Interventions to Improve Employment Outcomes for Workers Who Experience Mental Illness

Objective: To review employment interventions for individuals who experience mental illness. Method: I reviewed employment interventions described in the mental health, disability, and rehabilitation literature for the period 1990 to 2005 and organized these interventions into a framework. Results: The framework develops 7 distinct individual-level employment interventions as well as interventions directed at the employer and at workplace organization. It also considers factors that will affect access to these interventions. Although there is a sense of optimism about the potential of these interventions, research in the area is limited. Conclusion: Physicians who are knowledgeable about the nature and scope of employment interventions for individuals with mental illness are in a good position to effect positive change in the work lives of the individuals they serve.