Centre for Mental Health Employment

Access to Work programme will be 'more efficient' -Government publishes response to disability and employment consultation

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 09:00:00 GMT

The Government have now published their response to the consultation "Disability employment Support: fulfilling potential" on 7 March 2012. This response sets out the strategy for specialist disability employment programmes and includes a summary of the responses to the public consultation of the Sayce Review "Getting in, staying in and getting on”. In the response the Government has pledged to make the Access to Work programme more efficient and to 'place more control in the hands of individuals.'

DWP release Qualitative study of offender employment review: final report

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 09:00:00 GMT

The DWP's Qualitative study of offender employment review: final report identifies how well key recommendations have been implemented ‘on the ground’ in both custodial and community settings; and assesses the extent to which changes have begun to improve offender employment services.

Personal Independence Payment- survey for joint consultation response

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:00:00 GMT

Together with MIND, Mental Health Foundation, SAMH, Royal College of Psychatrists and Rethink mental iIllness the centre are looking for people who are recieiving Disability Living Allowance because of a mental health problem, or a mixture of mental and physical health problems, to complete a short survey. Our organisations are worried about how the switch to the new benefit will impact on people with mental health problems and we will be expressing these concerns in a joint response to the Government's consultation on the proposed changes. You can help us to ensure that this consultation response is as informed and powerful as possible by completing the survey below if you are currently claiming DLA, or by passing this on to someone you know who does. Take the survey here: http://surveymonkey.com/s/pip-mentalhealth

IPS model has the strongest evidence for success- funding guide finds

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:00:00 GMT

A new report released by New Philanthropy Capital highlights the lack of funding and services in helping those with mental health problems get back into employment. Job well done: Employment and mental health problems, a guide for funders estimates that this failure costs the government, employers and society £6bn a year and recommends the further implementation of proven employment models such as IPS.

'Regional trainer' for IPS services more than doubles rates of employment for people with mental illness, Sussex pilot study finds

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:00:00 GMT

Mental health services can offer more people the best quality help to find paid work more quickly if they have the support of a 'trainer' to boost the skills and confidence of both clinical and employment staff, according to a report published today by Centre for Mental Health.

Health Work and Wellbeing resource for business launched

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 09:00:00 GMT

Health, Work and Well-being is a cross-Government initiative to 'protect and improve the health and well-being of working age people'. The initiative promotes the positive links between health and work and aims to help more people with health conditions to find and stay in employment. It brings together employers, trade unions, healthcare professionals and other partners and builds on a growing evidence base that working is good for health.

Helping employees who become severely depressed: new article by Centre's Bob Grove, Helen Lockett and Jan Hutchinson

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 09:00:00 GMT

Depression, anxiety and related problems are very common indeed - in the UK about one in six workers have levels of distress that doctors would diagnose as illness. This article, published in the New Zealand Mental Health Foundation's newsletter, sets out the ways in which employers can create healthy productive workforces and manage the mental distress. Read the article online here.

Study shows employment linked to better outcomes for people with schizophrenia

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 09:00:00 GMT

A new study, Sustained favorable long-term outcome in the treatment of schizophrenia: a 3-year prospective observational study, published in the BMC has found that fewer than one in ten people with schizophrenia show sustained improvement over 3 years. The study followed 1,635 chronically ill patients with schizophrenia for a 3 year period, with the aim of identifying the best baseline predictors of recovery. Employment was strongly accociated with improved outcomes. Read more on the Mental Elf blog here.

Sick on the job? Myths and realities about mental health and work

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 09:00:00 GMT

A new report, Sick on the job? published by the OECD (The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ) finds further evidence to support a shift in focus towards on treating common mental health problems and recommends that people with depression and anxiety problems should be supported to stay in work.

Read the report summary here

Royal College of Psychiatrists launches workplace web resource

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 09:00:00 GMT

The Royal College of Psychiatrists has launched an online work and mental health resource offering information and guidance on staying in work or returning to work after a period of mental ill-health. The site links to resources from organisations such as Mind, Rethink, Centre for Mental Health and the Health and Safety Executive and deals with important day-to-day matters such as benefits and the Equality Act (2010).

View the page here