Social Value of Supported Employment for Psychosocial Program Participants

Members of a psychiatric psychosocial program designed to provide both supported employment and peer support were surveyed about their current social activities, sources of social support, and social life improvement since joining the program. Survey respondents who worked a mainstream job ( n  = 17...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychiatric quarterly 2011-03, Vol.82 (1), p.69-84
Main Authors: Barreira, Paul J., Tepper, Miriam Cohen, Gold, Paul B., Holley, Dana, Macias, Cathaleene
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Community
Employment agencies
Employment, Supported - methods
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Friendship
Health Surveys
Humans
Loneliness
Male
Medical sciences
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Mental Disorders - psychology
Mental Disorders - rehabilitation
Middle Aged
Mutual support
Original Paper
Peer Group
Peer tutoring
People with disabilities
Predictive Value of Tests
Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Psychosocial factors
Public Health
Quality Improvement
Reeducation. Readaptation. Sociotherapy
Rehabilitation, Vocational - methods
Retrospective Studies
Social integration
Social life
Social life & customs
Social Support
Sociology
Supported employment
Treatments
Volunteers
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Summary:Members of a psychiatric psychosocial program designed to provide both supported employment and peer support were surveyed about their current social activities, sources of social support, and social life improvement since joining the program. Survey respondents who worked a mainstream job ( n  = 17) reported greater peer contact in community locations, and correspondingly greater social life improvement, than those who remained unemployed or worked volunteer jobs ( n  = 45). Results of a hierarchical regression analysis ( N  = 62) that explored this positive correlation between mainstream work, community-based peer contact, and social life satisfaction suggest that working a job in an integrated setting that paid at least minimum wage encouraged program participants to meet and interact in community locations, thereby strengthening peer mutual support while furthering social integration. This unique pattern of findings requires replication, and we recommend that other psychosocial programs conduct similar quality improvement studies to provide further insights into the relationship between peer support and community integration.
ISSN:0033-2720
1573-6709
DOI:10.1007/s11126-010-9148-9