The psychosocial benefits of work for people with severe and enduring mental health problems

Abstract

Perceptions of the value of work for people with severe and enduring mental health problems have changed frequently over the last two decades. With the new social inclusion agenda manifest in the Disability Discrimination Act and in the NHS modernization agenda, work is once again in vogue. There is a need for a way of evaluating work which draws on its potential contribution to psychological well-being as well as its provision of a valued social role and which is less susceptible to fluctuations in health and social policy. Jahoda's work on the psychosocial functions of work provides such a framework and this study sets out to explore its utility among workers who are severely disabled by mental health problems. Twelve of the psychosocial functions of work were rated by 50 people attending two sheltered work placements according to how important they were perceived to be and the extent to which the functions were fulfilled through their attendance. Satisfaction of the psychosocial functions through work was compared with their satisfaction through other aspects of the respondents' lives. All functions were perceived as important, but self-confidence/self-esteem was rated as more important than most of the others. Structure to the day, self-confidence and social contact were better satisfied through work than were decision making, practising old skills and having goals to aim for. In general, the results showed that the functions were fulfilled better by work than by other aspects of the respondents' lives. The study supports the notion that work is of value in the rehabilitation of people with severe and enduring mental health problems and offers a possible framework for the further exploration of this theme, both within mental health services and the community at large.Keywords therapeutic work; severe and enduring mental health problems; psychiatric rehabilitation; psychosocial benefits Percepciones del valor del trabajo para personas con problemas de salud mental graves y duraderos han cambiado con frecuencia durante las u´ltimas dos decadas. Con la nueva agenda de inclusio´n social manifiesta en la Disability Discrimination Act y en el agenda de modernizacio´n del National Health Service, el trabajo esta´otra vez en boga. Se necesita una manera de evaluar el trabajo que recurre a su posible contribucio´n tanto a bienestar psico´logico como a su prestacio´n de un valioso rol social, y que es menos sensible a las fluctuaciones del político social y de salud. El trabajo de Jahoda sobre las funciones psicosociales de trabajo nos proporciona un tal marco y este estudio intenta explorer su utilidad entre trabajadores gravamente descapacitados por problemas de salud mental. Cinquenta personas que asistían a dos centros de colocacio´n vigilada dieron puntuaciones a doce de las funciones psicosociales de trabajo segun su importancia percibida y hasta qué punto las funciones fueron realizadas por su asistencia a los centros. Se comparo´la satisfaccio´n de las funciones psicosociales por mediacio´n del trabajo con su s...

Active labour market policy and its outcomes

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