Mental health at work

FREE for ALL 

While it is generally accepted that work improves mental health, people with serious mental illnesses face considerable challenges when returning to the workplace. This presentation will outline what has been learned from implementing Individualized Placement and Support (IPS) services throughout the state of Connecticut. While IPS services have a strong evidence base, here we consider factors beyond rapid placement in a competitive job that often affect the mental health of people with psychiatric disabilities returning to work: stigma and discrimination, navigating public benefits while working, the realities of low-wage work in a neoliberal economic system, and the fundamental meaning of work. We will explore how each of these factors may lead us to a different paradigm when it comes to the future of employment services for people with psychiatric disabilities. 

Dr. Megan Evans is an Associate Research Scientist in the Program for Recovery and Community Health at the Yale School of Medicine. Trained in public health, she studies the social determinants of mental health and substance use recovery and is especially interested in social, relational, and vocational recovery. She completed an employment-focused postdoctoral fellowship funded by the National Institute for Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research. Her current research focuses on developing a measurement approach to capture personally meaningful recovery and life goals of adults with serious mental illnesses, moving beyond traditional symptom and functioning measures to assess recovery in areas deemed as important by people with lived experience themselves. She also works with behavioral health agencies to better incorporate recovery-oriented services into their operations and serves as faculty for the Yale Lived Experience Transformational Leadership Academy (Yale LET(s)Lead).

Chair: Professor Neil Greenberg 

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