1. Working Your Way
Through Recovery
Maria Hilditch, Specialist OT
Jan McGall, Lead OT
www.COT.org.uk
2. Drivers for the initiative
Where Are We Now?
32% of people with a disability are in employment
Mental and behavioural disorders make up the
largest diagnostic category for Employment and
Support Allowance in Northern Ireland
Long-term unemployment and increased risk of
mental health problems
Unemployment: increased risk of suicide
www.COT.org.uk
3. Drivers for the initiative
Recovery and Work
Recovery: an ethos to guide practice and
also a personal journey for individuals
Benefits of work in recovery
Barriers to employment
www.COT.org.uk
4. Drivers for the initiative
Dame Carol Black: Working for a Healthier
Tomorrow 2008
The Review of Mental Health and Learning
Disability (Northern Ireland) June 2005: The
Bamford Report
Recovering Ordinary Lives, The Strategy for
Occupational Therapy in Mental Health Services
2007-2017
www.COT.org.uk
6. Summary of Innovative Practice
BHSCT: Mental Health Key Service Changes
Priority clinical focus: Vocational rehabilitation
and work
Mental health OT’s as ‘vocational champions’
Work is on the agenda!
www.COT.org.uk
7. Summary of Innovative Practice
Individual Placement and Support (IPS)
Partnership with Action Mental Health
Evidence-based supported employment model
Roles of the Occupational Therapist and
Employment Specialist
‘Place then train’ model
Job retention principles
www.COT.org.uk
9. Summary of Innovative Practice
Acute Care Job Clinic
Individuals in employment in receipt of acute
mental health care (inpatient units, Home
Treatment and Acute Day Treatment)
Focus: job retention
www.COT.org.uk
10. Summary of Innovative Practice
Acute Care Job Clinic
Holistic assessment:
Job role and working patterns
Job description
Current work status, reasons for current absence and any previous
absences
Disciplinary processes / precipitating issues of urgency
Organisational procedures in managing sickness and absence
Awareness the employer has with regards to nature of sick leave /
disclosure
Involvement of Occupational Health, Welfare Officers, Trade Unions
www.COT.org.uk
11. Summary of Innovative Practice
Acute Care Job Clinic
Current health situation: diagnosis, treatments and medication
Current daily routine and overall level of functioning
Personal circumstances: e.g. breadwinner in family /
dependents / debt
Support systems
Individuals attitude to returning to work and perceived barriers
Strategies which have worked previously in returning to work
after a period of sick leave
www.COT.org.uk
12. Summary of Innovative Practice
Acute Care Job Clinic
Individualised interventions using Job Retention Principles:
Liaison with employers
Disclosure and attitudes in relation to employment
Liaison with Occupational Health departments
Liaison with other members of the multi-disciplinary team
Assisting individuals in resolving perceived barriers to returning to
work
Lifestyle balance
Mental health promotion and keeping well
Return to work plans and reasonable adjustments
www.COT.org.uk
14. Summary of Innovative Practice
Exemplar Employer
BHSCT: programme for employing individuals with
mental health issues into permanent, ‘real jobs’
within the Trust, including Mental Health OT service
Support from Workable
www.COT.org.uk