Recovering from Illness or Recovering your Life? Implications of Clinical Versus Social Models of Recovery from Mental Health Problems for Employment Support Services

Abstract

Although valuable research has been undertaken in the United States little is yet known about the processes engaged in by supported employment projects for people with mental health problems. The study reported here explored these processes using semistructured interviews with employment project clients, their project workers and workplace managers. Of five projects involved in the research, two exemplified radically different approaches, one implicitly underpinned by a clinical model of recovery and the other by a social recovery model. In this article we draw on data from the seven cases studied from these projects to describe the two approaches and to consider their strengths and limitations. We conclude that approaches based on the social recovery model hold more promise, although such approaches would be enhanced through greater liaison with mental health professionals. In addition, funding structures are required that take account of job retention rates, rather than placement rates alone.