Welsh Housing Awards winner 2023

Excellence in health and wellbeing

RHA (Wales) is a Housing Association based in Rhondda Cynon Taff. We own and manage more than 2100 homes and properties and provide a range of services for over 3,000 people living in our communities.

RHA is committed to ensuring its tenants, staff and local communities are supported to maintain and improve good health and wellbeing. Underpinning this commitment are two key areas of work which are managed by our core funded Wellbeing Champion who:

• Facilitates our internal staff wellbeing programme – Hapus
• Delivers our tenant and community wellbeing programme – BeActive

BeActive was initially grant funded and has supported over 850 people to improve their health, we now core fund this service to ensure tenants are supported in continuing to improve their health through one-to-one support with nutrition, exercise and confidence building.

The wider community are supported through free and accessible wellbeing opportunities such as yoga, walking groups and mental wellbeing sessions, both in person and online.

Jacqueline  |  RHA colleague

“I would like to thank you for a wonderfully excellently presented 'first' of many to come - menopause café. Thank you - as always, your open hearted kind and professional and hugely respectful manner. Lovely to meet other RHA colleagues too and share experiences. This support is pivotal and essential to the lives of so many.”

With a permanent staff resource available to support both staff, tenants and communities with their health and wellbeing, we have already achieved the following positive outcomes in less than twelve months:

• 15 staff members and four tenants completed a 21-mile sponsored walk in July, to raise funds for those in food poverty
• Five staff members attend regular yoga classes and have reported improvement in sleep and mood
• A tenant has returned to full-time employment
• A tenant has significantly reduced their medication for a long-term health condition
• A tenant who was isolated for many years is now interacting with social groups and volunteering
• Lunchtime staff wellbeing drop-in sessions and one-to-one support offered
• Monthly health walks and pet therapy sessions
• Pause4thought and Hot Flash Café - Menopause support groups
• Ask Twice - Men’s mental health support groups and activities.

All RHA BeActive participants reported improvements in their health, emotional state, and confidence levels. One young tenant said:

“Chair exercise has made me feel fitter and happier, it’s helped with pain in my neck as I’ve learned how to stretch the muscles around my spine, breathing exercises have helped me relax and sleep. I was lonely and have better mental health now as I’m meeting people and learning to live better. I no longer need medication for my diabetes and gained my independence.”

HAPUS

• 160 wellbeing packages provided to colleagues
• Staff feel listened too and we’ve improved satisfaction levels
• Our nine-day fortnight has improved performance alongside reducing sickness levels
• Hapus wellbeing intranet allows access to resources for all staff confidentiality
• Equality and diversity events improved inclusion for example, black history month speakers, pride events and tenants “Walk In MY Shoes” transgender story
• Hot Flash Café and Pause4thought (menopause) groups
• Mental wellness events with BITC Cymru and Time to Change Wales
• Staff ambassadors who have spoken of our good practice at networking events.

BEACTIVE

• 850 participating in wellbeing sessions and fitness programmes, which we sustained through core funding
• Yoga and mindfulness sessions delivered in schools
• Supported 15 community groups reducing health inequality in RCT
• Online wellbeing and self-help video library accessed by over 900 individuals
• Over 1000 followers on our social media BeActive wellbeing group

We first developed our Hapus programme in 2016, to look after our colleagues because healthy staff are happy staff, and happy staff perform better - so enhancing our existing wellbeing offer for staff was imperative. More recently, as part of our programme, we consulted staff on what support they would like RHA to offer, and this has been effective in identifying wellbeing needs and has enabled us to be flexible and holistic in our wellbeing offer. It’s helped us increase staff involvement in strategic decision making and determining their new working environment due to changes following the pandemic. We created a new work environment at our offices and totally refurbished the office and developed innovative working spaces and meeting rooms following staff feedback.

Hapus has supported colleagues to become more active, get fitter, eat healthily, educate themselves and their families, and reduce stress whilst also connecting more with one another. Now Hapus is led by our dedicated wellbeing officer we have a greater focus and increased activities to support mental wellbeing, equality, diversity and inclusion and physical activity.

Our person-centered approach has also seen staff and tenants coming together for events such as our menopause sessions.

Elizabeth  |  BeActive tenant

“By participating, I realised that I was smiling and laughing again. I met people and we connected and shared experiences. This helped me feel better and less alone – I started to feel much better in myself physically, and the walks and yoga were brilliant BeActive helped me to feel fitter and stronger and I’m challenging myself.”