The need for bridging the gap between mental healthcare and vocational services for people with affective disorders

Background: Affective disorders such as depression and bipolar disorder are highly prevalent and constitute a major source of disability that can lead to long-term sick leave and unemployment (Lerner and Henke, 2008). To date,... [ view full abstract ]

Background:
Affective disorders such as depression and bipolar disorder are highly prevalent and constitute a major source of disability that can lead to long-term sick leave and unemployment (Lerner and Henke, 2008). To date, there is no evidence-based vocational rehabilitation intervention for this target group (Furlan et al., 2012). Hence, development of new interventions is urgent. This study aimed to investigate relations between depression severity and psychosocial factors, knowledge which is needed to inform new vocational interventions (Areberg and Bejerholm, 2013, Hillborg et al., 2010).
Method:
In a cross-sectional study we investigated the relationships between depression severity and occupational engagement, empowerment and quality of life – among 61 outpatients in mental healthcare, using descriptive, correlation and regression statistics.
Results:
Descriptive statistics showed that 57% of the participants did not receive any vocational support and the mean time since last employment was 4.5 years. Further, an inverse relation between depression severity and empowerment and quality of life was shown, which explained 41.7% of the variation in depression severity.
Conclusion:
The results reflect the importance of empowering methods in vocational support, and a time and service gap between mental healthcare and vocational services which impedes re-employment.
Application to practice:
Vocational interventions for people with affective disorders need to include an empowerment perspective and strategies to increase quality of life and self-efficacy to counteract doubtfulness in future employment. Above all, this target group needs access to vocational support, integrated in mental healthcare, to bridge the gap between services and enable a working life.