Plan estratégico de la investigación

One of the issues that arose in each of the three focus groups was the added hassle of employing individuals in mental health recovery. This research has taken place in a climate of deep recession. Therefore the notion of even considering the employment of individuals with a mental illness seemed so far off the spectrum. Pam an employer commenting that if someone was gone off sick with mental illness responded:

“There would still be 2 issues, yes I would be understanding but we are not meant to go off sick because we have got work to do so excuse me while you have been lying on the sofa for 3 weeks but the work has got to be done and who is going to do it, so I would be thinking when are you coming back…when is this going to stop”

Individuals with mental illness in employment were seen as a hindrance rather than a help and participants feared that they would end up with a greater workload as a result. Feeling let down by a colleague who had gone off sick because of mental illness Ash commented:

“I think people can be very judgemental of them, I might myself be judgemental, and there is that inner voice in you thinking you really left me in the lurch”.

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It was felt that business is concerned about profit and making money so individuals with mental illness regardless of recovery are considered as affecting profits and success of the business. Jaz a participant from the banking industry commented:

“We are not asked how much money did you generate today and how many people did you ease back into the workplace, our business is very caring about people that work for them but in a lot of companies they’re not going to be interested in the fact that I spent 2 hours or 2 days integrating somebody back into the team – but sorry my shop didn’t turn over any profit for you today”.

This point was further laboured and stressed by participant Gemma an Employer Participant.

“It would be lovely if you can find the time but the fact they gone off in the first place has increased our stress levels by however much percent – because there a percentage of our team missing then they come back – outside of work I would love to spend my time sitting with you and talking to you but in that environment you just increase my load. On the face of it I would be supportive but inside I wouldn’t”.

Pam was very clear that in their industry it was simply a step too far. She said: “I have enough trouble managing the well never mind anybody else”.

This idea that working with individuals who have mental health problems is simply too much hassle and added to the workload was also aired by another participant. Jaz stated:

“But it’s still extra work for you with adaptations that your day at a time when there is cuts”.

Employers seemed to believe that if they took on an individual in recovery from mental illness that this would have some extra issues attached to it, around employment law, resources and output leading to the researchers’ interpretation that employers see this group as just too much hassle. Gemma said:

“But if we employ her we’d have to take on all the legal employment things that come with it as well so immediately there are issues of confidentiality, this that and the other for her”.

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There was also a strong theme of employing individuals being an added cost or something that employers had no resources to cover. Not alone was it considered as an added cost but it seemed as though employment of an individual in mental health recovery was difficult to perceive. There was poor association between employee mental health and employer. Once I had introduced the idea of employment of an individual with mental illness, cost implications seemed to jump up forcibly in this participant group.

Mark an employer participant in focus group 3 simply said: “We're all full on now we have no spare capacity”.

He went onto say:

“We feel that if you employ somebody it’s a great responsibility nowadays it’s a huge responsibility just employing our able body person let alone a disabled person”.

This was similar to the sentiment shared by Paul a participant in focus group three.

Talking of spare capacity another employer Sharon categorically stated that:

“I I think from my point view as an employer of mentally ill people is, we do not have the spare capacity to, have somebody mentoring that person”.

“We don’t have the spare the spare manpower”.

And again reiterated by Mark “we can’t afford the spare man power you literally the fine line down where the business which is making money and the business that is losing money is so fine nowadays”.

So whilst there might be empathy towards an individual developing mental illness whilst in employment or returning to work following a bout of mental illness employers felt that realistically there are limitations to what they can do in this climate. Discussing this Sharon said:

“But then you find that there are only so much that people really are able to do because we are all pressured….”

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Talking on the added pressures employing an individual with MI on your team Karen a participant working in health care stresses:

“Profits, in the health system it can be just the same because the budget can be quiet finite budgets and the work the perception of work has to be done in a rapid phase if people are having time off”.

Paul added “for this kind of thing they’re slowing down the operation so I think there is this tension and am mostly in mental health we are used to analysing people's motive and it’s being bit suspicious as well all of that comes in you know, the person trying to work the system too much”.

It is seen as an added burden on the ‘well ‘person at work. Mark whilst sympathetic says that as a human being:

“There comes the point where everybody's patience wears thin and I think that’s where you really start to get into a really grey area”.

1.2 People in a phase of mental health recovery are seen as less able or less