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Social Value of Supported Employment for Psychosocial Program Participants

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Abstract

Members of a psychiatric psychosocial program designed to provide both supported employment and peer support were surveyed about their current social activities, sources of social support, and social life improvement since joining the program. Survey respondents who worked a mainstream job (n = 17) reported greater peer contact in community locations, and correspondingly greater social life improvement, than those who remained unemployed or worked volunteer jobs (n = 45). Results of a hierarchical regression analysis (N = 62) that explored this positive correlation between mainstream work, community-based peer contact, and social life satisfaction suggest that working a job in an integrated setting that paid at least minimum wage encouraged program participants to meet and interact in community locations, thereby strengthening peer mutual support while furthering social integration. This unique pattern of findings requires replication, and we recommend that other psychosocial programs conduct similar quality improvement studies to provide further insights into the relationship between peer support and community integration.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Behavioral Health and Academic Counseling, Harvard University Health Services, 5 Linden Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA

    Paul J. Barreira

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Paul J. Barreira, Miriam Cohen Tepper & Cathaleene Macias

  3. Cambridge Health Alliance, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Miriam Cohen Tepper

  4. Waverley Place, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA

    Paul J. Barreira, Miriam Cohen Tepper & Dana Holley

  5. Department of Counseling and Personnel Services, University of Maryland at College Park, College Park, MD, USA

    Paul B. Gold

  6. Department of Community Intervention Research, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA

    Cathaleene Macias

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  1. Paul J. Barreira
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  2. Miriam Cohen Tepper
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  4. Dana Holley
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  5. Cathaleene Macias
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Correspondence to Paul J. Barreira.

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Barreira, P.J., Tepper, M.C., Gold, P.B. et al. Social Value of Supported Employment for Psychosocial Program Participants. Psychiatr Q 82, 69–84 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-010-9148-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-010-9148-9

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