Policy Issues Regarding Employment for People with Serious Mental Illness

Drake, Robert E.; Meara, Ellen; Bond, Gary R.

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-11908-9_16

Cited by 6 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 62 publications

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“…Employment rates among people with psychiatric disabilities are consistently low, even though most want to work (Bond & Drake, 2014; Westcott et al, 2015). Prepandemic employment figures show that only 10%–20% are employed full-time (Drake et al, 2020; NAMI, 2014), the lowest among any group with disabilities (O’Day et al, 2017), and often do not work at all rather than work part-time (Luciano & Meara, 2014). International employment figures show similar patterns of labor force activity (Jonsdottir & Waghorn, 2015).…”

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confidence: 99%

Supporting business owners with psychiatric disabilities: An exploratory analysis of challenges and supports.

Ostrow

Burke-Miller²,

Pelot

et al. 2021

Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal

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Objective: Self-employed individuals with psychiatric disabilities may face unique challenges to running small businesses. This study aims to identify business-related challenges and examine whether supports designed to alleviate those challenges are associated with positive business milestones and self-employment satisfaction. Methods: Data were collected via a survey of 60 participants with a history of psychiatric disability who were operating a U.S.-based small business. This exploratory study used descriptive statistics to look at the relationship between business challenges, business development supports, business milestones, and satisfaction with self-employment. Results: Although most participants reported experiencing business challenges and using supports, relatively few supports were helpful in the context of specific challenges. The number of challenges was positively correlated with the amount of supports used. Respondents used interpersonal or informal supports more often than help from organizations or institutions and tended to find these more helpful. The satisfaction of owning a business was generally high and positively correlated with the age of the business. Satisfaction was not necessarily tied to normative reasons such as business gross or percent of income. Conclusions and Implications for Practice: In this study, self-employed individuals with a psychiatric disability appear to prefer-or have greater access to-informal or interpersonal support, compared to institutional support. This may indicate that these owners have different needs for support, or that they do not use mainstream institutional resources that facilitate sustainability and growth, and therefore targeted efforts to provide formal support may be needed. Impact and ImplicationsSelf-employed individuals with psychiatric disabilities used informal business supports more than help from institutions. Friends, family, mentors, online resources, and other business owners were most frequently a source of support and were rated most helpful. Institutional supports, for example the Small Business Development Center, were less frequently used and less likely to be considered helpful. Entrepreneurs with psychiatric disabilities may benefit from supports specific to their needs and preferences.

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