The concept of « psychiatric disability » has been created in France 10 years ago in order to improve access to competitive employment for people with severe mentall illness (Pachoud and Corbière 2014). Even though the rate of employment on the French regular market is still low today for this population (Pachoud and Corbière 2014), some of them are employed in social entreprises (Villotti, Zaniboni and Fraccaroli 2014) such as the social firms of the Messidor’s association (De Pierrefeu and Charbonneau 2014). People with psychiatric disabilities working in social enterprises usually keep their job longer than people with the same health condition working in the regular labor market (Lanctôt, Corbière and Durand 2012) ; reasons for this difference could be related to clinical symptoms or to psychosocial factors specific to social enterprises (Villotti and al. 2016, Williams and al. 2016, Corbière and al. 2014, Corbière and al. 2006). The goal of this study is to determine predictive factors of job tenure for people with psychiatric disabilities in the particular context of social enterprises in France.
A prospective study (9 month follow-up) was undertaken with 156 people having psychiatric disabilities working in Messidor’s social firms in France. Survival analyses were conducted using Cox regressions to assess the risk of job termination and identify various types of predictors : sociodemographic (age and sex), clinical (severity of symptoms) and cognitive variables (e.g. attention), as well as psychosocial variables (self-esteem as a worker, working alliance with the employment specialist and perceived supervisors’ style).
Eighty-four percent (N= 131) of participants maintained their job during the follow-up period. Findings from Cox regression analyses revealed that the predictors of job termination in these social enterprises for people with psychiatric disabilities are symptoms (HR=1.75, CI=1.08 - 2.83, p=.002) and a negative controlling style of perceived supervision (HR=4.60, CI=1.17 – 18.05, p=.003), while controlling for other variables above mentioned.
This study demonstrates the role of both, clinical (symptoms) and psychosocial (type of supervision) variables, may have on job termination for people with psychiatric disabilities working in social enterprises. Results highlight, in particular, the specific importance of the type of supervision given to the worker that should be supportive but not controlling. Clinical implications of this study could be the development of training sessions dedicated to supervisors of social enterprises in order to improve their style of supervision, and therefore promote job tenure of their employees.
Main references:
Corbière, M., Lesage, A., Villeneuve, K., & Mercier, C. (2006). [Job tenure among people with mental illness]. Santé mentale au Québec, 31(2), 215-235.
Corbière, M., Villotti, P., Lecomte, T., Bond, G. R., Lesage, A., & Goldner, E. M. (2014). Work accommodations and natural supports for maintaining employment. Psychiatric rehabilitation journal, 37(2), 90.
de Pierrefeu, I.,& Charbonneau, C. (2014). [Two" hybrid" vocational services for people with a severe mental illness in France and Quebec]. L'Encephale, 40, S66-74.
Lanctôt, N., Corbière, M. & Durand, M.-J. (2012). Job tenure and quality of work life of people with psychiatric disabilities working in social enterprises. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 37(1), 39-48.
Pachoud, B., & Corbière, M. (2014). [Practices and interventions related to the work integration of people with a severe mental illness: work outcomes and avenues of research]. L'Encephale, 40, S33-44.
Villotti, P., Corbière, M., Fossey, E., Fraccaroli, F., Lecomte, T., & Harvey, C. (2016). Work accommodations and natural supports for employees with severe mental illness in social businesses: an international comparison. Community mental health journal, 1-7.
Villotti, P., Zaniboni, S., & Fraccaroli, F. (2014). [Social cooperatives in Italy]. L'Encephale, 40, S57-65.
Williams, A. E., Fossey, E., Corbière, M., Paluch, T., & Harvey, C. (2016). Work participation for people with severe mental illnesses: An integrative review of factors impacting job tenure. Australian occupational therapy journal, 63(2), 65-85.
3. Governance, employment and human resource management
