title: The effects of supported employment in Latino consumers with severe mental illness.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Despite the large number of Latinos living in the United States, little research has evaluated the effectiveness of different vocational rehabilitation programs for individuals with severe mental illness in this rapidly growing minority population. This article presents a secondary analysis of a randomized, controlled trial comparing supported employment with 2 other vocational rehabilitation programs in 3 ethnic/racial groups of participants with severe mental illness: Latinos, non-Latino African Americans, and non-Latino Whites.
  
  
  METHODS
  The data were drawn from a previously published randomized, controlled trial comparing supported employment with standard vocational rehabilitation services and a psychosocial clubhouse program in persons with severe mental illness (Mueser et al., 2004), including 64 Latinos, 91 non-Latino African Americans, and 43 non-Latino Whites. Comparisons were made between the 3 groups at baseline on demographic characteristics, clinical and psychosocial functioning, and quality of life. Within each ethnic/racial group, competitive employment and all paid employment outcomes were compared between the 3 vocational rehabilitation programs over the 2-year study period.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At baseline, the Latino participants had lower levels of education and disability income, were less likely to have worked competitively over the previous 5 years, had more severe symptoms, and worse psychosocial functioning than the non-Latino African American or non-Latino White participants. Latinos randomized to supported employment had better competitive and all-paid work outcomes than those assigned to either standard services or the psychosocial clubhouse program, similar to the non-Latino consumers. Rates of competitive work for consumers in supported employment were comparable across all 3 racial/ethnic groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Supported employment is effective at improving competitive work in Latinos with severe mental illness. Efforts should be made to increase access to supported employment in the growing population of Latinos with severe mental illness.
authors.affiliation: Dartmouth Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.
authors.forename: Kim T
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Mueser
authors.affiliation: Dartmouth Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.
authors.forename: Gary R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Bond
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University.
authors.forename: Susan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Essock
authors.affiliation: Center for Health Policy and Research, University of Massachusetts Medical School.
authors.forename: Robin E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.affiliation: Dartmouth Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Carpenter-Song
authors.affiliation: Dartmouth Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.
authors.forename: Robert E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Drake
authors.affiliation: Dartmouth Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.
authors.forename: Rosemarie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wolfe
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003155:Community Mental Health Centers; D016832:Employment, Supported; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012050:Rehabilitation, Vocational