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American Public Health Association
133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition
December 10-14, 2005
Philadelphia, PA
APHA 2005
 
5179.0: Wednesday, December 14, 2005 - 2:30 PM

Abstract #109128

Workplace accommodations that work for persons with mental illness

Marjorie L. Baldwin, PhD and Rebecca M. B. White, MPH. W. P. Carey School of Business - Health Management & Policy, Arizona State University, PO Box 874506, Tempe, AZ 85287-4506, 480-965-7868, marjorie.baldwin@asu.edu

BACKGROUND: The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 mandates that employers provide reasonable accommodations to otherwise qualified persons with psychiatric disabilities. Identifying specific accommodations that facilitate employment for persons with mental disorders is important because they may be different from accommodations for physical disorders, which typically involve technical changes to the job. METHODS: Data come from an exploratory study utilizing in-depth interviews with key stakeholders: 13 mental health professionals, 20 persons with mental illness with recent employment, and 14 supervisors of employees with mental illness. During the interviews, we inquired about typical days at work and work-place accommodations. Sessions were recorded and transcribed. Transcripts were analyzed using NUD*IST software. FINDINGS: The data identify modifiable factors in the form of workplace accommodations that can support employees with mental illness. In addition to 'employer-sponsored accommodations,' our data indicate that employees with mental illnesses are implementing their own, informal accommodations. These are particularly interesting because ‘employee-initiated accommodations' are less likely to interfere with other members of the work group, are typically of minimal cost to the employer, and often do not require disclosure on the part of the employee. IMPLICATIONS: Current measures of accommodations in national survey data, when available, may be overlooking the types of accommodations most appropriate for employees with mental illness. Additionally, employee-initiated accommodations, which may impact a person's ability to be successful in the labor market, are not currently being assessed. Measures must be developed to support an in-depth analysis of effective workplace accommodations for employees with psychiatric disabilities.

Learning Objectives:

Keywords: Mental Health, Policy/Policy Development

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Mental Illness and Employment

The 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition (December 10-14, 2005) of APHA