Work is a key route to social inclusion (NESF, 2007). Yet adults with severe and enduring mental health difficulties experience very high rates of unemployment. Individual Placement and Support (IPS) is a supported employment model shown to be effective in facilitating people with mental health difficulties gaining and retaining competitive employment. The economic benefits of competitive work are clear. However, little has been studied about the non-vocational outcomes of IPS such as enhanced quality of life, improved self-esteem and civic engagement.
Funding has been acquired by the Health Agency to hire employment specialists to implement IPS in north Dublin Community Mental Health services for 2020. The integration of these specialist onto the community mental health team, working closely with the occupational therapist, has been shown to be a key factor in adequately supporting individuals and determining their success in employment. The occupational therapists involved with IPS have designed a study to examine, across time, the non-vocational outcomes of those who engage with this intervention using methods that are qualitative (interviews) and quantitative (standardised measures like questionnaires).
The student’s study is part of this larger study and will collect baseline information on these outcomes using the agreed standardised measures. This information will be the ‘before IPS’ results, to be compared with the ‘after IPS’ results that will be gathered following its completion. The student will gain experience of data collection, data input and analysis as well as being required to review the measures in terms of reliability/validity and the related literature.
