Supported employment

Within the Department of Psychotic Disorders there is a unit called AIR that focuses on vocational rehabilitation. Its aim is to help persons with psychosis to enter the labour market or to start studying.

AIR addresses people who have an established contact with the specialist psychiatry at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital. This means that we receive referrals from the different outpatient clinics of the Department of Psychotic Disorders.

The work of AIR is based on the IPS-model (Individual Placement and Support), an evidence-based model that is superior when it comes to finding, getting and keeping a job for persons with a psychological disability.

According to the National Guidelines for Psychosocial Intervention from 2011 (National Board of Health and Welfare) IPS has top priority and is thereby the recommended method in Sweden. The IPS-work is part of the psychiatric treatment and it is the IPS-specialist who is responsible, together with the patient, for planning and for implementing measures regarding work. In order to achieve a good result cooperation with the case manager and the psychiatrist of the team is needed.

The basic idea of the programme is to focus on finding a job in the regular labour market. Anyone who wants to work are welcome to try IPS. Measures taken should be integrated in the psychiatric treatment and it is the choices and interests of the patient that should guide the work. The search for a job should start as early as possible and we provide the patient with personalized support as long as it is needed.

Moreover, it is important to inform the patient about the economic terms as these are determined by intricate regulations. It is hard to get a clear picture of how the economy of the patient is affected. The search for a job must be systematic, and we need to establish useful contacts with the labour market in order to find jobs and internships for our patients.

It is important to help the patient find a job that suites her or him, so that there is a chance that the job can last. It is equally important to find viable alternatives for those who cannot really cope with the demands of the regular labour market. If wage labour is out of the question, AIR or the case manager helps the patient find a meaningful activity that leads to social contacts, structure and quality of life.