The «individual placement and support» method to promote the socio-occupational integration of people with severe psychiatric disorders
Patrizia Russo, Santone Elita
The Individual Placement and Support (IPS) method is an intervention model to support the job placement of people with mental disorders in active job search policies. This pathway is aimed at obtaining a competitive job in the open market. The Agreement Protocol signed between the Mental Health Centre and the «LaboratorioAperto» Non-profit organization has enabled this practice to be implemented since 2013, through Recovery-oriented paths: a productive and satisfying life condition despite the limitations of the illness. This work aims at: describing the phases through which the IPS Method is implemented, outlining the projects activated so far, highlighting the critical elements identified and addressed, presenting the most effective standardised assessment tools. The work placement of people with psychiatric vulnerability fosters social cohesion and desensitisation to prejudices, through work man satisfies not only his material needs, but also other more intimate and profound needs, which involve him both as an individual and as a social being, allowing greater psychophysical well-being. Current Evidence-Based tools allow only partial evidence of the improvements obtained through work activity, and this lack has prompted the team of professionals to create a specific form: the Individual Evaluation Grid.
Keywords
Work placement, psychosocial rehabilitation, psychiatric disorders, non-profit organization.
