Worklessness is a huge issue in the UK, with 3.7million people aged 16 to 64 who have a health condition that means they are neither in work nor actively seeking it.
In Plymouth alone, 25% of the working-age population is economically inactive and there is a strong association between poor mental health and young people not being in education, employment and training (NEET).
A new research project, led by the University of Plymouth – working with partners across Plymouth, Cornwall, Kent and London – is exploring how best to support people who experience these and other complex barriers to employment so they can get into, and stay in, work.
The project is bringing together employers, researchers and people with lived experience who have been involved in supported employment schemes, to understand what works well, and why, and what might be improved.
It will then assess whether and how a more individualised approach can be developed to help people facing combinations of complex needs in different contexts, and the impact of taking people’s personal needs and interests into account.
The project is being supported through a £2million investment by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) in its Work and Health Research Initiative.
Dr Rebecca Carter Dillon
