Implementation of the enhanced intersectoral links approach to support increased employment outcomes for consumers of a large metropolitan mental health service

Abstract

Introduction The purpose of this article is to describe the outcomes of the enhanced intersectoral links (EIL) approach to supporting employment outcomes for individuals accessing a large mental health service. Method Based on individual placement and support (IPS) principles, features of EIL included: strong service-level relationships between mental health and local disability employment services; monthly joint meetings to share information; resources to assist mental health clinicians in supporting consumers to access employment services; and provision of training. Programme fidelity was evaluated against IPS principles. Outcome measures included: time from referral to commencement; time to first employment placement; employment placement rate; and duration of employment. Results Seventy-nine consumers were referred to the programme. At the close of data collection, 60 participants remained in the programme and 38 of these (63%) had gained at least one employment placement. Average duration of employment was 10.9 weeks. As expected, the EIL programme demonstrated ‘fair’ fidelity against IPS principles. The average time from referral to commencement was 47 days and from commencement to first placement was 81 days. Conclusion This project demonstrated how EIL can be implemented in a large mental health service. Further development is required to avoid delays in consumers’ commencement with employment services and support better job tenure.