Top 5 Reasons Jobs Matter to People Recovering from Mental Illness
Just today, articles on the success of Buckelew’s employment services—including our expansion in Sonoma and Napa—appeared in three Bay Area newspapers. Last week I was interviewed by KFOG radio on employment for people with mental illness. And we were thrilled to ink a partnership with REDF (formerly known as the Roberts Enterprise Development Fund) that will give Buckelew the capital, staffing, and expertise to significantly increase job opportunities for people with barriers to employment.
One of the many things I love about our partnership with REDF is our shared values—their tagline is “Investing in Employment and Hope;” ours is “Creating Jobs, Homes, and Hope.” People who traditionally have thought of Buckelew as primarily a supported housing provider might ask: “So why the emphasis on jobs?”
The answer is that jobs…work…employment…meaningful occupation… play a crucial part in our clients’ recovery. We recently heard in a Buckelew Community Forum that the international NGO BasicNeeds—in creating a recovery-focused community mental health system from scratch in Africa, India, Sri Lanka, and Laos—has centered its service approach on helping people with mental illness to develop “sustainable livelihoods” by creating opportunities for work.
Really, the importance of employment shouldn’t be a surprise to any of us who work—or have ever lost a job. And it’s a sad fact that, while 60-70% of people with mental illness would like at least a part time job, only 10-15% nationwide do. That’s right—people with mental illness have an unemployment rate of 85-90%. And that’s what we’re trying to change. Why? Here are my Top 5 reasons (adapted from Marrone & Golowka, Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, Vol. 23, #2, p. 187-193) why it’s important for people with mental illness to work:
1) Unemployment and poverty is much worse for mental health than the stresses of employment.
2) It’s a responsibility of citizenship, a “part of the deal,” and a right that should be enjoyed.
3) It’s a way to meet people, expand social networks, and develop friendships.
4) It gives people more status in society than the “consumer” role, and goes a long way to reducing stigma.
5) It provides a distraction from the symptoms of mental illness, an opportunity to manage those symptoms, and a reason to feel better and more hopeful about life.
There is a great deal of research on the value of employment for people recovering from mental illness. Unfortunately, the mental health field has historically not done enough to really address this issue, which is why Buckelew is paying so much attention to delivering evidence based practices in supported employment and social enterprise development to find jobs, create jobs, and support our clients to be successful in those jobs. That’s a big part of how we work to create hope, and a chance for clients to live sustainable, thriving lives in our communities. And that's what we're all about.
(You can learn more about how Buckelew's creates opportunities for people with mental illness at http://www.buckelew.org )
