AimThis study investigate what characteristics of supported employment increase quality of life and whether quality of life is higher in supported employment workers or the sheltered ones in Spain. Typicalness, the degree to which the characteristics of a job are the same as those of co-workers without a disability in the same company, was considered as one of the supported employment characteristics in the analysis. Method Two groups were put together to obtain the data using two questionnaires that were administered by trained professionals. Correlational analysis of the data and manova were also employed. Results No differences were found between the two groups regarding quality of life but results indicate that in supported employment, high levels of typicalness are associated with a higher quality of life and that the handling of certain characteristics of support and the job, for example the hours of direct external support, are related to the enhancement of quality of life of the workers. Conclusions Workers in supported employment show the same quality of life as those in sheltered employment centers. In Spain, the greater the typicalness of the employment, the higher the quality of life. The implications of this for the amount of direct external support for workers with disability is that such support should be used only when absolutely necessary -the minimum support necessary to encourage development.

Agencies offering supported employment (SE) in the European Union (EU) were surveyed using a Web‐based questionnaire in 2006. Responses were obtained from 184 organizations, primarily from Finland, Spain, and the United Kingdom (UK). The majority of respondents offered a wide range of services with 83% offering SE and about half having begun offering it in the last 5 years. The data showed many organizations offering services in addition to SE (e.g., vocational training or sheltered work provision). There was significant variation in provision of key elements of SE, particularly workplace support. This may disadvantage people with intellectual disabilities (ID). Funding of SE varied across areas, with 22% overall reliant on short‐term European funding. People with ID were the largest group of users by “minorities” in Finland and Spain. Most worked more than 24 h per week, with only a minority having permanent contracts. Hours of support were generally low. The authors conclude that funding for SE is fragile and that variations in the model used may disadvantage people with more severe ID, and thus lead to less effective SE. Fewer hours worked in the UK than elsewhere suggest a lack of harmonization of welfare benefit legislation provision across the EU, again affecting people with ID disproportionately. The study highlights the need for follow‐up studies.

Having prior contact with people with mental illness in the workplace can lead to an improvement in employers’ attitudes toward this group. However, there is currently a lack of instruments to measure attitudes toward the employability of people with mental illness. The overall aim of this study was to develop a Spanish scale of attitudes toward the employability of people with mental illness (CEPEM) and obtain preliminary data regarding its psychometric properties. Ninety-four items from three content domains were selected (attitudes, employability, and impact) and revised in an inter-rater agreement procedure in order to produce an initial scale. The scale was tested by employers and workers from the field of mental health. A reduced set of items was selected according to variability and homogeneity indexes. Additional analyses were conducted to explore the validity of the scale. Internal consistency was estimated for the full 33-item scale. Scale scores partially captured attitudinal differences between employers and workers. Finally, linear multiple regression analysis showed that the scale score, in combination with educational level, can help to predict employers’ intentions to hire people with mental illness. Limitations and future research directions are also addressed.

Supported employment in many European countries is spreading somewhat slowly, with specific nationwide programs being required to enable significant progress in integrating people with disabilities and other limitations into the ordinary labor market. This article describes the Caja Madrid SE Program, deployed throughout every province in Spain, for people with disabilities and people who experience social exclusion. We set out the characteristics of the program, the profile of those taking part, and the results achieved in terms of employment between 2005 and 2007. Finally, we include the results of the research related to the participants' quality of life and self-determination.

Objective: To know the situation of Sheltered Employment Centers (CEE) in the Autonomous Community of Madrid. Method: A quantitative approach was developed by using a questionnaire which was sent to all the CEE. With this questionnaire we got information about the performance level of CEE. A qualitative approach was developed too by using an interview applied to a representative sample of users. With the interview we got information about users' perception and satisfaction. Participants: 73 centers from 175 (41.71%) participated in the quantitative approach. For the qualitative approach, 60 workers were selected from 1,899 (3.16%) in a randomized and stratified sample by age and gender. Results: Users of CEE have most of them physical (38.41%) or intellectual (26.88%) disabilities, between 25 and 44 years old (65.44%) with permanent and full-time contract (64.17%). Satisfaction is very high (93.33%), mainly with the task (41.76%) and their coworkers (30.00%), and emphasizing that money is the least attractive feature (35.59%). Conclusions: CEE need to give careful thought to some of the key aspects of their makeup and practices. We would point out the need to make clear use of the personal and social adaptation services, act as routes for the transition to normalized employment.