Centre for Mental Health Employment

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

Job well done: Employment and mental health problems, a guide for funders highlights the lack of funding and services in helping those with mental health problems get back into employment. the report, released by New Philanthropy Capital, 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 has found further evidence to support a shift in policy away from severe to common mental health problems and urges the focus to be on supporting people with common mental health problems in work.

Read the report summary here 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

New report from The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) and Centre for Mental Health examining the barriers to working in social care for people with mental health problems

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 09:00:00 GMT

The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) have produced the three resources in conjunction with the Centre for Mental Health, with the support of the cross-Government Health, Work and Well-being initiative; looking at the barriers faced by people with mental health problems working in social care.

Give prisoners a better chance to find work, say company chiefs

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 09:00:00 GMT

The leading exectives of eight of the UK’s most prominent companies have urged UK business to offer more jobs to former prisoners and those still in jail. In a recent letter to the Financial Times, the company chiefs call for fellow bosses to take advantage of the skills many ex-offenders can offer; “It makes sense for UK companies to recruit these individuals and to make use of their skills and enthusiasm”. The letter was published on the day that Justice Secretary Ken Clarke announced plans for every prison in England and Wales to start up a profit-making company staffed by inmates.

Acknowledging evidence that re-offending figures are significantly reduced among prison leavers who go into a full-time job upon their release, the business leaders back the government’s efforts to “introduce real work into prison”, so that offenders can learn new skills while behind bars.