IPS Supported Employment

IPS Supported Employment is an evidence-based approach to supported employment for people who have a severe mental illness. IPS stands for Individual Placement and Support. IPS supports people in their efforts to achieve steady employment in mainstream competitive jobs, either part-time or full-time. This stands in contrast to other vocational rehabilitation approaches that employ people in sheltered workshops and other set-aside jobs.

IPS has been extensively researched and proven to be effective.

IPS is based on eight principles. Mental health agencies that implement IPS aim to follow these principles in delivering vocational services.

The implementation of these principles can be assessed by using a fidelity scale and an accompanying manual that have been developed specifically for IPS.

IPS was first studied in a randomized controlled trial in 1996. Between 1996 and 2011, IPS was evaluated in 15 randomized controlled trials. This research has established IPS as an evidence-based practice in community psychiatry. Studies in this body of research typically compare IPS to another approach to vocational rehabilitation. Study participants are randomized to receive services from one of the vocational approaches being studied. Researchers observe the proportion of participants in each group who get jobs within some fixed period of time. This follow-up period varies across studies from 6 months to 30 months, averaging 18 months. On average, 60% of research participants get a competitive job during the follow-up period when they receive IPS, whereas 24% of participants get a competitive job when receiving other vocational services. These results, along with data from non-research implementations of IPS, have resulted in the establishment of benchmark employment rates for IPS programs.

In addition to testing the comparative effectiveness of IPS, researchers have conducted implementation research on IPS, research on predictors of outcome (who gets jobs and why), barriers to employment for people who have a serious mental illness, and a number of other related areas.

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