Interagency collaboration in vocational rehabilitation for persons with mental health problems: the perspective of the service users and the professionals

Abstract

There is an aspiration and policy within the European Union to fully involve persons with disabilities in the community; this implies an opportunity to gainful employment. A large percentage of disabled persons remain unemployed despite this policy, especially persons with mental health problems. This study aims at investigating how people with mental health problems and caseworkers in different agencies experience the vocational rehabilitation process from an interagency collaboration perspective. The study reveals a number of hindering factors portrayed and discussed in six themes -the time available for rehabilitation, management, new ways of working, absence of an actor, continuity and consensus -and also tables the implications for interagency collaboration in the field of vocational rehabilitation. Points of interestWork is an important part of people's lives. Through work, opportunities for social contact, affection and self-fulfilment are promoted. There is, within the European Union, a pronounced aspiration and policy that persons with disabilities should be fully involved in the community, which includes opportunities to gainful employment. Despite this policy, a very large amount of these people remain unemployed. This study aims at investigating how people with mental health problems and workers in different agencies experience the vocational rehabilitation process from an interagency collaboration perspective. The study reveals a number of hindering factors portrayed in six themes: the time available for rehabilitation, management, new ways of working, absence of an actor, continuity and consensus. Based on the results the researchers emphasize those activities in vocational rehabilitation that they believe would significantly enhance both the integrated collaboration as well as the rehabilitation process for the individual.

Views and Experiences of Persons with Chronic Diseases about Strategies that Aim to Integrate and Re-Integrate Them into Work: A Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies

“…Two mixed-methods studies were excluded because it was not possible to differentiate data obtained with qualitative and quantitative methods [ 41 , 42 ]; a third study was excluded because we could not clearly identify the views reported by PwCDs [ 43 ]. This led to a total of 24 publications included in our review [ 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 ]. The flow chart of the study selection process is presented in Figure 1 .…”

“…Participants in the included qualitative studies were most often persons suffering from mental disorders [ 44 , 45 , 46 , 48 , 50 , 52 , 56 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 67 ]. Three studies included persons with musculoskeletal disorders [ 47 , 51 , 55 ], two studies persons with cancer [ 49 , 66 ], two studies persons with mental and musculoskeletal disorders [ 53 , 64 ], and two studies a broad mix of persons with long-term conditions [ 54 , 65 ].…”

“…Thirteen studies were conducted in Nordic countries: Denmark ( n = 4 [ 44 , 47 , 59 , 60 ]), Norway ( n = 3 [ 53 , 57 , 61 ]) and Sweden ( n = 6 [ 45 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 55 , 56 ]); nine studies were carried out in Belgium ( n = 2 [ 66 , 67 ]), France ( n = 1 [ 49 ]) and the UK ( n = 6 [ 46 , 48 , 54 , 58 , 64 , 65 ]); and two publications reported on one study performed in different European countries, namely Bosnia, Denmark, France, Greece, Norway, Poland, Spain and the UK [ 62 , 63 ].…”

“…A wide range of strategies to manage professional integration were explored in the included studies, for example, collaboration strategies [ 44 , 50 , 59 , 60 , 61 ], supported employment [ 45 , 46 , 52 , 58 , 61 ], job training [ 57 , 62 , 63 , 67 ] and Condition Management Programs [ 64 , 65 ]. Three studies explored the perception of participants regarding established actors in the management of sick-leave and return to work: the general practitioner [ 54 ], the social insurance agency and health care system [ 55 ] and legislation on return to work [ 66 ].…”

Processes towards employment among persons with psychiatric disabilities: a study of two individual placement and support programmes in Sweden

“…Similar results were found in an evaluation of an IPS project organized in the municipal social services in northern Sweden (Markström, Nygren, and Sandlund 2011). Other reports on the use of IPS in a Swedish context (Hillborg, Svensson, and Danermark 2010;Germundsson, Hillborg, and Danermark 2011) highlighted the hindrances and possibilities for the rehabilitation processes, from the perspective of both the clients and the professionals. The authors concluded that a close and flexible support with knowledge about processes of change and methods for creating strategies to solve ongoing and arising problems were beneficial to the clients' possibilities of getting work.…”