Specialised Supported Education for Australians with Psychotic Disorders

Abstract

Australia has a network of Federally funded disability employment and vocational rehabilitation services, including a proportion of outlets that specialise in providing services for persons with psychiatric disabilities. However, neither Federal nor State Governments currently provide or fund disability‐specific education assistance to persons with psychiatric disabilities. To begin considering whether Specialised Supported Education is indicated for persons with psychotic disorders, we examined data collected in a national ‘Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers Australia, 1998’. International studies of the effectiveness of overseas Supported Education programs were also examined to identify the forms of assistance most likely to warrant consideration in Australia. U.S.A. evidence indicates that Specialised Supported Education is emerging as an effective career development option for persons with psychotic disorders. An example of an innovative Specialised Supported Education program is provided to illustrate how this type of program can be implemented in Australia.

Using Motivational Interviewing to Increase Retention in Supported Education

“…Alternatively, some studies point to the link between successful participation in education by individuals with psychiatric disabilities and improved work outcomes, including their enduring employment (Jablensky et al, 1999;Murphy, Mullen, & Spagnolo, 2005;Waghorn, Chant, & Whiteford, 2003;Waghorn, Still, Chant, & Whiteford, 2004). Meaningful work is described as a functional indicator of healing and growth beyond the disability, and it is often critical in recovering a personal sense of worth (Bond, Resnick, Drake, Xie, McHugo, & Bebout, 2001).…”

“…Individuals with a psychiatric disability have much higher rates of dropout from postsecondary education (PSE) than does the wider population (Swanson, Gur, Bilker, Petty, & Gur, 1998;Waghorn, Still, Chant, & Whiteford, 2004). Supported education (SEd) is an intervention model designed to assist individuals with a psychiatric disability in completing their PSE.…”

The Reliability of an Education-related Self-efficacy Scale for People with Psychiatric Disabilities

“…Without specialized educational interventions, a substantial proportion of people with psychiatric disability will continue to experience lifelong educational disadvantage (Waghorn et al 2004). One way to address this problem is to encourage mental health services to shift towards a greater focus on client recovery goals, including vocational goals in mainstream education and employment settings (Brown and Tucker 2005).…”

“…There is mounting evidence that restoring educational pathways is feasible and that when higher education is attained, career trajectories are enhanced in the longer term (Waghorn et al 2004).…”

Supported education: Enabling course completion for people experiencing mental illness

“…However, there is very little published evidence of these initiatives or their outcomes. Only one Australian paper could be identified that described a public health/TAFE college partnership that successfully implemented an educational program for young people with first‐episode psychosis; the program was run once only with no allowance for evaluation, hence no formal follow up of participants occurred and no outcomes were described (Waghorn, Still, Chant & Whiteford, 2004). Outcomes have been described in the North American literature, however, longitudinal follow up is limited and course completion rates unknown (Mowbray et al ., 2005).…”