Sherring Joanne, Robson Emma, Morris Adrienne, Frost Barry, Tirupati Srinivasan
Vocational Education, Training and Employment Service, Hunter New England Area Health, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.
Aust Occup Ther J. 2010 Aug;57(4):261-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-1630.2009.00844.x.
BACKGROUND/AIM: Supported employment (SE) programmes have been found to improve the rates of competitive employment for people with severe mental illness. Evidence has suggested that the most effective SE model is one in which the employment specialist is co-located with mental health services. However, this may not always be achievable. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of the enhanced intersectoral links approach to SE.
A total of 43 people with a mental illness participated in the programme in which formal links were created between a community mental health team and three employment services. The outcomes of the programme were evaluated over 24 months.
Of all participants, 77% achieved a competitive employment outcome, with 60.6% remaining in employment at the end of the evaluation period. The average duration of employment was 44.8 weeks. For those who were unable to maintain a job, the average period of employment was 14.2 weeks. The study found that participants with less severe symptoms at baseline were more likely to obtain employment and those who had worked in the year preceding entry into the programme were employed for a higher proportion of time. The factors related to job loss were the short-term nature of the position, cognitive difficulties and social skills.
The study found that the enhanced intersectoral links approach was effective in achieving outcomes consistent with international studies of SE programmes and may offer a viable alternative to the co-location of employment specialists with community mental health teams.
背景/目的：已发现支持性就业（SE）项目可提高重度精神疾病患者的竞争性就业率。有证据表明，最有效的SE模式是就业专家与精神卫生服务机构同址办公。然而，这并非总是可行的。本研究的目的是调查强化部门间联系的SE方法的有效性。
共有43名精神疾病患者参与了该项目，该项目在社区精神卫生团队与三个就业服务机构之间建立了正式联系。在24个月内对该项目的成果进行了评估。
在所有参与者中，77%取得了竞争性就业成果，在评估期结束时，60.6%的人仍在就业。平均就业时长为44.8周。对于那些无法保住工作的人，平均就业时长为14.2周。研究发现，基线症状较轻的参与者更有可能获得就业，并且在进入该项目前一年有工作经历的人就业时间占比更高。与失业相关的因素是职位的短期性质、认知困难和社交技能。
研究发现，强化部门间联系的方法在实现与SE项目国际研究一致的成果方面是有效的，并且可能为就业专家与社区精神卫生团队同址办公提供一种可行的替代方案。
