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Harnessing the expertise of experience: increasing access to employment within mental health services for people who have themselves experienced mental health problems
- Authors:
- PERKINS Rachel, RINALDI Miles, HARDISTY Joss
- Journal article citation:
- Diversity in Health and Care, 7(1), 2010, pp.13-21.
- Publisher:
- Radcliffe Publishing
The User Employment Programme at South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust was established in 1995 with the intention of increasing access to employment within mental health services for people who have themselves experienced mental health problems. The programme has two elements, a supported employment programme, and a Charter for the Employment of People who have Experienced Mental Health Problems which is designed to decrease employment discrimination. This article describes the employment outcomes that were achieved during the 12 year period between January 1995 and 2007. During that time 142 people with mental health problems were supported in 163 posts within the trust, 86% of whom continued to work or were engaged in professional training. At the time of appointment people with schizophrenia had been unemployed for significantly longer periods than subjects with other mental health problems. There was no significant association between length of time for which support was provided, job type, job grade or success in sustaining employment. In 2007, 23% of all recruits to the trust had experienced mental health problems. Recruits with mental health problems were more numerous among those recruited to higher-grade positions in the organisation. The authors comment that the findings strongly suggest that people who have experienced mental health problems can work effectively in ordinary positions within mental health services under the same terms and conditions as any other employees. They conclude that mental health services have an important role to play as exemplar employers of people with mental health problems.