Employment related barriers and facilitators for people with psychiatric disabilities in Spain

BACKGROUND: People with mental health-related disabilities still experience difficulties in obtaining and maintaining a job. Previous international studies inform about employment barriers and facilitators but there is insufficient research in Spain. OBJECTIVE: To explore what type of employment barriers and facilitators were important for people with psychiatric disabilities with past work experiences in competitive and protected work settings. METHODS: In-depth, semi-structured qualitative interviews with 24 participants selected through purposive sampling. RESULTS: The personal sphere was the content most closely related to barriers, followed by the social environment. Facilitators were more closely related to the interviewees' social network, followed by elements in their personal sphere and job environment. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest the need to implement supported employment services in Spain to promote hiring people with psychiatric disabilities in competitive companies. The results also indicate the need to implement new services aimed at supporting the management of disability information during the process of obtaining and maintaining a job, while there is still a need to conduct anti-stigma and anti-discrimination campaigns.