Barriers to vocational effectiveness in ACT: Staff perspectives

William R. Waynor, Carlos W. Pratt

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

Assertive community treatment (ACT), for persons with serious mental illness, includes a vocational focus as an important aspect of community integration. Nevertheless, research suggests that ACT does not assist significant numbers of consumers in achieving employment goals. A two-step survey of New Jersey ACT team members was designed to identify the key issues that hinder ACT staff members in assisting consumers with obtaining employment. Survey items were categorized into three sections: (a) staff attitudes, (b) consumer barriers, and (c) staff barriers to working on employment. The initial survey asked staff members to rate items in each of these categories. Highly rated items were used in a subsequent paired comparison survey to determine the relative importance of each. This method highlighted the following issues: four staff attitude items-(a) returning to work is positive, (b) employment is key to recovery, (c) abstinence from substance abuse is needed to work, and (d) consumers are too ill to work; four consumer barrier items-(a) fear of loss of Social Security Administration benefits, (b) symptoms related to the illness, (c) lack of motivation, and (d) poor social skills; and three barriers to working on employment issues items-(a) clinical issues take priority, (b) other case management issues takes priority, and (c) too many emergencies. The implications for staff training are discussed.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)72-79
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association
Volume17
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2011

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Phychiatric Mental Health

Keywords

  • ACT/PACT
  • community mental health services
  • treatment assessment and planning

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Barriers to vocational effectiveness in ACT: Staff perspectives'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this