A systematic review of effective local, community or peer-delivered interventions to improve well-being and employment in regional, rural and remote areas of Australia

Objective

To systematically review evaluated local, community or peer-delivered well-being and employment interventions delivered within regional, rural and remote Australia.

Design

Searches within nine databases retrieved peer-reviewed and grey literature from an initial pool of 3186 papers published between 2012 and 2022. PRISMA guidelines were adhered to, and the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) was used to assess the quality of the well-being or employment (or both) articles.

Findings

A total of 19 items met the inclusion criteria, which included two quantitative, 12 qualitative and five mixed-methods evaluations. Intervention cohorts included Indigenous Australians, youth, older people, workers and the general community. The average methodological rating was 83%. The overall level of evidence for the interventions was low due to mostly descriptive studies.

Discussion

Interventions that appeared effective in improving well-being tended to focus on addressing social connectedness and self-determination. Unexpected employment outcomes were evident across many of the studies, which highlighted the reciprocity between well-being and employment.

Conclusion

This review highlights promising interventions for improving well-being by focusing on social connectedness and self-determination. Further empirical evidence is encouraged to explore the reciprocal relationship between well-being and employment, emphasising the significance of social connectedness and self-determination in this context.