Many people with serious mental illness want to work. IPS was the watershed moment that definitively advanced vocational rehabilitation in this regard. In this single text, Drake, Bond, and Becker, like the front line of a star football team, lay out their program and its 20-year body of research supporting it. The future of work for those psychiatrically disabled is many times brighter as a result. -- Patrick W. Corrigan, Psy.D., Distinguished Professor of Psychology, Illinois Institute of Technology This book is a tour de force from the creators of the IPS approach to supported employment. The authors cogently and comprehensively present the research foundations, placing it squarely in the world of evidence-based practices. It is informative and provides a thorough introduction to everything a general reader would want to know about IPS supported employment.-- Howard H. Goldman, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine The IPS model of supported employment is the most empirically validated approach to vocational rehabilitation for people with a serious mental illness, with evidence drawn from numerous studies conducted in the U.S. and abroad. In this volume for the first time, Drake, Bond, and Becker bring together and synthesize the abundant research on IPS to describe the origins and development of the model, its effects on competitive work and other outcomes, costs and economic outcomes, and implementation issues. This valuable, concisely written book is a treasure trove for anyone interested in improving the vocational functioning of people with a serious mental illness, including vocational counselors and their supervisors, program planners and policy makers, researchers, and students in the fields of psychiatric rehabilitation, clinical psychology, and social work. -- Kim T. Mueser, Ph.D., Executive Director, Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation, Boston University Work represents one of the most fundamental ways in which a person can be a vital member of a community and of society. Yet, in many countries, most people with severe mental health problems are unemployed, making social participation and full citizenship the more difficult. In high-income countries, the leading evidence-based method to promote employment among such people is Individual Placement and Support (IPS). Bob Drake, Gary Bond, and Deborah Becker are the undisputed pioneers in this field, and this book is therefore essential reading for everyone interested in this topic. Both clear and comprehensive, this book serves as the best possible introduction to the rationale and the practice of IPS. The continuing refinement, adaptation, and implementation are some of the most important challenges facing mental health care today. -- Graham Thornicroft, Ph.D., Professor of Community Psychiatry, King's College London
