Welfare to work: staff views on employment support in mental health
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Welfare to work: an exploration of mental health professionals' understandings of and attitudes to employment support policy and interventions.
IRAS ID
277630
Contact name
Eppie Leishman
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of York
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 12 days
Research summary
The topic of research is mental health professionals’ understandings of and attitudes towards employment support policy and interventions. Rinaldi et al. 2010 and Secker et al. 2001 have identified challenges to implementing Individual Placement and Support (IPS) in mental health, including a culture of low expectations in relation to employment among mental health professionals, fear of discrimination and failure to provide employment support. There is little recent research on mental health professionals' attitudes to IPS and of contextual factors that shape its implementation, including the policy environment and the local and national organisational context, such as the welfare system.
This research seeks to address the question: ‘What are mental health professionals understandings of and attitudes to employment support policy and interventions in mental health and what, if any, implications do contextual factors at an individual and structural level have on their practice?’ The research will take an approach consistent with Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory (1979) to understand how IPS is implemented at a structural and individual level. An ecological approach offers a way to identify the interrelationship between the individual and contextual systems which shape interventions in mental health.
Should the research gain approval, 8-12 semi-structured interviews with professionals from two mental health teams will be conducted. Participants will include social workers, psychologists, community psychiatric nurses, psychiatrists, occupational therapists, support workers and Individual Placement and Support (IPS) workers and managers. Participants will take part in a single one-to-one interview lasting a maximum of 90 minutes. Ideally, the interview will take place face-to-face, however, if this is not possible phone or Skype interviews will be offered. Face-to-face interviews will take place either at the participant’s place of work on an NHS Trust site, or, if the participant requests that it is conducted elsewhere, in a mutually agreed local authority location.
REC name
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REC reference
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