Individual placement and support - a model to get employed for people with mental illness - the first Swedish report of outcomes | Knowledge Translation for Employment Research Center

Authors:	O'Brien, A., Price, C., Burns, T., & Perkins, R.
Year Published	2011
Publication	Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 25(3), 591-598.
Volume	25
Number	3
Pages	591-598
Publisher	Nordic College of Caring Science
Background	Lack of participation in the open labor market is highly prevalent for people with a mental illness across countries, and the proportion of people who get some kind of sickness benefit because of mental illness is steadily growing in Europe.
Purpose	Vocational rehabilitation through individual placement and support (IPS) model has been shown to be effective and is evidence-based for people with severe mental illness. In Sweden, the method is used but not scientifically evaluated. The aim was to investigate vocational and nonvocational outcomes at a 1-year follow-up and the relationships between these outcomes, at two different sites in the north of Sweden.
Setting	The study was designed as a follow-up of clients included in two SE services for people with a mental illness. Assessments were made at baseline, and at 1-year and 2-year follow-ups. In addition, service use and vocational situation were registered at 2-monthly intervals during the follow-up period. One of these services is situated in a town of 115,000 inhabitants, and the other team is situated in a town where 70,000 people live. Both teams are organized in the municipalities social service organization as time-limited projects. They are financed by a coordinating organization, where representatives of the employment office, social insurance bureau, psychiatric service and the local social service are members.
Sample	The participants were 65 men and women, mostly younger than 30 years of age and with a mental illness. Occupational situation, psychiatric symptoms, self-esteem, quality of life and psychosocial functioning were assessed. Assessments included vocational situation, psychiatric symptoms, self-esteem, quality of life and psychosocial functioning. The present paper includes results from the 1-year follow-up.
Data Collection	The clients were contacted by the first author as soon as possible after inclusion in the programme. The clients were given the opportunity to choose where the data collection would take place and this was usually at the SE office. However, but some interviews were held in the client‚ residence or in the first author‚ office at the university. In most cases, the data collection lasted for 60‚Äì90 minutes to complete the questionnaires.
Control	There was no control or comparison condition.
Findings	The vocational outcome during 1 year was that 25% of the participants were employed, and 14% were in education. Most of the participants moved from unemployment to work practice for a prolonged time. Participants in employment, education or work practice at follow-up showed higher satisfaction with their occupational situation than those without regular activities outside home. Among the participants in work practice, improvements in psychiatric symptoms and global functioning were identified.
Conclusions	This attempt is the first to evaluate supported employment according to the IPS model for persons with mental illness applied in the Swedish welfare system. There is a need for a longer follow-up period to evaluate whether interventions such as further education and work practice actually will lead to real work.
URL	http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21323690
Disabilities	Emotional disturbance
Populations	Male & Female
Outcomes	Employment acquisition
NIDILRR Funded	No
Research Design	Quasi-experimental
Peer Reviewed	Yes

Year Published

2011

Publication

Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 25(3), 591-598.

Volume

25

Number

3

Pages

591-598

Publisher

Nordic College of Caring Science

Background

Lack of participation in the open labor market is highly prevalent for people with a mental illness across countries, and the proportion of people who get some kind of sickness benefit because of mental illness is steadily growing in Europe.

Purpose

Vocational rehabilitation through individual placement and support (IPS) model has been shown to be effective and is evidence-based for people with severe mental illness. In Sweden, the method is used but not scientifically evaluated. The aim was to investigate vocational and nonvocational outcomes at a 1-year follow-up and the relationships between these outcomes, at two different sites in the north of Sweden.

Setting

The study was designed as a follow-up of clients included in two SE services for people with a mental illness. Assessments were made at baseline, and at 1-year and 2-year follow-ups. In addition, service use and vocational situation were registered at 2-monthly intervals during the follow-up period. One of these services is situated in a town of 115,000 inhabitants, and the other team is situated in a town where 70,000 people live. Both teams are organized in the municipalities social service organization as time-limited projects. They are financed by a coordinating organization, where representatives of the employment office, social insurance bureau, psychiatric service and the local social service are members.

Sample

The participants were 65 men and women, mostly younger than 30 years of age and with a mental illness. Occupational situation, psychiatric symptoms, self-esteem, quality of life and psychosocial functioning were assessed. Assessments included vocational situation, psychiatric symptoms, self-esteem, quality of life and psychosocial functioning. The present paper includes results from the 1-year follow-up.

Data Collection

The clients were contacted by the first author as soon as possible after inclusion in the programme. The clients were given the opportunity to choose where the data collection would take place and this was usually at the SE office. However, but some interviews were held in the client‚ residence or in the first author‚ office at the university. In most cases, the data collection lasted for 60‚Äì90 minutes to complete the questionnaires.

Control

There was no control or comparison condition.

Findings

The vocational outcome during 1 year was that 25% of the participants were employed, and 14% were in education. Most of the participants moved from unemployment to work practice for a prolonged time. Participants in employment, education or work practice at follow-up showed higher satisfaction with their occupational situation than those without regular activities outside home. Among the participants in work practice, improvements in psychiatric symptoms and global functioning were identified.

Conclusions

This attempt is the first to evaluate supported employment according to the IPS model for persons with mental illness applied in the Swedish welfare system. There is a need for a longer follow-up period to evaluate whether interventions such as further education and work practice actually will lead to real work.

URL

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21323690

Disabilities

Emotional disturbance

Populations

Male & Female

Outcomes

Employment acquisition

NIDILRR Funded

No

Research Design

Quasi-experimental

Peer Reviewed

Yes