Talk to Irish Association for Supported Employment Kilkenny, 10 October 2009

1. Mental Health and Employment: Promoting Social Inclusion in the WorkplaceMargret Fine-DavisSocial Attitude and Policy Research GroupTrinity College Talk to Irish Association for Supported Employment Kilkenny, 10 October 2009

2. National Flexi-Work Partnership EUROPEAN SOCIAL FUND: helping develop employment by promoting employability, the business spirit and equal opportunities and investing in human resources The Work-Life Balance Project University of Dublin Trinity College For all older people

3. Consortium of Organisations in Project • Centre for Gender and Women’s Studies, Trinity College Dublin • Irish Business and Employer’s Confederation (IBEC) • Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) • FAS – the National Training Authority • Aware • Age Action Ireland

4. Aims To develop new models of working which will: • Facilitate the reconciliation of work and family life • Include groups with difficulty in attaining or maintaining employment • Encourage employers and policy makers to incorporate these models into their normal practices

5. Sub Projects and Studies • Pilot Projects to Test and Evaluate Flexible Working • Nationwide Representative Survey of Work-Life Balance • (sample of 1,212) • Survey of Mental Health and the Workplace • (sample of 133) to include special focus on: • Working Parents and Carers • Older People

6. National Flexi-work Partnership:Work-Life Balance Project “Mental Health & Employment: Promoting Social Inclusion in the Workforce” Margret Fine-Davis, Mary McCarthy, Grace Edge and Ciara O’Dwyer

7. Background • 300,000 or 1 in 14 people in Ireland suffer from depression

8. Social and Economic Rationale • Social: Everybody has the right to the opportunity of participating in economic life of the country • Economic: If economic growth is to be sustained all sources of labour must be utilised (NCPP, 2005)

9. Benefits of Working • Structure • Financial security • Interpersonal contact • Opportunity for skill use • Opportunity for self fulfilment and achievement • Sense of identity

10. Specific Benefits of Working for People with Mental Health Problems • Coping mechanism • Benefits are affiliative (i.e. not purely economic) • Protects against depression (Brown and Harris, 1978)

11. Benefits cont’d • Foster 1999: In relation to mental health rehabilitation “opportunities for employment are crucial” • Auerbach and Richardson 2005: “Not only was work a contributor to the person’s identity it was also an antidote to the person’s problems”

12. Benefits of Flexible Working for People with Mental Health Problems • Enables people with mental health problems to retain employment • Gives a message to employees that the organisation values them and that they can still contribute even during times of poor mental health

13. Stigmatisation Interaction between stigmatisation and disclosure of illness: • Fear that disclosure will lead to stigmatisation and stereotyping in the workplace • Fear of damaging promotional and career prospects

14. McKeon 1995 – 52% of people with MHP gave fictitious account of diagnosis to employer McKeon 2005 - 87% of people with MHP gave fictitious account of diagnosis to employer Disclosure

15. Research Method

16. Sampling Design • Respondents recruited mainly through AWARE • Interviews carried out with 133 people who had experienced MHP, specifically depression • Interviews carried out on a one to one basis

17. Sample Design cont’d • Sample stratified by employment status • and gender

18. Characteristics of the Sample • Employed: 44%, Non-employed 56% • Males: 44%, Females: 56% • Average age: 45 years

19. Gender and Employment Status

20. Questionnaire • Demographics • Work and work arrangements (currently employed) • Work history and preferences (non-employed) • Work and mental health problems (currently and non-employed) • Experience of people with mental health problems in the workplace (currently & previously employed) • Work-Life balance and well-being

21. Educational Attainment • People with mental health problems in our sample have a high level of educational attainment: • 45.8% of the employed have university degree or more • 11.9% - 3rd level degree • 33.9% - post graduate qualification

22. Educational Attainment Non-Employed 39.3% of non employed have university degree or more • 14.9% - 3rd level degree • 24.4% - post graduate qualifications

23. Type of Organisation and Employment Status

24. Reasons why Non-Employed Left Workforce • 58.9% of the previously employed left work due to their mental health problems

25. Desire to Return to Work • 72% of the non-employed said that they would like to return to employment • However just 55.4% of these thought that they actually would return

26. Work Characteristics

27. Individual Flexibility • 62.6% of currently employed had some degree of flexibility in their work schedule • Whereas only 30.1% of previously employed had some degree of flexibility in their work schedule

28. This illustrates the fact that flexibility is key to remaining in employment for people with mental health problems

29. Effect of Flexible Working on Career • Over half (55.5%) of the currently employed said that flexible working had a positive effect on their career

30. Effect of Flexible Working on Mental Health • 77.7% of employed respondents said that working flexibly had a positive effect on their mental health • 61.9% of non-employed also said it had a positive effect

31. To what extent people with mental health problems are stigmatised

32. Effect of own workplace on mental health

33. Increasing Stress Levels of Irish Workers • A survey carried for the Forum of the Workplace of the Future (National Centre for Partnership and Performance, 2005) found that Irish workers are experiencing increased levels of pressure and stress.

34. As a result increasing numbers of workers are in need of greater work-life balance. • Stress has particularly detrimental effects for people with mental health difficulties.

35. How often feel under stress

36. Life Satisfaction

37. Work and Mental Health Problems

38. Mental Health and the Workplace – Negative Experiences • 17.4% reported having received verbal abuse from colleagues • 19.7% reported having received verbal abuse from a manager/supervisor • 30.5% reported having been excluded in the workplace

39. Mental Health and the Workplace – Negative Experiences • 21.4% reported having had their workload lessened • 25.8% reported having been unfairly rebuked • 28.8% reported having been passed over for promotion • 16.9% reported having had their job description changed

40. Attitudes to Mental Health and the Workplace: A Comparison of the Nationwide and Mental Health Samples

41. Factor I: Positive Attitudes to Facilitating People with Mental Health Problems in the Workplace

42. Positive Attitudes to Facilitating People with Mental Health Problems in the Workplace

43. Factor II: Denial and Concealment of Mental Health Problems

44. The issue of disclosure: To disclose or not to disclose?

45. Disclosure • Just over 53% of the total sample had disclosed • 62.7% of employed had disclosed • 45.2% of previously employed had disclosed

46. Disclosure 44.7% of the total sample had never spoken to anyone at work regarding their mental health problems

47. Disclosure at Interview • 37.8% of currently employed had disclosed at interview • 21.9% of non-employed had disclosed at interview • Overall over two thirds of the total sample felt unable to disclose at interview

48. Disclosure cont’d 60% would advise a friend not to disclose if applying to a new job

49. Disclosure cont’d • 61.1% of currently employed respondents felt that disclosure had had a positive effect on them • whereas only 34.5% of the non-employed reported that disclosure had had a positive effect on them

50. Workplace Supports and Disclosure If you don’t disclose you may forgo the opportunity of availing of support (via personnel and programmes) in the workplace