Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Vocational recovery is a concept that has grown out of the mental health recovery model and has been operationalized as a threshold for work capacity for persons working with serious mental illness (SMI). In this article, is it conceptualized as a process towards gainful employment and overall mental health recovery.
OBJECTIVE:
This article describes the early phases of the vocational recovery process of individuals with serious mental illness participating in a supported employment program and the factors that make up this process. This study describes the vocational recovery process and the mental health related recovery gains attained through employment.
METHODS:
A constructivist grounded theory approach was employed in this study. The primary author conducted participant observations and conducted semi-structured interviews with 10 individuals at a supported employment program to develop a theory about a vocational process that is grounded in data.
RESULTS:
A phase like process emerged from the data, which moved individuals from prevocational to early vocational recovery to active vocational recovery process. Participants experienced both mental health and vocational recovery challenges and benefits as they moved through the supported employment program and substantial support from providers, family members, program director, and peers emerged as a driving force to move individuals through the recovery process.
CONCLUSION:
Participants in this study rapidly placed into a supported employment program were able to move through their psychosocial barriers to employment and move towards an active vocational recovery process. The phase like progression suggests that appropriate interventions can be formulated that best meets the individual’s vocational and mental health needs depending on where individuals are in their overall vocational recovery process. Follow up research is necessary.
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