Employment as a health intervention--the role of psychiatry in bridging the evidence to practice gap

Collaboration in the context of supporting people with mental health and addiction issues into employment: A scoping review

BACKGROUND: People with mental health and addiction issues have significantly lower levels of labor force participation than the general population. How organizations collaborate, particularly employment and health services, influence this disparity. Whilst collaboration has been examined, investigation of the role of collaboration context is limited. OBJECTIVE: To identify what affects collaboration to support people with mental health and addiction issues into employment. METHODS: A review and synthesis of the collaborative healthcare literature identified important a priori factors at macro, meso, and micro levels. A targeted scoping review of vocational rehabilitation literature identified the collaboration factors most relevant to supporting people with mental health and addiction issues into employment. RESULTS: Twenty articles met the inclusion criteria for the scoping review. Whilst some factors effecting collaboration aligned across these different contexts, there were notable differences. The vocational rehabilitation literature emphasized roles and responsibilities, contracting, training and technical assistance, sharing information, relationship continuity and practitioner value alignment. There was less emphasis in the vocational rehabilitation literature on practitioners’ beliefs about collaboration, how agencies work together around the person, and on infrastructure support. CONCLUSIONS: Collaboration in the context of supporting people with mental health and addiction issues into employment needs planning and support. Whilst many factors known to enable collaboration remain important, the collaboration context matters.

It can work: Open employment for people with experience of mental illness

BACKGROUND

Previous research has tended to focus on the barriers to employment for people with mental illness and the extra support they may need. This research contributes to the knowledge base pertaining to this population by looking at successful employment relationships in New Zealand.

OBJECTIVE

To describe factors enabling and/or sustaining the open employment of people with experience of mental illness.

METHOD

Fifteen pairs of employers and employees were interviewed individually but consecutively (using a semi-structured interview schedule) about their perceptions of the critical factors that enabled and sustained the employee's employment. Employee participants were recruited by advertisement, with employers approached through their employees. Transcripts were analysed using a thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Themes raised in the interviews included the meaning of work, disclosure of mental illness, the benefits of working, special arrangements or accommodations, the work environment and key things employers and employees do to sustain successful employment.

CONCLUSION

Four critical success factors were identified relating to disclosure, the employment relationship, freedom from discrimination and workplace flexibility.