Abstract
Individuals living with severe mental illness experience persistent symptoms impacting their level of functioning, including vocational trajectories. Maintaining employment represents a challenge for most and improvements to existing supported employment programs could be made to specifically address this issue. The objective of the present study was to investigate the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary effects of a new intervention, ‘Minds@Work’, specifically targeting predictors of job tenure. This pilot study was a case series (n = 6) with an ABA design. Primary outcomes evaluating job tenure and secondary outcomes measuring its targeted predictors were evaluated over 15 timepoints. Visual and statistical analysis of individual raw data were combined with TAU-U contrasts. Descriptive analyses of workplace informants’ data and of 3- and 6-month follow-up interviews were also carried out. Maintenance of job tenure indices and significant improvements over time on secondary outcomes related to motivation to rework (β = 0.21, p < 0.01) and to stay in employment β = 0.17, p < 0.01), work-related basic needs satisfaction (β = 0.51, p < 0.01), cognitive capacity (β = −0.88, p < 0.01) and biases (β = −2.15, p < 0.01), as well as emotional and social skills (β = 0.29, p < 0.01) were replicated across participants. The study was feasible regarding adherence to treatment, and participants and workplace informants reportedly considered the intervention acceptable and helpful. The feasibility, acceptability and preliminary effects of Minds@Work are encouraging, thus warranting further validation. This new intervention adds to the existing offer of augmented supported employment programs by providing an integrative approach capitalizing on mechanisms of action and multiple predictors of job tenure.