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Impact of supported employment on service costs and income of people with mental health needs
- Authors:
- SCHNEIDER Justine, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Mental Health, 18(6), December 2009, pp.533-542.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- London
This paper examined the impact of supported employment on the cost of services used, benefits claimed, and earnings for 141 participants in the UK with mental health problems. Service use and frequency were measured at baseline and 12 months. Comparisons paid particular attention to the differences between people entering work and those who remained unemployed. Costs were analysed from a government perspective, excluding earnings, and a societal perspective excluding welfare benefits and taxes. Results revealed 77 of the participants in the study remained unemployed, 32 got jobs and 32 retained the jobs they held at the outset. Those who entered work reduced their consumption of mental health services. However, use of supported employment increased. The increase in earnings for those entering work was not offset by a similar reduction in benefits. In conclusion, the findings suggest that mental health services may make savings as a result of their clients engaging in paid work.
Community work - a cure for stigma and social exclusion?
- Author:
- SCHNEIDER Justine
- Journal article citation:
- Psychiatric Bulletin, 33(8), August 2009, pp.281-284.
- Publisher:
- Royal College of Psychiatrists
This editorial discusses how cultivating ‘social capital’ or interdependence between individuals and groups – as well as giving, each is entitled, but not compelled, to claim something in return can combat social exclusion. It is difficult, if not impossible, to sustain stigma and social exclusion when people are meeting mutual needs, building trust and helping each other. Mental health providers can foster social capital by creating community cohesion, namely interdependent relationships between individuals and organisations. This approach has been put into practice in the USA, where providers assert that small investments in building social capital return many times the cost. In the UK there is evidence that community development can make a contribution to mental health but it does not fit well with conventional approaches to mental health services – it calls for different skills and a vision that is collective rather than individualised.