Vocational rehabilitation for people with severe mental illness

A majority of severely mentally ill people would like to work and there are compelling ethical, social and clinical reasons for helping them to achieve this goal. Pre-vocational Training and Supported Employment are two different approaches to helping severely mentally ill people obtain employment. The key principle of Pre-vocational Training is that a period of preparation is necessary before entering competitive employment. In contrast, the key principle of Supported Employment is that placement in competitive employment should occur as quickly as possible, followed by support and training on the job. This systematic review found that people who received Supported Employment were significantly more likely to be in competitive employment than those who received Pre-vocational Training (at 12 months 34% employed in Supported Employment compared with 12% in Pre-vocational Training).