EQUIL – Equality in Learning, which promotes the inclusion of people with mental health issue in labour market, is a project co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme – Key Action 2 Strategic partnerships for Adult Education.
The six partners Mht Consult (Denmark), CESIE (Italy), Zorgvragersorganisatie GGZ Midden Holland (Netherlands), Merseyside Expanding Horizons and Mersey Care NHS Trust (United Kingdom) and Action Laboral (Spain) have carried out “Focus groups” meetings with persons with mental health issue. These persons had the chance to express their personal working experiences and the difficulties faced to get into the labour market. The objective of “Focus group” meetings is to gather information about the difficulties and needs of people with mental health issue.
The results have been shared in the second transnational meeting held in Helsingor the 19th and 20th of April 2016. Partners on the base of these results work on the development of four training modules for practitioners with the aim to increase their skills for supporting people with mental health issue into work.
The four training modules to be developed will cover the following topics:
- “Employment Support Models” – Analysis of different job placement systems, starting from the experience of the British partners with the IPS model (Individual Placement Support) based on the methodology “Place then train”.
- “Educator / Practictioner Skills for Supporting People with Mental health who want to work” – Development of tools and exercises to increase the skills of practitioners working with people with mental health issue in getting into work. In addition, the role of experts by experience (with mental ill issue) will be analysed, key point of the English system for the integration into labour market of people with mental health issue, which works in collaboration with educators/practitioners.
- “Educator / Practitioner Skills for supporting Employers to Employ and Retain People with Lived Experience” – Development of tools and exercises to increase the skills of the educators/practitioners, to support potential employers to hire people with mental health issue, and consequently ensure mental well-being of employees in the company.
- “European Guide Toolkit for Co-Production” – Based on existing models and experience of co-production, identified through research and also using experience from the development of training in EQUIL project, the Toolkit will be used by services and people with lived experience to develop training in a truly co-production manner.
In the two years of project, partners will work also in the development of a “Positional Analysis and Sustainability Report” which aims to:
- Identify requirements and concrete possibilities for a strategic development and improvement of employment service for mentally vulnerable citizens
- Analyze and recommend potentials and possibilities for interdisciplinary and trans-sectional solutions for a better and more efficient employment service for mentally vulnerable citizens
- Build the analysis and recommendations on the methodical and organisational experience gained through the training modules and described through the co-production toolkit
In these months partners will finish the “Focus group” meetings with people with mental health issue and will focus the attention to the potential employers of different companies. The objective is to know about their experience with people with mental issue in their company. For the Consortium it is important to get to know about their difficulties and needs for the inclusion of people with mental health issue in their companies.
For further information please contact adult@cesie.org.
