Supported education for students with psychiatric disabilities: A systematic review of effectiveness studies from 2009 to 2021.

Abstract

Objective: For more than a decade, an increase in psychiatric disabilities has been reported worldwide among students in postsecondary education. Supported Education (SEd) interventions support students with psychiatric disabilities to return to or remain in education. As not much is known about the effectiveness of SEd, we conducted a systematic review of the research on the effects of SEd on educational functioning, including study success and student satisfaction. Method: The EBSCOhost Complete browser (e.g., ERIC, MEDLINE, PsycARTICLES, PsycINFO, SocINDEX) was used to search for peer-reviewed studies representing effectiveness data on SEd published in English or Dutch/Flemish between 2009 and 2021. The quality of the research was assessed for all studies included. Results: A total number of seven studies were eligible. The results indicated a positive impact of SEd on the educational functioning (e.g., educational attainment, grade point average, comfort with the student role) of students with psychiatric disabilities. In addition, effects on time spent on educational activities, interpersonal skills, and sustained attention/vigilance were found. The quality of the studies appeared to be moderate. Conclusions and Implications for Practice: The limited available evidence suggests the added value of SEd interventions for the educational functioning of students with psychiatric disabilities. Reviewing the effectiveness of SEd was difficult due to differences in the SEd interventions used, the generally small research populations, and differing research designs. To improve the quality of research on this subject, future studies should overcome the identified shortcomings. Impact and ImplicationsThis study found indications that students with psychiatric disabilities who receive support through an Supported Education (SEd) intervention are more successful at school and feel more comfortable in their student role than before they received SEd or than students who did not receive SEd. Hence, SEd interventions may contribute to the educational and consequently vocational success of people with psychiatric disabilities.

More than a Roof and a Key Required: Exploration of Guiding Principles for Stabilizing the Housing Trajectories of Youth Who Have Experienced Homelessness

“…Some efforts are underway in this regard, such as the Making the Shift Housing First for Youth program of research [32]. Such work might also benefit from connecting with the best practice literature in areas such as supported employment and education [33,34]. Second, attending to the priority of providing services flexibly, there is a tension in navigating the maintenance of model fidelity while also being flexible to the unique needs of youth and of the agency.…”

The legacy of William (Bill) A. Anthony: Past, present and future.

“…These articles span three continents and involve distinct ways to study different mental health service models. The systematic review of supported education, authored by Hofstra et al (2023), a mostly Dutch group trained in the "choose-get-keep" approach, addresses the outcomes of efforts to achieve people with mental health challenges' aspirations for higher education, the issues grappled with in past research, along with suggestions for growing the body of evidence in this area. Aviram et al's (2023) article reports a policy analysis of an Israeli national mental health reform, addressing a sociopolitical approach to psychiatric rehabilitation.…”

Supporting education with IPS: Advancing a career-oriented model for integrating work and study support for young adults in Sweden.

“…SEd has not yet developed empirical evidence for its effectiveness, whereas IPS has a large, and growing, body of evidence for its effectiveness (Bejerholm et al, 2015(Bejerholm et al, , 2017Bond et al, 2008;Kinoshita et al, 2013), Some explanations for this discrepancy include a lack of rigorous SEd studies and the diversity of models, populations, and settings (Hofstra et al, 2023;Ringeisen et al, 2017). Integrated IPS/SEd models have however emerged, especially for young adults, as they negotiate the pathway between education and employment (Hillborg et al, 2021).…”