Affiliations: [a] Institute for Public Health and Health Services Research, Department of Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology (IBE), Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Germany
| [b] Career Management Service, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Maudsley Hospital, Denmark Hill, London, UK
| [c] Institute and Outpatient Clinic for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, WHO Collaborating Centre for Occupational Health, Clinic of the Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, Germany
Correspondence:
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Address for correspondence: Sabine E. Hanisch, Institute for Public Health and Health Services Research, Department of Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology (IBE), Ludwig Maximilians University, Marchioninistr. 17, 81377 Munich, Germany. Tel.: +49 89 636 630515; Fax: +49 8945361176; E-mail: bine.hanisch@gmail.com.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Unemployment is high among people with severe mental illness and often hinders community integration. OBJECTIVES: To inform the effectiveness of vocational rehabilitation programs, our study examined whether self-perceived barriers to work differ among clinical and demographic subgroups of people with mental illness, and whether self-perceived barriers to work, clinical and demographic factors are related to employment outcomes. METHODS: Multivariate regression analyses were conducted on self-perceived barriers to work, clinical and demographic factors of N = 279 people with mental illness who presented to Career Management Service. RESULTS: Older as opposed to younger participants were less likely to obtain competitive employment. Being of an ethnic minority group increased the likelihood of entering education/training but made it less likely to enter non-competitive employment, while no difference was found for obtaining competitive employment. A trend was found for people with schizophrenia versus those with a different diagnosis to be more likely to enter education/training and non-competitive employment. Except for health problems and social/structural disadvantages, self-perceived barriers to work were not related to actual employment outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that vocational rehabilitation for people with mental illness does not occur in isolation but is influenced by factors beyond clinical impairment which generally affect the labor market.
Keywords: Supported employment, vocational rehabilitation, severe mental illness, barriers, work participation
