We know that many people with a mental health
condition do not participate in key activities of society, they are
socially excluded, and that being in work can reduce the likelihood
of this. The right work, with the right support from
employers, colleagues, carers and health and care professionals can
actually aid recovery for people with mental health problems.
No one is intrinsically unemployable, studies show that,
given the right conditions and support, the vast majority of people
who are out of work and use mental health services want to return
to or to start work.
However, people with mental health problems do face
significant challenges when trying to access employment. Some
of these challenges are shared with other people such as the need
to adjust the physical environment, or to mitigate language
difficulties or the need for extra support or training.
However, often these obstacles are less tangible owing to
some differences between mental health problems and other
impairments:
* They are not immediately
obvious and can develop at any time in a person’s life
* They attract fear and
prejudice e.g. myths of incompetence or dangerousness
* They typically fluctuate
and it can be difficult to predict when these fluctuations will
occur
* They affect a person’s
ability to negotiate the social, rather than the physical world of
work.
Importantly, the right employment actively can
improve mental health and protect against relapse
Remember also that many people who are working
also experience mental health problems and may have periods of
ill-health whilst at work thus contributing to presenteeism and
absenteeism.
The comprehensive systematic review of the
research evidence carried out by Waddell and Burton, 2006,
concluded that in general:
* Work is
beneficial to health and well-being
* Lack of work
is detrimental to health and well-being leading to higher
consultation rates with GPs than in the general population,
increased prevalence of depression and anxiety and higher suicide
rates.
* For people
without work, re-employment leads to improvement in health and
well-being, whereas continued unemployment leads to
deterioration
* For people who are
sick or disabled, placement in work improves health and
psychosocial status
* The health status
of people of all ages who move off welfare benefits improves
* These benefits
apply equally to people who have mental health problems including
those with severe mental health problems. There is no
evidence that work is harmful to the mental health of people with
severe mental illness.
Links
to resources:
No health without mental health: a cross-Government mental
health outcomes strategy for people of all
ages
No health without mental health: a
cross-Government mental health outcomes strategy was published in
early 2011. It sets out six shared objectives to improve the
mental health and well-being of the nation. It stresses the
interconnections between mental health, housing, employment and the
criminal justice system.
Realising
ambitions: Better employment support for people with a mental
health condition
Rachel Perkins, Paul
Farmer and Paul Litchfield
Department for
Work and Pensions, December 2009
This review (also known as the Perkins
Review) was commissioned by the Secretary of State for
Work and Pensions to look at mental health and employment and to
identify how Government could help people with mental health
conditions fulfil their employment ambitions. It is
predicated on the conclusion that appropriate work is good for you:
it improves your mental health and protects against
relapse.
Social Inclusion and Mental Health
Jed Boardman, Alan
Currie, Helen Killaspy, Gill Mezey
Royal College of
Psychiatrists, June 2010
This book reviews the ways in which people with
mental health problems are often excluded from participating in
society. It examines the steps that psychiatrists and mental
health workers can take to facilitate the social inclusion of
people with mental health problems.
Mental
health and work
Royal Collegeof
Psychiatrists, Health, Work and Wellbeing, 2008
This review was commissioned by the cross
government Health, Work and Wellbeing Programme. It focuses
on mental ill health because these have a greater impact on
people’s ability to work than any other group of health
problems. It includes sections on the effect of work and
worklessness on mental health.
Centre for Mental Health
Employment and mental
health
The Centre aims to find practical and
effective ways of overcoming the barriers faced by people with
mental health problems. It carries out research, policy work
and analysis to improve practice and influence policy in mental
health. The website includes a section on employment and
mental health.
Working for a healthier tomorrow
Dame Carol Black's Review
of the health of Britain's working age population, 2008
Chapter 3 looks at the role of the workplace
in promoting and maintaining health and well-being.
Working our way to better mental health: a framework for
action
Department for Work and
Pensions, 2009
This cross government strategy is built on the
conclusion that there is a positive link between employment and
mental health. It draws on the work of Dame Carol Black,
National Director for Health and Work, as well as other academics
and organisations. Research shows that people generally enjoy
better mental health when they are in work. In contrast, the longer
individuals are absent from or out of work, the more likely they
are to experience depression or anxiety. Work can therefore play a
vital role in improving everyone’s well-being and mental
health.
Is work good for your health and well-being?
Gordon Waddell and
Kim Burton, 2006
This review collates and evaluates the
scientific evidence on the link between work and health. The
review focused on adults of working age and the common health
problems that account for two-thirds of sickness absence and
long-term incapacity (i.e. mild/moderate mental health,
musculoskeletal and cardio-respiratory conditions).
|
<<< Back
Next >>>
Taking Work and Employment seriously