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Vocational rehabilitation in first-episode psychosis: results of the first Australian randomized controlled trial of individual placement and support

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 June 2014

E Killackey ,
P McGorry ,
K Roffel ,
G Chinnery  and
H Jackson
E Killackey
Affiliation:
ORYGEN Research Centre Department of Psychology, The University of Melbourne
P McGorry
Affiliation:
ORYGEN Research Centre ORYGEN Youth Health, Melbourne, Australia
K Roffel
Affiliation:
ORYGEN Research Centre
G Chinnery
Affiliation:
ORYGEN Research Centre
H Jackson
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, The University of Melbourne
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Abstract

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Type
Abstracts from ‘Brainwaves’— The Australasian Society for Psychiatric Research Annual Meeting 2006, 6–8 December, Sydney, Australia
Information
Acta Neuropsychiatrica , Volume 18 , Issue 6 , December 2006 , pp. 256 - 257
Copyright
Copyright © 2006 Blackwell Munksgaard

Background:

Surveys consistently show that the top priority of people with mental illness is participation in the open labor market. Despite this finding, the employment outcome for people with psychotic illnesses is not good. At the onset of illness, unemployment rates of 40%–50% are commonly found. For those who develop schizophrenia, unemployment rises to 70%–95%. These figures are troubling to consumers, clinicians and politicians. Individual Placement and Support (IPS) is a vocational intervention, which has been developed and trailed successfully in populations with chronic serious mental illness in America. To date, there has been no published randomized trial of IPS in early mental illness. This study aimed to examine the efficacy of IPS in a randomized controlled trial with people with first-episode psychosis.

Methods:

Clients of EPPIC at ORYGEN in Melbourne who wished to find work were randomized to treatment as usual (TAU) (n = 20) or TAU + IPS (n = 20). The IPS condition involved working with an employment consultant who was integrated with the mental health team.

Results:

Results to be presented will show that clients in the IPS group achieved greater employment outcomes than those in the TAU-only group. Other results will be presented examining symptomatic and functioning factors.

Conclusions:

There is an increasing recognition that the rehabilitation of people with mental illness needs to take into account functional as well as symptomatic domains. Although there are structural obstacles making this more difficult, the current project shows what is possible with minimal extra resources.