[Occupational rehabilitation of chronic psychiatric patients. Results of a prospective study over 3 years]

Vocational rehabilitation of mentally ill patients is now focused outside the psychiatric hospital. Three types of programmes play a major role: outpatient work therapy programmes at psychiatric hospitals, jobs in (partly) sheltered employment facilities as in companies specially adapted for employing mentally ill persons, and workshops for the mentally disabled. In the north-western German region of Westphalia-Lippe (population: 9 million) we carried out a three-year prospective study on a regionally representative sample from such rehabilitation institutions to assess the course and outcome of vocational rehabilitation. The sample comprised 295 men and 176 women with a mean age of 36.1 year (+/- 9.6). The majority were chronically ill patients with a history of frequent long-term hospitalisation. 61% of all probands were suffering from schizophrenic disorders. The outcome of vocational rehabilitation differs substantially among the three programme types, primarily due to varying baseline conditions, subjective expectations or goals, and courses of illness. The programmes are not alternatives but should be seen as supplementary components of a care system which has to meet a wide range of patient requirements. Vocational integration into the open labour market is a desirable and realistic objective for only some of those concerned.