Standardizing Fidelity to Evidence-Based Practice in the Early Psychosis Intervention Network.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated variations in the measurement of fidelity to coordinated specialty care (CSC) within the Early Psychosis Intervention Network (EPINET), a learning health system that consists of 101 CSC programs within eight hubs. The study investigated the degree to which five fidelity scales could be mapped onto a standard scale. METHODS: The investigators identified six fidelity scales in use by EPINET participants; examined their item content, scoring, and data sources; and mapped five scales onto the First Episode Psychosis Services Fidelity Scale (FEPS-FS), which is the most widely used scale. RESULTS: Mapping five fidelity scales onto the FEPS-FS showed that the percentage of FEPS-FS components successfully mapped ranged from 42% to 81%. CONCLUSIONS: Mapping five scales onto one that uses dichotomous scoring identified the degree of variation in measures and reduced the amount and quality of usable fidelity data. Identifying variations in fidelity measurement is a core function of a learning health system.

Evidence-Based Supported Employment for Individuals With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

Individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), a chronic and disabling psychiatric disorder, experience high rates of occupational impairment. OCD symptoms commonly affect individuals' vocational aspirations and result in disability and the need for financial support, problems that are not addressed by current clinical practice guideline recommendations for treating OCD. This Open Forum highlights the need to address occupational impairment caused by OCD and makes the case for formally evaluating whether evidence-based supported employment can help individuals with OCD find and succeed in meaningful work.

Individual placement and support for young adults: One-year outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: Many young adults who are unemployed and not in school need support achieving employment goals. Individual Placement and Support (IPS) is an evidence-based employment practice for adults with serious mental illness, but its applicability to young adults with mental health conditions has not been well-researched. The present study prospectively assessed IPS effectiveness in a national sample of young adults enrolled in routine practice settings in the U.S. public mental health system. METHOD: Nine community agencies in five states participated in a 1-year follow-up study of young adults (aged 16-24) enrolled in IPS services. The study examined three outcomes: retention in services, employment, and education. State fidelity reviewers examined IPS fidelity using a new fidelity scale, the IPS-Y. RESULTS: In a sample of 111 participants, the mean age was 19.2, 72 (64.9%) had never worked, and 76 (68.5%) had a diagnosis of depressive and/or anxiety disorder. Participants averaged 8 months of enrollment before terminating from IPS services. During follow-up, 51 (45.9%) participants obtained a competitive job (N = 50) or paid internship (N = 1); 14 (12.6%) achieved a new education outcome. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: IPS has promising outcomes for helping young adults with mental health conditions achieve positive employment outcomes, but its effectiveness in helping young adults achieve education goals has not been demonstrated. IPS should be offered to young adults with employment goals. Targeted funding for supported education and training for IPS specialists in delivering educational supports may be necessary to ensure optimal education outcomes in IPS. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Individual placement and support programmes for young adults: Where are they and whom do they serve?

AIM: Individual Placement and Support (IPS), an evidence-based supported employment model developed for adults with serious mental illness, has been recently targeted to young adults with mental health conditions, but little is known about its adoption in this age group in the United States. METHODS: We recruited a volunteer sample of nine IPS programmes in five states serving young adults with mental health conditions aged 16 to 24. IPS team leaders reported programme and participant characteristics and rated barriers to employment and education. RESULTS: Most IPS programmes were located in community mental health centres, served a small number of young adults, and received most referrals from external sources. The study sample of 111 participants included 53% female, 47% under 21 years old, 60% diagnosed with a depressive disorder; 92% had an employment goal, and 40% had an education goal. IPS specialists reported that managing mental health symptoms was the most common barrier to achieving employment and education goals. CONCLUSION: Future research should examine how IPS programmes could best provide services to young adults.

Modification of the Individual Placement and Support Model of Supported Employment.

Individual placement and support (IPS) is a robust evidence-based model of supported employment for people with mental health conditions that has been implemented in high-income countries. The model is now being extended to new populations and settings, often with modifications. Current evidence indicates that minor modifications may increase fit, major alterations of core principles generally reduce effectiveness, and augmentations have mixed success. The authors recommend that those who implement IPS adhere to its core principles whenever possible, use standardized methods to document and assess modifications, and follow basic scientific procedures to develop, measure, and evaluate modifications before recommending policy changes.

A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of IPS Supported Employment for Young Adults with Mental Health Conditions.

Young adults with mental health conditions want to work and advance their education, but many need help attaining these goals. Individual Placement and Support (IPS), originally developed for working-age adults with serious mental illness, is an evidence-based employment model that may benefit young adults. This study is the first systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of IPS for this population. We conducted a systematic review of the effectiveness of IPS for young adults with mental health conditions, supplementing our electronic search of the published literature with secondary analyses of two published RCTs. Using meta-analysis, we evaluated employment rate, job duration, and education rate. Seven studies met the inclusion criteria. Four evaluated IPS for young adults with early psychosis and three evaluated IPS for other young adult subgroups. All found a significantly higher employment rate for IPS than the control group. Overall, 208 (58.3%) of 357 IPS participants and 110 (32.4%) of 340 control participants were competitively employed during follow-up, yielding an overall risk ratio of 1.69 (95% CI 1.43, 1.99), z = 6.24, p < 0.001. Six of the seven studies also reported longer job duration for IPS than the control group, yielding an overall g = 0.34 (95% CI 0.09, 0.58), z = 2.72, p < 0.01. None of four RCTs examining education outcomes found a significant difference favoring IPS, but the overall risk ratio was significant: 1.33 (95% CI 1.06, 1.66), z = 2.51, p < 0.01. Although the empirical literature is limited, IPS appears to be effective in helping young adults with serious mental illness or early psychosis gain and keep competitive jobs. The impact of IPS on education outcomes is unclear. Future research should evaluate the generalizability of these findings to the broad range of young adults with mental health conditions needing help with their employment goals.

Individual Placement and Support (IPS) for High School Aged Youth: Provider Perspective and Practice.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine Individual Placement and Support (IPS) employment specialists who expanded and enhanced the IPS model for the youngest of working age youth with mental health conditions (ages 16-21). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 100% of the providers delivering IPS-based career services for high school aged youth during an exploratory pilot. Content coding was applied to interview transcripts. Findings reflect the complexities of providing career services to high school age youth, suggesting components needed for effective services. These components include: provision of supports that help youth complete high school and negotiate the transition to college, coaching and skill development to improve executive functioning for work and school, coping skills coaching for mental health symptoms, flexible engagement strategies that assure youth self-determination of goals, longer range career and goal planning, and close collaboration with families.

Individual placement and support: History, current status, and future directions.

Over the past three decades, Individual Placement and Support (IPS) has emerged as a robust evidence-based approach to helping people with severe mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression, to obtain and succeed in competitive employment. This review addresses the history, principles, research, and future directions of IPS. It covers current evidence on employment outcomes, cost-effectiveness, and nonvocational outcomes. It also describes current attempts to extend IPS to new populations. The authors provide an overview of numerous systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials involving people with serious mental illness. For studies addressing nonvocational outcomes and new populations, the review uses best available evidence. Published reviews agree that IPS enables patients with serious mental illness in high-income countries to succeed in competitive employment at a higher rate than patients who receive other vocational interventions. Within IPS programs, quality of implementation, measured by standardized fidelity scales, correlates with better outcomes. Employment itself leads to enhanced income, psychosocial outcomes, clinical improvements, and decreased mental health service use. As IPS steadily spreads to new populations and new settings, research is active across high-income countries and spreading slowly to middle-income countries. IPS is an evidence-based practice for people with serious mental illness in high-income countries. It shows promise to help other disability groups also, and emerging research aims to clarify adaptations and outcomes.

Virtual Learning Collaborative Compared to Technical Assistance as a Strategy for Implementing Health Promotion in Routine Mental Health Settings: A Hybrid Type 3 Cluster Randomized Trial.

BACKGROUND: Despite widespread use of learning collaboratives, few randomized trials have evaluated their effectiveness as a strategy for implementing evidence based practices. This randomized trial evaluated the effectiveness of a virtual learning collaborative (VLC) in the implementation of a health promotion program for persons with serious mental illness (SMI) aimed at reducing cardiovascular risk reduction in routine mental health settings, compared to routine technical assistance (TA). METHODS: Fifty-five mental health provider organizations were recruited to participate in a Hybrid Type 3 cluster randomized implementation-effectiveness trial of the InSHAPE health promotion program for persons with SMI. Sites were stratified by size and randomized prior to implementation to an 18-month group-based VLC with monthly learning sessions or individual site TA with four scheduled conference calls over 18 months. Primary implementation and service outcomes were InSHAPE program fidelity, participation, and reach. Primary clinical outcomes were weight loss, cardiorespiratory fitness, and cardiovascular risk reduction (≥ 5% weight loss or > 50 m increase on the 6-Minute Walk Test). Program fidelity was assessed at 6, 12, and 24 months; program participation and participant-level outcomes were assessed at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. RESULTS: VLC (N = 27) and TA (N = 28) sites were similar in organizational characteristics (all p > 0.05). At 12-month follow-up mean program fidelity score was higher in VLC compared to TA (90.5 vs. 79.1; p = 0.002), with over double the proportion with good fidelity (VLC = 73.9% vs. TA = 34.8%; p = 0.009). Over half of individuals in both VLC and TA achieved cardiovascular risk-reduction at 6-month follow-up (VLC: 51.0%; TA: 53.5%; p = 0.517) and at 12-month follow-up (62% VLC and TA; p = 0.912). At 12-month follow-up VLC compared to TA was associated with greater participation (VLC 69.5% vs. TA 56.4% attending at least 50% of sessions, p = 0.002); larger caseloads (VLC = 16 vs. TA = 11; p = 0.024); greater reach consisting of 45% greater number of participants receiving InSHAPE (VLC = 368 vs. TA = 253), and 58% greater number of participants achieving cardiovascular risk reduction (VLC = 150 vs. TA = 95). CONCLUSION: Virtual learning collaboratives compared to routine technical assistance as an implementation strategy for evidence-based health promotion promote greater intervention fidelity, greater levels of intervention participation, greater reach, and a greater number of participants achieving clinically significant risk reduction outcomes, while achieving similarly high levels of intervention effectiveness for participants who completed at least 6 months of the program.

Who benefits from individual placement and support? A meta-analysis.

AIMS: Individual placement and support (IPS) is an evidence-based service model to support people with mental disorders in obtaining and sustaining competitive employment. IPS is increasingly offered to a broad variety of service users. In this meta-analysis we analysed the relative effectiveness of IPS for different subgroups of service users both based on the diagnosis and defined by a range of clinical, functional and personal characteristics. METHODS: We included randomised controlled trials that evaluated IPS for service users diagnosed with any mental disorder. We examined effect sizes for the between-group differences at follow-up for three outcome measures (employment rate, job duration and wages), controlling for methodological confounders (type of control group, follow-up duration and geographic region). Using sensitivity analyses of subgroup differences, we analysed moderating effects of the following diagnostic, clinical, functional and personal characteristics: severe mental illness (SMI), common mental disorders (CMD), schizophrenia spectrum disorders, mood disorders, duration of illness, the severity of symptoms, level of functioning, age, comorbid alcohol and substance use, education level and employment history. RESULTS: IPS is effective in improving employment outcomes compared to the control group in all subgroups, regardless of any methodological confounder. However, IPS was relatively more effective for service users with SMIs, schizophrenia spectrum disorders and a low symptom severity. Although IPS was still effective for people with CMD and with major depressive disorder, it was relatively less effective for these subgroups. IPS was equally effective after both a short and a long follow-up period. However, we found small, but clinically not meaningful, differences in effectiveness of IPS between active and passive control groups. Finally, IPS was relatively less effective in European studies compared to non-European studies, which could be explained by a potential benefits trap in high welfare countries. CONCLUSIONS: IPS is effective for all different subgroups, regardless of diagnostic, clinical, functional and personal characteristics. However, there might be a risk of false-positive subgroup outcomes and results should be handled with caution. Future research should focus on whether, and if so, how the IPS model should be adapted to better meet the vocational needs of people with CMD and higher symptom severity.

A Randomized Controlled Trial of an Employment Program for Veterans Transitioning from the Military: Two-Year Outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Military personnel face numerous challenges transitioning from military jobs to meaningful civilian employment. Many veterans seek help finding employment, but few veteran employment programs have been rigorously studied. Transitioning veterans generally have access to Local Community Resources (LCR), which include the Veterans Health Administration vocational rehabilitation services, the state-federal Vocational Rehabilitation program, and the Department of Labor's American Job Centers. By contrast, the innovative National Career Coach Program (NCCP) offers intensive career coaching and financial incentives for working. METHODS: This study used a randomized controlled design to compare the NCCP and LCR approaches for 208 transitioning service members (recent or pending transition). Researchers conducted interviews by telephone every four months for two years. Outcomes included earnings, months worked, and standardized self-report measures of health and well-being. Findings At two-year follow-up, significantly more NCCP participants had worked in paid employment than LCR participants (95% vs. 83%). NCCP participants averaged $2568 in monthly earnings compared to $1865 for LCR participants, thus averaging $16,872 more total income per participant over the two-year period. Employment outcomes significantly improved between Year 1 and Year 2. NCCP participants also reported significantly greater improvements in both physical and mental health compared to LCR participants. Average monthly earnings correlated with changes in health outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Veterans receiving multi-faceted employment services early in the transition from the military showed sustained benefit over a two-year period with increased earnings over time and improved mental and physical outcomes. Positive employment outcomes may have contributed to improved health outcomes.

Comparing Service Use and Costs of Individual Placement and Support With Usual Vocational Services for Veterans With PTSD.

Objective: Among veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), supported employment that utilizes the individual placement and support (IPS) model has resulted in consistently better employment and functional outcomes than usual vocational rehabilitation services. This study aimed to compare these two approaches in terms of health services use and associated costs. Methods: A secondary analysis of a multisite randomized controlled trial of 541 unemployed veterans with PTSD used archival data from electronic medical records to assess the use and costs of health services of IPS and usual care (i.e., a transitional work [TW] program) over 18 months. Comparisons were also made to an 18-month postintervention period. Results: The two study groups did not differ in number of inpatient days or in utilization or cost of high-intensity services. Annual per-person costs of health services were approximately 20% higher for IPS than for TW participants (mean difference=$4,910 per person per year, p<0.05) during the intervention period, largely driven by higher utilization and costs for vocational services in the IPS group (p<0.001). These costs declined postintervention to nonsignificant differences. The mean annual per-person vocational service cost was $6,388 for IPS and $2,549 for TW (mean difference=$3,839, p<0.001) during the intervention period. Conclusions: In keeping with IPS's intensive case management approach, veterans receiving IPS used more vocational services and had correspondingly higher costs than veterans receiving TW. The two groups did not differ in use or cost of other types of health services. Future research should examine whether higher short-term costs associated with IPS relative to usual care result in long-term cost savings or higher quality of life for persons with PTSD.

Impact of cognitive remediation on the prediction of employment outcomes in severe mental illness.

OBJECTIVE: Cognitive functioning is a potent predictor of work in people with a severe mental illness, including those receiving vocational services. Cognitive remediation has been shown to improve cognitive functioning and work outcomes in people receiving vocational services. However, it is unknown whether it reduces the strength of cognitive functioning as a predictor of work outcomes compared to people receiving vocational services alone. METHOD: Data were pooled from five randomized controlled trials evaluating the effects of adding cognitive remediation to vocational rehabilitation vs. vocational services alone. A battery of baseline cognitive functioning measures was examined to identify predictors of competitive work outcomes over the following two years. Study condition (i.e., receipt of cognitive remediation) was included in the analyses to evaluate whether cognitive functioning was a weaker predictor of work outcomes in people receiving cognitive remediation compared to those receiving vocational services alone. RESULTS: Cognitive functioning was a stronger predictor of wages earned and weeks worked in participants receiving vocational services alone than those who also received cognitive remediation. Cognitive functioning did not predict job acquisition in either study condition. CONCLUSION: Cognitive remediation may improve employment outcomes in people receiving vocational services in part by reducing the adverse effects of impaired cognitive functioning on work performance.

Transition from Military Service: Mental Health and Well-being Among Service Members and Veterans with Service-connected Disabilities.

Transitioning from military service is stressful for veterans with service-connected disabilities seeking civilian employment. This descriptive study examined self-assessed mental health, well-being, and substance use of men and women shortly before or after transition from US military service, compared to norms from community and military samples. As part of a prospective study evaluating an innovative employment program, researchers interviewed 229 current and former service members with service-connected disabilities transitioning from U.S. military service. Compared to published norms, respondents reported significantly poorer outcomes on 5 of 6 standardized measures, indicating less life satisfaction, poorer mental health, more symptoms of depression and posttraumatic stress disorder, and greater financial distress. In the previous year, 42% were prescribed opioid medications, over twice the annual opioid prescription rate of 19% in the general US population. Systematic strategies are needed to ensure access for transitioning veterans with serious behavioral health issues to appropriate evidence-based practices.

Cost-Effectiveness of Individual Placement and Support Compared to Transitional Work Program for Veterans with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) leads to significant disability, unemployment, and substantial healthcare costs. The cost-effectiveness of vocational rehabilitation (VR) interventions is important to consider when determining which services to offer. This study assesses the cost-effectiveness and return on investment of Individual Placement and Support (IPS) compared to transitional work (TW) programs. Employment outcomes from a multisite randomized trial comparing IPS to TW in military veterans with PTSD (n = 541) were linked to Veterans Health Administration (VHA) archival medical record databases to examine the comparative cost-effectiveness and return on investment. Effectiveness was defined as hours worked and income earned in competitive jobs. Costs for VR, mental health, and medical care and income earned from competitive sources were annualized and adjusted to 2019 US dollars. The annualized mean cost per person of outpatient (including vocational services) were $3970 higher for IPS compared to TW ($23,245 vs. $19,276, respectively; P = 0.004). When TW income was included in costs, mean grand total costs per person per year were similar between groups ($29,828 IPS vs. $26,772 TW; P = 0.17). The incremental cost-effectiveness analysis showed that while IPS is more costly, it is also more effective. The return on investment (excluding TW income) was 32.9% for IPS ($9762 mean income/$29,691 mean total costs) and 29.6% for TW ($7326 mean income/$24,781 mean total costs). IPS significantly improves employment outcomes for individuals with PTSD with negligible increase in healthcare costs and yields very good return on investment compared to non-IPS VR services.

Growth of IPS Supported Employment Programs in the United States: An Update.

OBJECTIVE: Individual placement and support (IPS), an evidence-based supported employment practice, is a core service in community mental health in the United States. Several factors promote the growth of IPS, including a network of 24 states participating in a learning community devoted to expanding IPS services. This study examined growth of IPS in the United States from 2016 to 2019, comparing growth rates for states within and outside the learning community. METHODS: This national survey included telephone interviews with 70 representatives from state mental health and vocational rehabilitation agencies in 50 states and the District of Columbia, replicating methods of a 2016 survey. The primary outcomes were the number of IPS programs and clients served. The survey inquired about four indicators of state-level support for IPS implementation and sustainment: collaboration between state agencies, independent fidelity reviews, technical assistance and training, and funding. RESULTS: In 2019, 41 (80%) of 50 states and the District of Columbia had IPS services, with 857 IPS programs serving an estimated 43,209 clients. Between 2016 and 2019, the number of programs increased from 272 to 486 in 22 learning-community states and two learning-community counties, and from 251 to 371 in 18 states outside the learning community. State-level support for IPS was significantly greater in learning-community states, compared with non-learning-community states. CONCLUSIONS: IPS services expanded substantially in the United States between 2016 and 2019. Learning-community states had more rapid growth and provided greater implementation support, facilitating implementation, expansion, and sustainment of high-fidelity IPS. Nevertheless, access to IPS remains limited.

Evaluation of an Employment Intervention for Veterans Transitioning From the Military: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

ABSTRACT: Military personnel face numerous challenges transitioning from military jobs to meaningful civilian employment. The Independence Project compared an innovative employment program (National Career Coach Program) with standard employment services (Local Community Resources) in a randomized controlled trial. Study participants were transitioning veterans with self-reported service-connected disabilities seeking permanent employment. The primary outcomes were paid employment and disability ratings over 1 year. Secondary outcomes included health and well-being. At 1-year follow-up, National Career Coach Program participants were significantly more likely to work, had significantly greater earnings, and reported significantly greater improvements in physical and mental health compared with participants assigned to Local Community Resources. Both groups increased in disability ratings over 12 months, with no difference between groups. Multifaceted supports delivered by the National Career Coach Program increased employment, earnings, mental health, and physical health over 1 year. These significant differences appeared even though control group participants achieved considerable employment success.

The effect evaluation of Individual Placement and Support (IPS) for patients with substance use disorders: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial of IPS versus enhanced self-help.

BACKGROUND: Employment is associated with better outcomes of substance use treatment and protects against relapse after treatment completion. Unemployment rates are high for people with substance use disorders (SUD) who undergo treatment, with Norwegian estimates ranging from 81 to 91%. Evidence-based vocational models are lacking for patients in SUD treatment but exist for patients with psychosis in terms of Individual Placement and Support (IPS). The aim of the IPS for substance use disorders (IPS-SUD) trial is to investigate the effect of IPS in a SUD population. METHODS/DESIGN: The IPS-SUD trial is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing IPS to an enhanced control intervention. The study is a seven-site, two-arm, pragmatic, parallel-group, superiority RCT. Participants are randomly assigned (1:1) to receive either IPS plus treatment as usual (TAU) or to receive a self-help guide book and 12-h workshop plus 1-h individual vocational guidance plus TAU. Aiming to recruit 200 participants, we will be able to detect a 20% difference in the main outcome of employment with 90% power. We will make assessments at inclusion and at 6- and 12-month follow-ups and obtain outcome data on employment from national mandatory registries. The primary outcome will be at least 1 day of competitive employment during the 18-month follow-up period. Secondary employment outcomes will capture the pattern and extent of employment in terms of total time worked (days/hours), time to first employment, number of different jobs, duration of the longest employment, and sustained employment. Secondary non-employment outcomes will be substance use, mental distress, and quality of life measured by validated instruments at 6, 12, and 18 months follow-up assessments. To be eligible, participants must be between 18 and 65 years, currently unemployed and in treatment for SUD. DISCUSSION: The IPS-SUD trial will provide evidence for the use of IPS in a SUD population. Findings from the study will have implications for service delivery. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04289415 . Registered on February 28, 2020.