Supported Employment Demonstration (SED)

Westat

Status: Completed

Conditions: Mental Impairment

Treatments: Behavioral: Full Service; Behavioral: Basic Service

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03682263

SS00-16-60014

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of this study is to determine whether offering an evidence-based package of employment supports integrated with mental health services has a positive impact on employment and clinical recovery, and delays or diminishes the need for disability benefits.

Full description

SSA contracted with Westat to implement and evaluate the Supported Employment Demonstration (SED). The SED provides integrated mental health and vocational services to people with mental illness who were recently denied Social Security disability benefits. The evaluation will determine the impact of the SED on employment, clinical recovery, and receipt of disability payments. The evaluation is using a randomized controlled trial design to compare the outcomes of two treatment groups and a control group. In the full-service arm (n = 1,000), participants receive services from an Individual Placement and Support employment specialist, a care manager, and a nurse care coordinator (NCC) who provides medication management support, as well as modest funding for out-of-pocket prescriptions, essential work-related expenses, and other services in the participant's treatment plan. The basic-service arm (n=1,000), which is expected to cost about 50 percent less than the full-service arm, provides all services and funds except the NCC. Participants in the usual services (control) group (n = 1,000) seek services as they normally would but receive a comprehensive guide to local, state, and national resources.

Data collection includes computer-assisted baseline (in-person) and blinded quarterly (telephone) interviews with participants, collection of SSA administrative and site-level program data, site visits (including fidelity assessments), qualitative interviews with site administrators and service providers, focus groups with study participants, and person-centered ethnographic interviews with participants and nonparticipants.

Enrollment: 3,000 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 49 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Individuals denied Social Security disability benefits (SSDI or SSI)
• Individuals alleging a mental impairment
• Live in Community Mental Health Agency (CMHA) catchment area
• Legally competent
• Express desire to improve work situation

Exclusion criteria

• Intellectual disability
• Reside in a nursing home or custodial institution
• Already receiving supported employment services from CMHA site

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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3,000 participants in 3 patient groups

Full Service Treatment

Experimental group

Description:

The Full Service Arm receives the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model of employment services integrated with behavioral health services and care management services, as well as Medication Management Support (MMS) from a Nurse Care Coordinator (NCC).

Treatment:

Behavioral: Full Service

Basic Service Treatment

Experimental group

Description:

The Basic Service Arm receives the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model of employment services integrated with behavioral health services and care management services.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Basic Service

Usual Services

No Intervention group

Description:

Members of the Usual Service group seek services as they normally would (or would not) in their community. At the time of randomization, each Usual Services group member receives a comprehensive manual describing mental health and employment services in their local community, as well as state and national resources.