1 Breaking with traditional rehabilitation models
For a long time, the route to employment for people with mental health conditions followed a 'train then place' model: long years of preparatory placements in sheltered workshops that rarely led to mainstream employment. Individual Placement and Support, developed by Deborah Becker and Robert Drake in the United States, completely reverses this logic: 'place then train'.
2 The eight fundamental principles of IPS
1. Direct access to a standard job in the open labour market. 2. Inclusion with zero exclusion: every motivated person has the right to apply without prior medical fitness requirements. 3. Strict respect for the candidate's employment preferences. 4. Close integration of the employment adviser within the psychiatric care team. 5. Rapid job searching from the first weeks. 6. Developing a network of partner employers. 7. Individualised, time-unlimited support once a job is obtained. 8. Personalised advice on social entitlements.
3 Evidence of effectiveness and worldwide recognition
More than thirty international randomised clinical trials demonstrate that IPS achieves mainstream employment rates two to three times higher than traditional methods, dramatically improving self-esteem and income and reducing psychiatric relapses.
4 The place of this approach within support
This approach embodies the pinnacle of recovery: it restores people's pride as working citizens, proving that mental illness in no way condemns them to social uselessness.
5 Civic dignity through work and personal fulfilment
By supporting candidates directly in standard employment, IPS demonstrates that work is the most powerful driver of social rehabilitation. The person regains full citizenship at the heart of society.