The concept of resilience has evolved, from an individual-level characteristic to a wider ecological notion that takes into account broader person-environment interactions, generating an increased interest in health and well-being research, practice and policy. At the same time, the research and policy-based attempts to build resilience are increasingly under attack for responsibilizing individuals and maintaining, rather than challenging, the inequitable structure of society. When adversities faced by children and young people result from embedded inequality and social disadvantage, resilience-based knowledge has the potential to influence the wider adversity context. Therefore, it is vital that conceptualizations of resilience encompass this potential for marginalized people to challenge and transform aspects of their adversity, without holding them responsible for the barriers they face. This article outlines and provides examples from an approach that we are taking in our research and practice, which we have called Boingboing resilience. We argue that it is possible to bring resilience research and practice together with a social justice approach, giving equal and simultaneous attention to individuals and to the wider system. To achieve this goal, we suggest future research should have a co-produced and inclusive research design that overcomes the dilemma of agency and responsibility, contains a socially transformative element, and has the potential to empower children, young people, and families.

While mixed methods research is increasingly established as a methodological approach, researchers still struggle with boundaries arising from commitments to different methods and paradigms, and from attention to social justice. Combining two lines of work—social learning theory and the Imagine Program at the University of Brighton—we present an evaluation framework that was used to integrate the perspectives of multiple stakeholders in the program’s social interventions. We explore how this “value-creation framework” acts as a boundary object across “boundaries of practice,” specifically across quantitative and qualitative methods, philosophical paradigms, and participant perspectives. We argue that the framework’s focus on cycles of value creation provided the Imagine Program with a shared language for negotiating interpretation and action across those boundaries.

Objectives: To understand experiences and perspectives of job retention project users in relation to challenges faced and support received; to develop explanatory insight into effective interventions. Participants: Fourteen employed users of a United Kingdom job retention project, with a range of mental health problems. Methods: Semi-structured individual interviews which were collaboratively designed with service users. Data analysis involved deductive and inductive thematic analysis, constant comparative analysis, and service user collaboration. Results: Participants' feelings of guilt and self blame were a major obstacle to job retention. The project helped them address these by supporting a reappraisal of their situation. This assisted identification of job accommodations and adjustments and confidence in self advocacy. Thus an important basis for improved dialogue with their employer was established. A peer support group provided an important adjunct to individual project worker interventions. 10 participants retained employment; three of those who did not were helped to retain work aspirations. Conclusions: The project effectively used a multi-faceted approach involving a person-environment-occupation focus on the worker, their work, and workplace. Such complex interventions may offer more promise than those interventions (such as cognitive behavioural therapy) which have a primary focus on the individual worker.

Introduction: Hearing distressing voices can be a significant mental health challenge, potentially disrupting working lives. Yet few studies have explored voice-hearing in relation to employment. This study aimed to understand the work-related experiences of voice-hearers, including the impacts on their working lives and their corresponding self-management strategies. Method: A phenomenological approach gathered data from the electronic diaries of five voice-hearers with experience of working. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings: Critical and distressing voices that demanded full attention were most disruptive of people's working lives, particularly affecting concentration, communication and task completion. At times voices were experienced as neutral and, for some, as supportive of work. Meaningful experiences of work could diminish the negative impact of voice-hearing. A range of resilience strategies were used to manage voices, notably attempts to interact with voices and using activities (including work) to engage or distract them. The diary method of writing about one's experiences emerged as an unanticipated positive occupational coping strategy. Conclusion: Practitioners should pay close attention to the diversity of individual voice-hearing experiences and self-management strategies (including occupational ones) and draw on these to support their clients' participation in work.

Introduction: This research explored return-to-work and sick leave experiences of workers with mental health issues in contact with acute or community mental health services. Method: Using a critical realist methodology with a comparative case study and collaborative design, 21 employed participants recovering from mental health problems participated in semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed using inductive and deductive thematic and constant comparative analysis. Findings: While on sick leave, despite a range of challenges, participants treasured their work identities. They were sustained by positive and troubled by negative memories of work. People missed the routine of work and felt isolated. To varying degrees of success, they searched for alternative activities to fill this gap and promote recovery. Conclusion: The need for sick leave was not disputed, but an important discovery was its iatrogenic ('side-') effects, whereby isolation and reduced activity levels could exacerbate mental health problems. Negative impacts of sick leave need to be mitigated by support to maintain worker identity and orientation and by opportunities and encouragement to sustain routine, activities and social contacts. A new concept of 'occupational capital' emerged, comprising accessible external opportunities and supports for occupational participation, and internal capacities and skills required to access these.