Effectiveness of a Stigma Awareness Intervention on Reemployment of People with Mental Health Issues/Mental Illness: A Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial.
K M E Janssens, M C W Joosen, C Henderson and 4 others
PMID 37439945WHAT IT FOUND
Unemployed people with mental health issues who used a stigma-awareness decision aid alongside usual vocational support were more likely to find and keep paid work at 12 months.
The intervention did not reduce decisional conflict about disclosure.
Key findings
01At 12 months, significantly more participants in the experimental group had found paid employment compared to the control group.
02At 12 months, significantly more participants in the experimental group had retained paid employment compared to the control group.
03The intervention had no significant effect on decisional conflict regarding disclosure at any time point.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
Employment specialists and participants were not blinded to the allocation, which could have influenced behaviour or reporting. Participants were recruited via employment specialists, which may have introduced selection bias. The study relied on self-reported data for mental health and stigma outcomes. The intervention was complex (decision aid plus specialist training), so it is unclear which component drove the employment effects. The study did not track whether participants switched jobs during the 12-month period.
Declared interests
The study was funded by ZonMw, a Dutch research organisation. No other conflicts of interest were reported.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume the decision aid alone caused the employment gains. The intervention combined the client decision aid with a three-session stigma-awareness training for employment specialists, and the study could not separate the effect of these two components.