Work, employment, and mental illness: expanding the domain of Canadian social work

Despite established evidence that work and employment are an important component of recovery for people who experience mental illness, social work education in Canada seldom offers graduate training or courses on the significance of work in peoples' lives or on the practices involved in helping to gain and retain employment for these individuals. In this article the authors argue that the high levels of unemployment among people who experience mental illness, and the rising incidence of mental health and addictions issues in workplaces, offer the opportunity, as well as the mandate, for social work educators to provide professional education in the area of employment support and assistance.     

The school-to-work transition of people with mental handicap in Hong Kong

The purpose of this study was to examine the school-to-work experience of people with mental handicap in Hong Kong. Fourteen young adults with mild mental handicap participated in in-depth interviews. An interview guide was utilized which included topics related to the participants' vocational preferences, work motivation and post-school placements. Data were analyzed according to a constant comparative method and content analysis. Three-quarters of the participants expressed job preferences. Three-quarters of the participants had taken a vocational training program unrelated to their job preferences. Half of the participants who had taken up open employment had not obtained their preferred jobs. None of the participants who had completed vocational training obtained job placements that matched their vocational training programs. All of the participants except five were not involved in making independent decisions regarding employment. The need to improve the quality of vocational services and empower people with mental handicap to take up self-determining roles are discussed.     

Youth outside the labour force — Perceived barriers by service providers and service users: A mixed method approach

BackgroundYoung people who are neither in employment nor in education or training (NEET) have received increasing attention in Western countries. While some young people in the labour force are unemployed because of a shortage of jobs, others would be without employment even in periods of economic growth, when more jobs are available. The latter group is referred to as neither in the labour force nor in education or training (NLFET), and such people need intervention to improve their chances of work participation. However, this group is poorly understood, and more knowledge is needed to develop efficient measures. The purpose of the study is to investigate the NLFET population and to identify barriers to education or employment.MethodInterviews were conducted at all labour and welfare offices in a representative county in Norway, and an internet-based survey among 586 persons aged 18–29 years who met the NLFET criteria was conducted. Sixty case managers of young service users and 30 managers/assistant managers were interviewed at the 25 offices in the county.ResultsThe local labour and welfare offices prioritize young clients, and some have designated follow-up teams for young service users. Three main barriers to education or employment were identified through the interviews at the offices: client motivation, the sense of lack of achievement/defeat, and unrealistic expectations about working life. A survey of the young people revealed other barriers, such as health problems (60%), low education (55%), lack of work experience (41%), the feeling of being exhausted (38%), low self-esteem (36%), feeling depressed (35%), sleeping problems (35%), and very often a combination of these barriers.ConclusionsHealth problems, social and other problems are highly prevalent among the NLFET population. The majority of the population wanted to find a job or to complete their education. We conclude that mental health problems often camouflage social problems. Treatment of complex problems should not be left to mental health services. Given the nature of the barriers identified, follow-up by strong multi-professional teams, including social work and health professions, should be part of the measures allocated to the NLFET population.     

Maximizing potential: innovative collaborative strategies between one-stops and mental health systems of care

Barriers to seamless service delivery between workforce development and mental health systems of care have kept both entities from maximizing their potential in regards to employment for job seekers with mental illness who are capable of work and seeking employment. Using a multiple case study design, this study examined the nature of collaboration between workforce development and mental health systems to understand the policies and practices in place to assist individuals with mental illness to find and keep work. The paper presents innovative strategies that involved staff from both workforce development and mental health agencies. Findings from this research identified the following collaborative strategies: (a) the creation of liaison positions and collaborative teams; (b) staff training on mental health and workforce issues; and (c) multi-level involvement of individuals with mental illness. Implications for workforce professionals are offered as a way to stimulate implementation of such strategies.     

The development of supported employment services for people with mental illness: local experience in Hong Kong

Before the 1960s in Hong Kong, specialized vocational services for people with mental illness were very limited, and sheltered workshop seemed to be the only option for their future vocational placement at that time. As discussed in the literature, there are still many shortcomings of the sheltered workshop model, that brings us to the emergence of another community-based vocational service: Supported Employment. Unlike traditional vocational services, the concept of supported employment emphasizes the placing of the clients into integrated work environments and then providing on-going support and work-related skills training in the job post. Though supported employment services help many clients to sustain a job in the competitive market, many service barriers and problems still remain unsolved. These service barriers and problems will be discussed in this article, and suggestions will be made.     

Disability in Adulthood: Ten-year Follow-up of Young People with Disabilities

This study investigates the attainment of adult status among a sample of 39 physically impaired people aged 25 to 30 years. Compared with the general population, they were much less likely to have worked in paid employment, to have established independent households, or to be married and have families of their own. Few had achieved their teenage aspirations for marriage or parenthood. Most of those who had never had a job since leaving school still wanted to work. The majority still hoped to live in a place of their own. The findings point to major inadequacies in provision for disabled people, particularly in practical and financial support for those who want to work and live independently. Policies and services for young disabled people need to be developed within a common framework which includes a comprehensive definition of the transition to adulthood and agreed goals for the achievement of adult status.     

Self‐employment among people with disabilities: evidence for Europe

This paper examines the use of self‐employment among people with disabilities in Europe. Using data from the European Community Household Panel for the period 1995–2001 for 13 European countries we found that people with disabilities were more likely to be self‐employed than people without disabilities. Self‐employment provides flexibility and a better adjustment between disability status and working life. Moreover, the levels of satisfaction with job, type of job and working conditions of self‐employed disabled people are higher than those reported by disabled people who are wage and salary earners. Policy‐makers must encourage self‐employment to increase the levels of well‐being and employment of people with disabilities in Europe.     

Transitions to part-time work at older ages: the case of people with disabilities in Europe

This paper analyses the labour-force transitions of older workers with disabilities in general, particularly workers’ transitions to and from part-time employment within a European context. Using the two first waves (2004 and 2007) of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, we compare transitions between employment statuses for disabled and non-disabled individuals, even after controlling for different disability trajectories. In addition, we employ a multivariate framework to examine the determinants for remaining in part-time work in 2007 for those individuals who were part-timers in 2004. The results show that older people with long-term disabilities have a higher probability of staying in a part-time job than their compared counterparts. Policy-makers must promote part-time employment as a means of increasing employment opportunities for older workers with disabilities and support gradual retirement opportunities with flexible and reduced working hours.     

Social firms: Building cross-sectoral partnerships to create employment opportunity and supportive workplaces for people with mental illness

A major barrier to employment for people with mental illness is limited access to supportive and non-discriminatory workplaces. Social firms are businesses committed to employing up to 50% of people with a disability or other disadvantage and to providing supportive work environments that benefit workers. Little research has been conducted to understand the features and social processes that support the vocational experiences of employees with mental health issues in social firms. Objective: This ethnographic study sought to explore the experiences of nine employees at one Australian social firm. Participants: Nine employees of a social firm, with and without mental illness. Methods: Study methods used included participant observation, interviewing and document analysis. Results and conclusions: The study highlights the complexity of running a socially-invested business, and the importance of cross-sectoral partnerships to support their operational success. Natural workplace supports, adequate training and support infrastructure and enabling participation in the business, were identified as important to creating a supportive workplace. Partnerships within the workplace and in support of the workplace are discussed. Future growth and development of partnerships are recommended to support the establishment of social firms.     

Putting technology to work: Users' perspective on integrating assistive technology into the workplace

This qualitative study examined the experiences of people with disabilities who use assistive technology in open employment. This study aims to describe and understand the factors the participants perceived as important in integrating technology into the workplace, as well as the barriers encountered in the process. Fifteen people with a range of acquired and congenital disabilities as well as their employers (8) or co-workers (4) were interviewed. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed. Nud*ist Version 4(R) was used for data management. Emergent themes related to the integration of assistive technology were software compatibility, Information Technology (IT) and product support, and the interaction between technology and the work environment. Participants also reported on the impact of technology on their performance and comfort at work, as well as dealing with people and processes in the workplace. By identifying the issues and support strategies for technology users in the workplace, appropriate measures can be implemented to ensure that the spirit of disability discrimination legislation is realized.     

Facilitators and barriers to employment among individuals with psychiatric disabilities: a job coach perspective

Unemployment rates remain high among individuals with psychiatric disabilities despite growing evidence that supported employment programs (SEPs) can help such individuals to obtain and retain competitive employment. A complete understanding of factors that may facilitate or hinder the success of such supported employment efforts is urgently needed to increase the efficacy of SEPs and move more individuals with psychiatric disabilities from welfare to work. This exploratory study provides insight into potential facilitators and barriers to employment among individuals with psychiatric disabilities from the perspective of job coaches. Twenty-eight job coaches from 14 SEPs in a Northeastern state reported on their experience with four recent clients, two who were successful in obtaining employment and two who failed, through a semi-structured mail survey. Findings suggest that job coaches use similar strategies to assist clients, but in each case try to tailor specific strategies to client's needs and characteristics. Factors that influence successful job placement and research and policy implications are discussed.     

Talking about Work: I used to talk about nothing else, I was excited and it got a bit too much for my parents

People with learning difficulties who had access to day services were invited to talk about their work placement or employment. Focus groups were used to gather information on type of work placement opportunities and the participants' experiences. The majority liked their job as it offered purposeful activity and opportunities to meet people. Many individuals wished to increase the number of hours worked, but several were relatively dissatisfied with their wages and negative interactions with workmates. The study identified that in spite of high motivation to work many individuals were unclear about their future occupational prospects. They did not have many opportunities to systematically explore and discuss their work related interests, range of placement options and how they could be accessed. Participants had not been involved in the search for their current placements. These omissions could result in increased reliance on day centres even for skilled individuals who might otherwise be employed in community settings.     

Successful Vocational Rehabilitation for Individuals with Significant Mental Disabilities

ABSTRACT

Individuals with significant mental disabilities (SMD) frequently have scattered work histories (Finch, 1997; Tan, 1996). Often the SMD consumer is unable to find competitive employment or, if a job is secured, termination repeatedly ensues because of impaired interpersonal skills, faulty behaviors such as the inability to interact with coworkers, inadequate follow-through such as not reporting to work, and poor hygiene (Tan, 1996). The services provided to SMD consumers in this study were designed to address a cadre of support needs that would foster job retention and increase the number of successful employment closures. This cross-sectional exploratory study sampled 211 SMD consumers who received vocational rehabilitation support services through a vocational rehabilitation center in Columbus, Ohio. The SMD consumers sampled experienced both successful and unsuccessful employment closures.     

Welfare Leavers and Returners

ABSTRACT

This study compares representative samples from a mid-Atlantic state of people who left the TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families Program) rolls in 2002 and people who returned to TANF in this same year, after being off the rolls. Previous studies showed that the work lives of the welfare poor are more stressful than those in the primary job market. Findings of this study show the quality of life of respondents was particularly related to resource deprivations, and neighborhood conditions, while suggesting relationships to employment barriers and child well-being. Returners report more barriers to employment and neighborhood issues than leavers.     

Development and pilot trial of a web-based job placement information network

The purpose of this project was to develop and pilot a web-based job placement information network aiming at enhancing the work trial and job placement opportunities of people with disabilities (PWD). Efficient uses of information technology in vocational rehabilitation were suggested to help improve PWD employment opportunities and thus enable them to contribute as responsible citizens to the society. In this preliminary study, a web-based employer network was so developed to explore Hong Kong employers' needs and intentions in employing PWD. The results indicated that Hong Kong employers generally agreed to arrange work trials for PWD whose work abilities match job requirements. They also expressed that they would offer permanent job placements to those PWD who showed satisfactory performance in work trials. The present study evidenced that using an information network could expedite communications between employers and job placement services, and thus job placement service outcomes. It is hoped that a job placement databank could thus be developed through accumulating responses from potential employers.     

Attitudes to Employment of Professionally Qualified Refugees in the United Kingdom

This paper explores the attitudes to work and experiences seeking employment of professionally qualified refugees enrolled on a course to enhance their employability skills in Leeds, United Kingdom (UK). We analyse the results within the framework of conceptual models describing the transition of refugees into employment (which are essentially linear) and those that categorize refugees according to their resettlement styles based on their social features and the host society's response. Our data reinforce that these people are (initially at least) highly motivated to work, strongly identify with their profession and suffer considerable loss of self‐esteem as they are unable to secure appropriate employment. Attitudes to securing employment were often related to their length of time in the UK. Recent arrivals were more positive about returning to their profession, even if this meant retraining, developing skills and time spent in alternative employment. Many of those here for longer were resigned to retraining, and the worst cases felt despair and feelings of betrayal. Our work showed that many had poor job search strategies and a lack of knowledge of the culture and norms of their chosen profession. We argue that the generic support of statutory employment services or the voluntary sector is inappropriate and that there is a role for professional bodies to be more active in their engagement with these groups of people. The results suggest that conceptual models need to be more nuanced to capture the experiences of these refugees: attitudes to work can cycle from optimism to disillusionment, so a linear model will not capture the full complexity, and we also found evidence of shifting among categories of resettlement styles.     

Out of touch: local government and disabled people's employment needs

In autumn 2003 we contracted to undertake a study in two district council areas of ways in which they could meet their Local Public Service Agreement (LPSA) targets in respect of disabled people returning to work. We undertook a literature review of barriers to work, interviewed a number of people involved in working with unemployed people and a number of disabled people in these areas. All the employment organisations we had contact with were working to an individual model of disability and the need to change their orientation became the central recommendation of the first phase of this study. This was rejected by those funding the study. At the end of the first year none of the organisations active in this area was able to identify a single disabled person who had returned to work as a result of their help. We conclude that central government policies are doing little to change the perception of the employment needs of disabled people within local government.     

Time to first significant job for vocational graduates in Spain

In this paper we analyze the transition from vocational education to a first significant job for Spanish young people. The data comes from the Survey on Education and Labor Market Transitions, targeting various collectives who finished their non-university studies. Discrete duration models are estimated to identify the determinants of the time-to-first significant job. The main results show that, contrary to what is expected, there are no significant differences for students graduating in intermediate or in advanced vocational training. Nonetheless, vocational education is characterized by a high specialization by gender, which is translated into differences in the transition to employment. Furthermore, previous professional experience in precarious jobs does not improve access to quality employment, whereas internships performed within studies, when evaluated by the young as satisfactory, have a positive impact. Other subjective aspects, such as a high value assigned to work or family or a priority focused on achieving a stable job lead to a smoother school-to-work transition.     

Enterprising? Disabled? The status and potential for disabled people’s microenterprise in South Korea

This article explores the position, potential and scope for self-employment and microenterprise for disabled South Koreans. The chronic barriers experienced in disabled people gaining paid work suggest that self-employment and enterprise might offer a good alternative to paid work. The self-determined nature of running a microenterprise has been shown to connect with disabled people who may not conform to standardised notions of body and brain that underpin many mainstream work contexts. Despite this promise, several barriers continue to beset disabled people’s access to micro-enterprise activity; barriers ranging from Confucian precepts, to employment protections that are geared largely towards paid employment and to the lack of training, finance and business support for disabled people starting up and sustaining microenterprise in Korea. The extension of legal protections, meaningful start-up subsidies, better business support and bridges between paid work and microenterprise are all seen as important policy correctives that would better support disabled people.     

Individual and environmental factors related to job satisfaction in people with severe mental illness employed in social enterprises

Objective: The purpose of this study was to enhance understanding of the impact of individual and environmental variables on job satisfaction among people with severe mental illness employed in social enterprises.Participants: A total of 248 individuals with severe mental illness employed by social enterprises agreed to take part in the study. Methods: We used logistic regression to analyse job satisfaction. A model with job satisfaction as the dependent variable, and both individual (occupational self-efficacy and severity of symptoms perceived) and environmental (workplace) factors (provision of workplace accommodations, social support from co-workers, organizational constraints) as well as external factors (family support) as predictors, was tested on the entire sample. Results: All findings across the study suggest a significant positive impact of both individual and environmental factors on job satisfaction. People with higher occupational self-efficacy who were provided with workplace accommodations and received greater social support were more likely to experience greater job satisfaction.Conclusions: These results suggest that certain features of social enterprises, such as workplace accommodations, are important in promoting job satisfaction in people with severe mental illness. Further studies are warranted to expand knowledge of the workplace features that support employees with severe mental illness in their work integration process.