OP5
EMPLOYMENT SUPPORT AND RETURN-TO-WORK (RTW) OUTCOMES AMONG MENTAL HEALTH SERVICE USERS: EVIDENCE FROM LINKED HEALTH AND WELFARE DATA
- Xu, King’s College London, UK
Background
Employment is a core component of recovery for people using mental health services, supporting financial stability, social inclusion, and wellbeing. Although vocational interventions such as Individual Placement and Support (IPS) and employment support embedded within Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (EA-IAPT) are increasingly implemented in routine care, population-level evidence describing return-to-work (RTW) outcomes and welfare transitions in relation to receipt of these interventions remains limited.
Methods
This population-level data linkage study uses anonymised electronic mental health records from the Clinical Record Interactive Search (CRIS) system at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, linked to employment and welfare data from the UK Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). The cohort includes working-age adults receiving secondary mental health services. Exposure is defined as receipt of employment-support services (IPS and/or EA-IAPT). Primary outcomes include RTW indicators, benefit cessation, and transitions between Universal Credit conditionality groups reflecting work participation. Descriptive analyses and regression models adjusted for sociodemographic and clinical characteristics are used to examine associations between receipt of employment-support services and RTW and welfare-related outcomes.
Results
The study describes patterns of RTW and welfare receipt among working-age mental health service users and identifies differences in RTW outcomes and welfare transitions between individuals who did and did not receive employment-support services.
Implications for policy or practice
Findings will provide population-level evidence on RTW and welfare outcomes following employment support and may inform the integration of mental health and employment-support services to improve work participation among mental health service users.
References:
Brämberg, E., Åhsberg, E., Fahlström, G., Furberg, E., Gornitzki, C., Ringborg, A., & Thoursie, P. S. (2024). Effects of work-directed interventions on return to work in people on sick leave for common mental disorders: A systematic review. International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health, 97(6), 597–619. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-024-02068-w
Stevelink, S. A. M., Wong, A., Stewart, R., Das-Munshi, J., Broadbent, M., Pritchard, M., Chilman, N., Hotopf, M., & Downs, J. (2023). Linking electronic mental healthcare and benefits records in South London: Design, procedure and descriptive outcomes. BMJ Open, 13(2), e067136. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-067136
