Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #109128

Marjorie L. Baldwin, PhD and Rebecca M. B. White, MPH. W. P. Carey School of Business - Health Management & Policy, Arizona State University, PO Box 874506, Tempe, AZ 85287-4506, 480-965-7868, marjorie.baldwin@asu.edu

BACKGROUND: The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 mandates that employers provide reasonable accommodations to otherwise qualified persons with psychiatric disabilities. Identifying specific accommodations that facilitate employment for persons with mental disorders is important because they may be different from accommodations for physical disorders, which typically involve technical changes to the job. METHODS: Data come from an exploratory study utilizing in-depth interviews with key stakeholders: 13 mental health professionals, 20 persons with mental illness with recent employment, and 14 supervisors of employees with mental illness. During the interviews, we inquired about typical days at work and work-place accommodations. Sessions were recorded and transcribed. Transcripts were analyzed using NUD*IST software. FINDINGS: The data identify modifiable factors in the form of workplace accommodations that can support employees with mental illness. In addition to 'employer-sponsored accommodations,' our data indicate that employees with mental illnesses are implementing their own, informal accommodations. These are particularly interesting because ‘employee-initiated accommodations' are less likely to interfere with other members of the work group, are typically of minimal cost to the employer, and often do not require disclosure on the part of the employee. IMPLICATIONS: Current measures of accommodations in national survey data, when available, may be overlooking the types of accommodations most appropriate for employees with mental illness. Additionally, employee-initiated accommodations, which may impact a person's ability to be successful in the labor market, are not currently being assessed. Measures must be developed to support an in-depth analysis of effective workplace accommodations for employees with psychiatric disabilities.

Learning Objectives:

• 3. Summarize trends in employment discrimination complaints for psychiatric disabilities under the ADA.
  6. Identify work-place accommodations specific to psychiatric disabilities.
  9. Assess shortcomings in our ability to use national survey data to accurately measure the impact of work-place accommodations on employment of persons with psychiatric disabilities.

Keywords: Mental Health, Policy/Policy Development

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.