Moving Beyond the Illness: Factors Contributing to Gaining and Maintaining Employment

Abstract

The work presented here, exploratory in nature, uses a comparative and qualitative approach to understand the factors associated with the ability of individuals with severe and persistent mental illness to successfully gain and maintain employment. Based on open-ended interviews with individuals in an Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) program, we compare the experiences of those who have been successful gaining and maintaining employment, with those who have been successful gaining but not maintaining work, and those who have been unsuccessful gaining employment. The three groups seemed to differ in three significant ways: (1) in the ways the individuals talked about their illness, (2) in the ways the individuals talked about work, and (3) in the strategies they described for coping with bad days. In each of these areas individuals' awareness of and attitude toward their illness was significant. The findings have clear implications for agencies working to help people with severe and persistent mental illness obtain and maintain employment.

How do homeless adults change their lives after completing an intensive job-skills program? A prospective study

“…Our subsequent analyses revealed that at least two factors independently put some MAP students at especially high risk of unemployment: having a serious mental illness at the beginning of MAP; and having relatively small improvements in work skills. These findings are consistent with past work on poor mental health as a barrier to competitive employment, potentially due to stigma and discrimination as well as poor coping skills, communication problems, and other functional limitations (Cunningham, Wolbert, & Brockmeier, 2000; Taskila et al, 2014). Perhaps the MAP environment is not well suited to help students with serious mental illness secure future competitive employment once they leave its supportive environment.…”

The Impact of Illness Identity on Recovery from Severe Mental Illness

“…While this study does not necessarily support a relationship between coping and competitive employment, it indicates that coping impacts skills related to employment success. In addition, two qualitative studies (Cunningham, Wolbert, & Brockmeir, 2000; Becker, Whitley, Bailey, & Drake, 2007) examined the variables perceived as being related to job success among persons with severe mental illness who had found and maintained employment. In both studies, participants highlighted the importance of using effective coping skills to deal with work-related stress.…”

“…In both studies, participants highlighted the importance of using effective coping skills to deal with work-related stress. Of note, Cunningham et al (2000) compared groups of mental health consumers who had and had not been successful in finding gainful employment, and found differences in the way employed and unemployed consumers talked about coping, with employed consumers discussing more problem-oriented coping.…”

Work-ability assessment in young adults with disabilities applying for disability benefits

“…The model stipulates that functioning, in our terms work-ability, encompasses mutually related components: disease and disorder, functions and structures, activities, participation, and personal and environmental factors. In recent systematic reviews on factors influencing work participation of young disabled people [14][15][16] several determinants from different components of the ICF model were found to influence work outcome. As health related factors severity of condition, co-morbidity, chronic health conditions combined with mental retardation and inpatient treatment were found.…”