Topic. Additional interventions used to enhance the effectiveness of individual placement and support (IPS). Aim. To establish whether additional interventions improve the vocational outcomes of IPS alone for people with severe mental illness. Method. A rapid evidence assessment of the literature was conducted for studies where behavioural or psychological interventions have been used to supplement standard IPS. Published and unpublished empirical studies of IPS with additional interventions were considered for inclusion. Conclusions. Six published studies were found which compared IPS alone to IPS plus a supplementary intervention. Of these, three used skills training and three used cognitive remediation. The contribution of each discrete intervention is difficult to establish. Some evidence suggests that work-related social skills and cognitive training are effective adjuncts, but this is an area where large RCTs are required to yield conclusive evidence. 1. Introduction Individual placement and support (IPS) has been developed as a standardised approach to supported employment aimed at helping people with severe mental health problems find competitive work [1]. IPS defines the essential principles of “supported employment” programmes, such that these programmes may be rigorously described and studied in different settings across the world, although these terms are often used interchangeably in the literature [1]. IPS directs that supported employment programmes should include seven core elements: (1) a focus on competitive employment, (2) acknowledgement of the individual’s personal interests, (3) a rapid job search, (4) integration of mental health and employment services, (5) programme entry based on client choice, (6) time-unlimited client support, and (7) benefits counselling [2]. IPS has proven very effective in improving vocational outcomes amongst people with severe mental illness when compared to other vocational services, with a recent review reporting that 61% of participants enrolled in IPS programmes gained employment, compared to 23% of those on other vocational programmes [3]. IPS does have limitations, however. As the results above would suggest, around 40% of people on IPS programmes do not gain employment despite the support. A second criticism of IPS relates to job tenure of the people employed through these schemes, which tends to be short [4–7]. One review reported average longest job tenure to be 22 weeks [3], while a more recent review of job tenure reported an average length of 9.96 months worked at first job gained through IPS
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