Sounds like science has shown how best to get people with schizophrenia working and productive again - but we are just not funding it in this country (and also not in France)
The most effective vocational services are based on the “Place and train” model, and even more precisely on the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model, that allows to the majority of people with a severe mental illness (more than 50%) to obtain a competitive employment after 6 to 18 months of individualized support.
This approach is now widely recommended as “an evidence-based practice” of rehabilitation. It is important to promote in France the development of this kind of practice, already implemented as an experiment by few militant and involved associations.
This development remains in France slow and delayed (compared to the practices in the other European countries) because of the lack of public funding.
…
The employment specialist (sometimes called also the “job coach”) turns out to play a key role, emphasized by current research, implying, among many other tasks, to coordinate the net of people supporting the work integration, including the clinical team, the employer and the colleagues of the workplace.
“We have shown that IPS is effective in Europe, despite very different economies and labour markets from the USA, where previous IPS studies have largely been done. … The accumulated evidence for IPS in North America, plus our findings of its effectiveness in widely differing labour market and welfare contexts, should
confirm this service as an effective approach for vocational rehabilitation in mental health that deserves investment and further investigation.”
While the research indicates that IPS / P&T is more effective than traditional vocational services, what isn’t said in the research is that the stats for both approaches are not great when looked at in a way the research does not. Most psychotic spectrum patients fail to qualify for or – if they do – make it through the VS or P&T programs. Those who do “make it” are relatively high functioning, medicinally compliant and involved in psychotherapy… very much along the lines of those on this forum who have made their way through traditional schooling and are able to get jobs that are comparatively “low stress.”
Actually, as a person that worked full time for 8 years, I think the worst thing to do is “Get Schizophrenics Back To Work.” Although I was not symptomatic my psychosis was not resolved, it only festered in a dormant state under a chemical restraint. I had issues that sprung from it and medication made me a “good employee” but a horrible spouse and human being when it was used exclusively. I believe the emphasis SHOULD be, speaking from practical experience, on resolving issues and the psychosis itself, but that can not be done while one is working 40-50 hours a week trying to survive or even with a part time job most of the time, UNLESS excessive doping is done… Volunteering is a better way to approach society, rather than scrabbling for cash while issues are not resolved. Volunteering is a helping field that generates empathy and symptathy and increases compassion and gives a sense of pride. Let the Healthy work, take care of the sick and help them be well.
Its funny though, society thinks of us in a strange way. They call us schizophrenics, where they do not call cancer victims, cancer … do they? The rush to get us employed when our problems are not really addressed or dealt with properly, is just another sign that the system is more intrested in the GDP than health really.
With less than 10% of people who have schizophrenia working in the USA - there is hardly a “rush” to get people employed. I think much more than 10% of our visitors here would like to work.
The much bigger issue is that there are not enough support services for those who want to go back to work and get earning a decent living and thereby rise out of poverty.
While I think you are right - the first order of business for anyone is to get the symptoms under control and functioning well and not into a stressfull job, thats not what is being talked about in the research above.
For those who want to work - there needs to be better services, based on proven approaches that other countries are using - to help them get the jobs that are appropriate for them, with good support from job coaches.