ABSTRACT
There are a number of deeply embedded assumptions within mental health services about the willingness and ability of people with severe and enduring mental health problems to enter the labor market. Research in the vocational rehabilitation field over the last few decades has been predominantly North American, driven largely by a concern to find out which service users will respond best to vocational interventions on the basis of their individual characteristics. The clinical factors that researchers have examined in relation to their implications for employability include diagnosis, symptoms and hospitalisation history. Most studies show that social skills have only a small or non-significant relationship with vocational outcomes. The research shows that experiencing some success at work is likely to enhance motivation, skills and self-confidence. People change and what is true at one point in a person’s life may not be true at others.
