In their study, Falkum et al. (2017) aimed to investigate the effects of a vocational rehabilitation program for individuals diagnosed with psychotic disorders. The targeted rehabilitation program involved close collaboration between welfare and health services. The motivation for the study was the observation that vocational rehabilitation for people suffering from psychotic disorders has been a challenge in Western societies. While between 50% and 70% of such patients wish to continue working, studies in these societies have yielded findings that only 10-39% of them are able to work and keep a job (Falkum et al., 2017). The researchers intended to test theeffectiveness of vocational rehabilitation programs tailored for individuals diagnosed with psychotic disorders.
The researchers carried out the study on a sample of 148 patients from six counties in Norway. They divided the sample into two groups of three counties under the Job Management Program (JUMP). Patients in one group underwent vocational rehabilitation oriented towards cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), while those in the other underwent vocational rehabilitation oriented towards cognitive remediation (CR)(Falkum et al., 2017).Through comparisons of the vocational activities of respondents in the two groups prior to and following vocational rehabilitation, the researchers aimed to establish the outcomes and effectiveness of either intervention.
The study established that both CBT and CR interventions had significant effects on the abilities of patients with psychotic disorders to work and keep jobs. The number of working individuals who were participants in the JUMP initiative rose from a baseline of 17% to 77% by the conclusion of the intervention (Falkum et al., 2017). These individuals worked in a broad variety of jobs, including ordinary workplaces, competitive jobs, and work placement jobs.Based on the findings, the researchers concluded that vocational rehabilitation programs are useful and effective in promoting the abilities of individuals with psychotic disorders to work competently and keep their jobs.
References
Falkum, E., Klungsoyr, O., Lystad, J., Bull, H., Evensen, S., Martinsen, E., Friis, S., &Ueland, T. (2017). Vocational Rehabilitation for Adults with Psychotic Disorders in a Scandinavian Welfare Society. BMC Psychiatry 17(24).