Work accommodations and natural supports for maintaining employment

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Occupational Health
• Rehabilitation Psychology

Background:

• Job tenure for individuals with severe mental disorders is often short, even with supported employment.
• Limited research exists on the impact of workplace accommodations and natural supports on job retention for this population.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a new measure for assessing workplace accommodations and natural supports.
• To identify which accommodations and supports are linked to longer job tenure in supported employment.

Main Methods:

• The Work Accommodation and Natural Support Scale (WANSS) was administered to 124 individuals with severe mental disorders in supported employment.
• Data included disclosure status and job tenure, analyzed using survival analysis.

Main Results:

• The WANSS, with 40 items across 6 dimensions, demonstrated validity.
• Disclosure of mental disorder correlated with the number of supports received.
• Supervisor and coworker support emerged as key predictors of job tenure.

Conclusions:

• The WANSS is a reliable tool for assessing workplace supports.
• Employment specialists can utilize the WANSS to improve job retention strategies for individuals with severe mental disorders.