June 2010: Supported employment programmes

This podcast is about the concept and practice of supported employment programmes. We all have concerns about helping patients maximise their potential, and of course, meaningful work is one of the prime ways in which this is achieved. In an uncommon trial for the UK, Dr Louise Howard and colleagues conducted a randomised controlled trial of an American system called IPS or Individual Placement Support, to see if this evidence based programme would be as effective over here in the UK (Howard et al, 2010). Their paper helps shed a lot of light on the challenges that supported employment programme participants and professionals face.

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Audio running time: 22 minutes

 

Credits: 0.5

 

Learning outcomes

 

By the end of this podcast, we hope you will:

 

  • understand the background history of employment programmes, and the epidemiological questions which led to the commissioning of this study.

 

  • describe some of the essential features of a good pragmatic RCT, and discuss some logistical challenges which arise when conducting studies of this type

 

  • understand the results of the study with respect to how IPS is applicable in the UK, or how it may need to be modified for the UK

 

  • be confident in discussing some of the implications of this study with respect to their own clinical practice.

 

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If you like this podcast, you may also be interested in the following:

 

Employment and schizophrenia by Dr Steven Marwaha

 

Combating stigma and discrimination against people with mental illness by Prof Graham Thornicroft

 

The methodology of case-control trials by Prof Matthew Hotopf

 

 

 

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