View: The Past and Future Career Patterns Of People with Serious Mental Illnesses: A Qualitative Inquiry–By Richard C. Baron, MA

Not much is known about the long-term career paths of people with serious mental illnesses, and neither policy makers nor program providers have sufficient information about the kinds of jobs people with mental illnesses have held in the past or the work patterns they have established following their participation in rehabilitation programs. This report begins to fill in the gaps, based on a series of qualitative interviews with 58 individuals with serious mental illnesses, across the nation. Begun in 2000 with support from the Switzer Research Fellowship program of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, the study’s results challenge many misconceptions about the willingness and capacity of consumers to work. Both individual vignettes and detailed analysis provide an eye-opening assessment of consumers’ past experiences, current motivations, and future ambitions with regard to the competitive labor market, emphasizing that the long-term career patterns of people with serious mental illnesses may not be dramatically different from people without mental illnesses with whom they have worked. An important document for program planners, job coaches, and consumer advocates promoting employment as a key element in achieving community integration.

This report has been re-issued here with the support of the UPenn Collaborative as a way to further promote reconsideration of the employment prospects for most people with serious mental illnesses.



*FEEDBACK*
We are trying to track how this report is used, so we would greatly appreciate it if you would take a minute to briefly answer the following quick questions:

1. Your job title
2. Agency name and address
3. Population served by your agency
4. How you/your agency might use this report
5. Contact Information (Phone number and/or email address)

The primary author would welcome your feedback as you use this report. Please e-mail Rick Baron at baronrc@mail.med.upenn.edu