A Working Life For People With Severe Mental Illness [Hardcover]

Deborah R. Becker (Author), Robert E. Drake (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 2001 | ISBN-10: 0195131215 | ISBN-13: 978-0195131215 | Edition: 1

Traditional approaches to vocational rehabilitation, such as skills training classes, job clubs, and sheltered employment, have not been successful in helping people with severe mental illness gain competitive employment. Supported employment, in which clients are placed in jobs and then trained by on-site coaches, is a radically new conceptual approach to vocational rehabilitation designed for people with developmental disabilities. The Individual Placement and Support (IPS) method utilizes the supported employment concept, but modifies it for use with the severely mentally ill. It is the only approach that has a strong empirical research base: rates of competitive employment are 40% or more in IPS programs, compared to 15% in traditional mental health programs. The third volume in the Innovations in Practice and Service Delivery with Vulnerable Populations series, this will be extremely useful to students in psychiatric rehabilitation programs and social work classes dealing with the severely mentally ill, as well as to practitioners in the field.

Editorial Reviews

Review

... those of us in the clinical and administrative fields can thank the authors of A Working Life for People with Severe Mental Illness for this clear, practical book on integrating work into clinical treatment. The authors, both well-known leaders in clinical and research aspects of vocational rehabilitaiton of persons with severe mental illness, set out to lay to rest the notion that only work in a sheltered environment - or perhaps no work at all - is appropriate for people with severe mental illness ... Becker and Drake have written an inspiring and thoughtful challenge to those of us working in mental health care - our patients can work, and there is an evidence-based practice that will support them to succeed. Ms Andrea Minichiello, Vocational Specialist on the PACT team at UMass-Community Healthlink in Worcester, Massachussetts, USA and Dr Jeffrey Stovall, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, USA

About the Author

Robert E. Drake and Deborah R. Becker are both at New Hampshire-Dartmouth Psychiatric Research Center.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 232 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 1 edition (June 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195131215
• ISBN-13: 978-0195131215
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #786,216 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Great reference, November 19, 2008

By 

O. Farmer - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Working Life For People With Severe Mental Illness (Hardcover)

I work as a psychiatrist in an academic setting, and use this book frequently for teaching purposes and as a reference for residents and students. I used it extensively for Canadian psych boards preparation. It is especially valuable because it gives perspective to new research by giving the history of research papers that established for example the use of Lithium (on which little has been written since the 70s and 80s), it also describes very well psychosocial treatments for a wide variety of mental illnesses, much more clearly and exhaustively than in the Kaplan and Saddock, for instance. It also reads very well. Highly recommended

5.0 out of 5 stars 5 Star Review, March 3, 2008

By 

K. Quinn "Butterfly" (Compton, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Working Life For People With Severe Mental Illness (Hardcover)

This book is very instrumental in providing detailed information on implementing the supported employment model. The book is comprehensive and gives plenty of real life examples. A must read if you're in the employment developing field.