Effectiveness of a Stigma Awareness Intervention on Reemployment of People with Mental Health Issues/Mental Illness: A Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial

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Abstract

Purpose: A barrier for reemployment of people with mental health issues/mental illness (MHI) is workplace stigma and discrimination. In this RCT the effectiveness of a stigma-awareness intervention addressing finding work, retaining work and decisional stress were evaluated. Methods: A cluster RCT was conducted in 8 Dutch municipal practices. Randomisation took place at practice level. Participants were unemployed people with MHI, receiving social benefits. The intervention consisted of a decision aid for workplace disclosure for participants and a 2 × 3 h stigma-awareness training for their employment specialists. Primary outcomes were measured at baseline, 3-, 6- and 12-months. Multilevel analyses, containing random intercepts of participants nested in organizations, were conducted to analyse the effects of the intervention. Results: Participants (N = 153) were randomized to an experimental (n = 76) or control group (n = 77). At six months, significantly more participants of the experimental group (51%) had found work compared to the control group (26%). At twelve months, significantly more participants of the experimental group (49%) had retained work compared to the control group (23%). Intention-to-treat analyses showed that randomization to the experimental group was associated with finding (OR(95%CI) = 7.78(1.33–45.53), p = 0.02) and retaining (OR(95%CI) = 12.15(2.81–52.63), p < 0.01) work more often at twelve months. Analyses showed that the experimental and control group did not differ in decisional stress. Conclusions: Our stigma awareness intervention was effective for finding and retaining work. As the percentage of people who found and retained work almost doubled, this suggests that on a societal level, a vast number of unemployed people could be reemployed with a relatively simple intervention. Trial Registration: The study was retrospectively registered at the Dutch Trial Register (TRN: NL7798, date: 04-06-2019).

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APA

Janssens, K. M. E., Joosen, M. C. W., Henderson, C., Bakker, M., den Hollander, W., van Weeghel, J., & Brouwers, E. P. M. (2024). Effectiveness of a Stigma Awareness Intervention on Reemployment of People with Mental Health Issues/Mental Illness: A Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 34(1), 87–99. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10926-023-10129-z

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