Disclosure of mental illness towards employers during the return to work process after psychiatric hospitalization

Résumé fourni par la source

BACKGROUND: For people returning to the workplace after a leave of absence due to a mental illness the decision whether or not to disclose their mental illness is influenced by multiple factors. As part of the RETURN study, that surveyed in-patients with mental disorders in acute psychiatric wards, it was our aim in this secondary analysis to examine the effects of a return-to-work intervention on the disclosure process of employees returning back to their existing workplace after a leave of absence due to a mental illness. METHODS: This study, as part of RETURN, is a multi-center, cluster-randomized controlled trial. Patients were recruited in acute psychiatric wards with randomization at cluster level. Patients in the intervention wards received support from a case manager in their return-to-work process, while patients in the control wards received treatment as usual. Following measures were assessed: self-stigma, stigma stress, decisional conflict as well as questions addressing the own strategy regarding disclosure. RESULTS: A total of 268 patients were recruited, with 137 in the intervention wards and 131 in control wards. No significant differences could be found between intervention and control group with regard to the assessed measures. CONCLUSIONS: Even though the results of our study could not confirm an effect of a structured return-to-work intervention on the disclosure process, it provides valuable insights with regard to the complexity and individuality of this topic. Various factors need to be taken into consideration that may have an effect on the disclosure process: possible previous disclosure decisions due to chronic mental illness, the effect of the diagnosis, the impact of psychiatric inpatient treatment on symptomology as well as the understanding of the own mental illness. Nonetheless, a possible positive impact of interventions supporting employees in finding the best possible disclosure decision should not be neglected, as previous research could prove these to be helpful. Our study also provides indications for this. TRIAL REGISTRATION: German Clinical Trials Register DRKS00016037, registered 21.12.2018.

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