ABSTRACT
Early intervention to prevent job loss or enable people to get back to the labour market as quickly as possible is essential if they are not to slide to the bottom of the slippery slope to long-term unemployment and social exclusion. This chapter argues that the help service users want to keep or find work needs to be provided at the earliest possible stage in their involvement with services. It looks at evidence to support that argument and then describes how people are attempting to practise what they preach in South West London. The social impact of failing to intervene is also considerable. Unemployment results in decreased social networks and the loss of structure, purpose and identity. Evidence-based supported employment, also known as the Individual, Placement and Support approach to vocational rehabilitation for people with severe mental health problems, has been shown to be more effective than other approaches in helping people with mental health problems gain and retain employment.
