Supported employment in primary and community care: a RCT

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    A randomised control trial to test the application of individual placement and support principles (IPS) in primary and community care. This employment support model will be eligible to Islington residents who are out of work with a long term health condition and/ or disability.

  • IRAS ID

    197750

  • Contact name

    Emily Hough

  • Contact email

    emily.hough@nhs.net

  • Sponsor organisation

    NHS England

  • ISRCTN Number

    ISRCTN92404527

  • Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier

    16/WM/0031, REC reference

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    2 years, 2 months, 0 days

  • Research summary

    Employment rates for people with a long term health condition are lower than those with no health condition (78% in employment). Employment rates vary by condition with the lowest being for learning disabilities (28%), followed by mental health conditions (42%), MSK conditions (58%) and then all other health conditions (65%).

    In recent years there have been a number of national programmes and local initiatives to support people with a health condition or disability, but they have tended to operate in parallel to the NHS rather than with the NHS.

    Building on a commitment made in the Five Year Forward View, NHS England is working in partnership with Islington Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and Council to test an intervention based on Individual Placement and Support (IPS) principles. IPS has proven to have a positive impact on employment outcomes of people with severe and enduring mental illness. The intervention being tested in this trial is based on IPS with adaptations to reach a wider cohort of patients in a different healthcare setting.

    This research is a randomised control trial with the aim of answering the following questions:

    1. Is an employment support intervention based on IPS, delivered in primary and community care more effective than current services in supporting people out of work with a long term health condition and/ or disability, find employment?
    2.Does this intervention have an impact on the patient’s wellbeing?
    3.Does this intervention work better for some patient groups?
    4.Does this intervention have an impact on health service use?

    This trial has been developed alongside clinicians and academics, such as Dr Geraldine Strathdee, Dr Martin McShane and Rachel Perkins PhD OBE, and with the insights of people who are not in employment because of their long term health condition and/ or disability.

  • REC name

    West Midlands - South Birmingham Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    16/WM/0031

  • Date of REC Opinion

    9 Mar 2016

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion