Australian Journal of Management, 13(2), 275–302. https://doi.org/10.1177/031289628801300210
Caulfield, J. (2022, May 05) How to Do Thematic Analysis. Guide & Examples. Scribbr. Available at :https://www.scribbr.co.uk/research-methods/thematic-analysis-explained/
(Accessed: 4th January 2023)
Wilkinson, S., and Perry-Young, L. (2017) ‘We saw care workers going above and beyond the call of duty’ Community Care, 11 May. Available at: https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2017/05/11/sawcare-workers-going-beyond-call-duty/ (Accessed 2nd January 2023)
Vanessa Bailey and Amberlee Green Foundation Healthful