Improving Work Participation Outcomes Among Unemployed People with Mental Health Issues/Mental Illness: Feasibility of a Stigma Awareness Intervention

• Published in: Journal of occupational rehabilitation Vol. 34; no. 2; pp. 447 - 460
• Main Authors: Janssens, K. M. E., Joosen, M. C. W., Henderson, C., van Weeghel, J., Brouwers, E. P. M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01-06-2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adult; Awareness; Clients; Clinical Psychology; Employment; Employment - psychology; Environmental Health; Feasibility; Feasibility Studies; Female; Health Psychology; Humans; Illnesses; Intervention; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mental disorders; Mental Disorders - psychology; Mental Disorders - rehabilitation; Mental health; Middle Aged; Occupational Medicine/Industrial Medicine; Orthopedics; Qualitative analysis; Qualitative Research; Rehabilitation; Rehabilitation, Vocational - methods; Social Stigma; Stigma; Surveys and Questionnaires; Unemployment - psychology; Employment specialists; Vocational rehabilitation; Disclosure; Process evaluation; Mental health issues/mental illness; Unemployed people
• ISSN: 1053-0487; 1573-3688; 1573-3688
• DOI: 10.1007/s10926-023-10141-3

Purpose
As stigma is a barrier to work participation of unemployed people with mental health issues/mental illness (MHI), a stigma awareness intervention can be helpful to make informed decisions about disclosing MHI. The aim of this process evaluation was to investigate the feasibility of a stigma awareness intervention, to explore experiences of clients and their employment specialists; and to give recommendations for further implementation.
Methods
The intervention consisted of a stigma awareness training for employment specialists and a decision aid tool for their clients with (a history of) MHI. For the process evaluation, six process components of the Linnan & Stecklar framework were examined: recruitment, reach, dose delivered, dose received, fidelity and context. Using a mixed-methods design, quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed.
Results
The six components showed the intervention was largely implemented as planned. Questionnaire data showed that 94% of the clients found the tool useful and 87% would recommend it to others. In addition, more than half (54%) indicated the tool had been helpful in their disclosure decision. Qualitative data showed that participants were mainly positive about the intervention. Nevertheless, only a minority of clients and employment specialists had actually discussed the tool together. According to both, the intervention had increased their awareness of workplace stigma and the disclosure dilemma.
Conclusion
The implementation of a stigma awareness intervention was feasible and did increase stigma awareness. Experiences with the intervention were mainly positive. When implementing the tool, it is recommended to embed it in the vocational rehabilitation system, so that discussing the disclosure dilemma becomes a routine.
Trail Register
The study was retrospectively registered at the Dutch Trial Register (TRN: NL7798, date: 04-06-2019).