Policy paper

Psychological wellbeing and work: improving service provision and outcomes

External policy advice exploring how to improve employment and health outcomes for people with common mental health problems.

• From: Department for Work and Pensions and Department of Health and Social Care
• Published: 20 January 2014

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Documents

Psychological wellbeing and work: improving service provision and outcomes

PDF, 926 KB, 109 pages

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Details

This report by RAND Europe explores proposals to improve employment and health outcomes for people with common mental health problems. It was commissioned by the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department of Health through the Cabinet Office’s Contestable Policy Fund.

The report makes a number of recommendations. These include:

• using evidence-based models to provide services that combine employment and mental health support
• increasing integration between existing treatment and employment services to improve outcomes in both areas
• applying evidence-based models in new ways or a using combination of approaches
• providing timely access to coordinated treatment and employment support for a greater number of people with common mental health problems

The government is currently considering propsals in the report to improve support for people with common mental health problems and improve integration between employment and health services. These include:

• developing the link between psychological therapies and employment support
• enhancing support for those out of work to build resilience
• providing access to a range of work and wellbeing assessments online, by telephone and face to face

Helping people with mental health problems find work

On 20 March 2015 we published a report on a pilot scheme to help people with mental health problems, who are claiming Employment and Support Allowance, find paid work. The Department of Health and the Department for Work and Pensions commissioned the pilot based on the recommendations in the RAND report.

Published 20 January 2014