Community Mental Health Professionals’ Perspectives on the Vocational Rehabilitation of People with Severe Mental Illness

Project summary

There are growing demands for mental health professionals to enable their clients to pursue their vocational goals, though it is also known that attitudinal and structural factors represent significant barriers to work integration. Recent literature recommends examining service users sources of job support. Thus, the aim of this qualitative study was to explore community mental health professionals’ views of their clients’ potential for working and their understanding of local vocational resources. Method: 21 community mental health professionals participated in three focus groups according to the service they covered: a) supported housing; b) activity centers; and c) case-management. Results: Three main themes and one sub-theme emerged from the data analysis: (1) viewing clients as vulnerable and not ready for employment with the subtheme of (a) discovering their own lack of belief in their clients’ vocational potential as a latent barrier; (2) practitioners laying stepping-stones to everyday life activities, from which clients could be launched into the community and meet new role responsibilities; and (3) Skepticism towards the competence of vocational rehabilitation staff. Conclusion: This study indicates that mental health professionals interviewed in these focus groups were at best ambivalent toward supporting their clients’ goals for employment, viewing their clients primarily as having no chance in the labor market. These findings suggest that mental health professionals may need to be educated about the importance of employment in recovery and the effectiveness of new forms of employment support in order to be more supportive of their clients desires to return to work.

Method

Utvalg: 21 psykiske helsearbeidere (11 sosialarbeidere, 8 psykiatriske sykepleiere, og 2 ergoterapeuter) deltok i 3 ulike fokusgruppeintervju, homogene grupper; utfra hvilket tjeneste tiltak de jobbet innefor.