Caregivers’ hopes, expectations and concerns surrounding the employment and future of young people with mental health conditions

Wen Lin Teh, Kumarasan Roystonn, Janhavi Ajit Vaingankar, Chong Min Janrius Goh, YunJue Zhang, Siow Ann Chong, Swapna Verma, Benjamin Tay and Mythily Subramaniam

International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 2021, vol. 67, issue 5, 432-440

Abstract: Objective: Informal caregivers are often placed in a better position to understand and advocate for the vocational needs of young persons with mental health conditions. However, their opinions are largely ignored in the planning of vocational outcomes. This qualitative study had two broad aims: to explore (1) the perceptions of caregivers of young adults with mental health conditions on issues of paid employment and (2) their views and expectations of employment support services. Methods: A total of 30 semi-structured interviews were conducted. Caregivers were 45 years old on average, the majority were women (73%) and were of Chinese ethnicity (53%). Most participants (60%) were parents of the young persons with psychotic disorders (57%), or affective and mood disorders, such as depression or anxiety disorders (43%). Results: Thematic analyses of data revealed three superordinate themes: (1) caregiving roles, (2) caregivers’ expectations and hopes, and (3) barriers to employmentof young persons with mental health conditions. Conclusions and implications for practice: Caregivers strongly believed that employment support services should prioritise and advocate for recovery while securing employment. Local mental health employment support services should incorporate the views and expectations of caregivers of young persons with mental health conditions to foster better coordination between stakeholders, and enhance support for successful employment, reintegration into the community, and ultimately recovery for these individuals.

Keywords: Employment support services; vocational recovery; mental illness; paid employment; caregivers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0020764020960763 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:67:y:2021:i:5:p:432-440

DOI: 10.1177/0020764020960763

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in International Journal of Social Psychiatry
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().