Return-to-work interventions for persons/employees with mental illnesses

Abstract

Purpose of reviewMental illnesses are among the most common diseases worldwide. Cases of inability to work caused by mental illness are frequent and the related economic burden is immense. A successful reintegration into their work environment of those patients who were on sick leave due to a mental illness is an important prognostic factor for the further course of the disease and helps reducing financial consequences. It was the aim of the present review to give an overview of the status quo of return-to-work interventions in the international literature. Recent findingsMain themes of interventions addressing return to work of persons with mental illnesses are the provision of psychotherapeutic support with or without combining these approaches with work directed interventions. Personal contact of employees, mental healthcare staff and supervisors may be helpful with regard to facilitating return to work.

Supporting return to work after psychiatric hospitalization—A cluster randomized study (RETURN-study)

“…Finally, most patients in our trial were suffering from severe mental illnesses. Results are therefore only partially comparable to existing studies on RTW that mainly focused on patients with common mental diseases [2]. Therefore, in our sample, the role of the "endogenic" disease might be more prominent than work-related factors such as "burnout"symptoms [19].…”

“…Mental illnesses are among the most common diseases worldwide [ 1 , 2 ]. In Germany, 28% of the population aged 18–79 has suffered from a mental illness within the last 12 months [ 3 ].…”

“…Their approaches vary substantially including, for example, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) programs [ 11 ], rehabilitation programs [ 12 ], case management [ 13 ], or, quite frequently, complex interventions combining clinical and work-directed measures [ 14 ]. Most interventions were very elaborate and costly, however, not yielding completely convincing effects regarding RTW [ 2 ]. In addition, existing studies often systematically excluded those persons with more severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, or major depression [ 2 ].…”

“…Most interventions were very elaborate and costly, however, not yielding completely convincing effects regarding RTW [ 2 ]. In addition, existing studies often systematically excluded those persons with more severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, or major depression [ 2 ]. It was therefore the aim of the RETURN study to evaluate an easy-to-implement return to work intervention specifically addressing persons with mental illnesses being so severe that they require inpatient treatment.…”