Does cognitive remediation improve employment prospects for people with a mental illness returning to work?

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This study aims to improve the likelihood that people with a mental illness who are trying to return to work will do so successfully. Unemployment and subsequent poverty and welfare dependence are major problems for people with a severe mental illness. The use of interventions such as supported employment has improved the chance of person with a severe mental illness obtaining and keeping employment, however a significant number, if not the majority of these people still experience under or unemployment. An important, but virtually untreated determinant of continued poor functioning in the community is the level of cognitive deficits found in severe mental illness. This study will employ computer assisted cognitive remediation, an approach that has been demonstrated to improve cognitive function in severe mental illness, to improve cognitive functioning and then test to see if this intervention improves overall employment outcomes. This study will be conducted in a community based setting in cooperation with the Schizophrenia Fellowship of New South Wales, a non-government organisation that is operating 6 supported employment centres through regional and metropolitan areas in New South Wales, thus making this study an important demonstration of effectiveness of psychosocial treatment in community care.

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