Arbeidsrettet behandling ved alvorlig psykisk lidelse i spesialisthelsetjenesten

Employment is an important focus area in the treatment of severe mental illness and substance use disorders. Health and welfare services are instructed to collaborate closely on implementing evidence-based practices of vocational rehabilitation such as Individual Placement and Support (IPS) in treatment guidelines, clinical pathways and the current national healthcare plan (2020–2023). Although evidence of the effectiveness of IPS continues to grow and there is broad political commitment to finance and implement IPS, challenges remain. System-level cooperation between services and legislative issues on integrating employment specialists in mental health services poses potential implementation barriers that need clarification to allow successful provision of IPS. In this paper, we describe how IPS is integrated in specialized mental health treatment. The empirical and practical basis for the current article comes from five different research groups. New directions, challenges and opportunities in IPS implementation are also discussed in light of new regulations from the Norwegian Directorate of Health. Keywords: Individual Placement and Support, employment, health and welfare services, integration, employment specialist, implementation