Career Management to Improve Education, Employment and Retention for People With Anxiety and Depression
Condition: Anxiety; Depression
MeSH terms: Depression; Depressive Disorder; Anxiety Disorders
Study type: Interventional
Phase: Phase 2

Summary: 
      The aim of the investigation is to evaluate the effectiveness and costeffectiveness of a
      model of supported employment (the Individual Career Management (ICM) model) designed to help
      people with common mental illness return to work.
    

Detailed description: 
      The design of the study is a randomised controlled trial of two groups in a natural setting
      (intervention group vs control group). The primary outcome is paid employment. Standard care
      for all participants is a package of psychological therapy (IAPT). The intervention is an
      additional package of employment support (ICM) delivered alongside standard care.

      The intervention group and control group will both receive standard care. The intervention
      group will receive ICM support in addition to standard care and the control group will be
      given details of other employment programmes in the local area, in line with current IAPT
      practice. The control period will last six months. There will be no fewer than 184
      participants in the study (92 in each arm).

      The study will take place at the Southwark Psychological Therapies Service at the SLaM NHS
      Foundation Trust. Patients that meet the inclusion criteria will be invited to attend an
      interview where written informed consent and baseline measures will be obtained. The
      participant will then be randomly assigned to either the intervention or control group. All
      participants will be invited to attend a second interview at the end of a six month period
      where followup measures will be taken. If the intervention is available at this time, control
      group participants may then be offered the opportunity to receive it.

      A randomised controlled trial of supported employment for people with common mental health
      problems has never been carried out in the UK, therefore this study will be the first of its
      kind. The results will help to determine if ICM is an effective and costeffective service and
      will provide the foundations for further research in this area.
    

Intervention name(s): Individual Career Management (ICM); Standard Care
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): The intervention will be Individual Career Management (ICM) support for a six month period. ICM consists of individually tailored support to help an individual to obtain and retain in employment. ICM follows the seven principles of supported employment (often referred to an Individual Placement and Support), but includes the additional principles of career counselling, motivational coaching, education and training support, and specialist job retention support. The length and frequency of ICM support sessions is determined by the needs of the client.; A package of psychological therapy delivered by an Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) practitioner.
Other intervention name(s): IPS; Supported Employment; IAPT; CBT
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Investigator)
Primary purpose: Health Services Research
Keywords: Common mental illness; Supported Employment; Anxiety; Depression; Sickness absence