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“Navigating Between Unpredictable Icebergs”: A Meta-Ethnographic Study of Employment Specialists’ Contributions in Providing Job Support for People with Mental Illness

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Abstract

Purpose To explore and synthesize the views of Supported Employment clients, employment specialists and their supervisors on the core contributions of employment specialists to job support within the mental health field. Methods We systematically searched four databases with no time limitations and identified 16 qualitative studies published between 2006 and 2018 to be included in this meta-ethnographic study. Results The overarching metaphor of “Navigating an Unpredictable Iceberg-laden Sea” (a workplace) and seven themes were revealed: (1) “It’s you and me looking,” which represented the relationship between the client and ES, and (2) taking job seekers’ ambitions and needs seriously, (3) mapping the route, (4) exploring the hidden, (5) being on tap, (6) avoiding crashes, and (7) bridging, which embodied the work of employments specialists. Conclusion. Our iceberg metaphor illustrates the importance of employment specialists being competent in addressing clients’ work performance difficulties related not only to the individual’s illness, age, gender, and cultural-related challenges, but also to psychosocial, behavioral, and environmental workplace factors. Given the effects of the specific characteristics of the working alliance developed in supported employment, we suggest that employment specialists’ training and supervision be enriched by paying more attention to these important relational processes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Welfare and Participation at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Inndalsveien 28, 5063, Bergen, Norway

    Liv Grethe Kinn & Ingrid Voll

  2. Yale Program for Recovery and Community Health, Yale School of Medicine, 319 Peck Street, New Haven, CT, 06513, USA

    Mark Costa & Larry Davidson

  3. Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Inndalsveien 28, 5063, Bergen, Norway

    Gunhild Austrheim

  4. University of Stavanger, Kjell Arholms gate 41, 4021, Stavanger, Norway

    Randi W. Aas

  5. Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway

    Randi W. Aas

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  1. Liv Grethe Kinn
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  2. Mark Costa
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Correspondence to Liv Grethe Kinn.

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Kinn, L.G., Costa, M., Voll, I. et al. “Navigating Between Unpredictable Icebergs”: A Meta-Ethnographic Study of Employment Specialists’ Contributions in Providing Job Support for People with Mental Illness. J Occup Rehabil 31, 512–531 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10926-020-09943-6

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