| Sumario: | A large part of The Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV)'s budget is used on employment interventions, and most of the recipients need some kind of support in order to enter, and remain in, paid employment. Traditional employment interventions are directed towards sheltered work, work training on a sheltered arena or training, with a more distant goal of competitive employment ("train then place"). The interventions Supported Employment (SE) and Individual Placement and Support (IPS) aim rather to rapidly place the participant in competitive work (paid work in an ordinary work environment, full time or part time), with support and follow-up of employee and employer ("place then train"). We conducted a systematic review on the effect of SE/IPS on various populations. We included 38 controlled studies, primarily from USA and Europe, where participants were followed-up until 5 years. Most of the studies included participants with serious mental illness, but some studies included people with severe physical injuries or developmental disorders. Participants who receive IPS are probably twice as likely to gain competitive employment compared to participants who receive other interventions. We also found positive effects for time spent in competitive work, income and cost-effectiveness. IPS may not have any effect on quality of life, psychological symptoms, or psychiatric hospitalisations. Enhanced IPS (various components added) probably has a positive effect on competitive employment. It is uncertain whether SE and enhanced SE have effect (small and few studies), but the findings point in the same direction. Follow-up time, fidelity scales, geographical / cultural context and type of control intervention do not appear to have significant impact on the effect of IPS. The findings are probably transferable to a Norwegian context.
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