Cognitive Remediation in Supported Employment at Human Service Center (HSC)

Overview

This project seeks to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of combining cognitive remediation and Supported Employment Program (SEP) services to improve work outcomes in people with a serious mental illness who have been unable to benefit from vocational services (i.e., acquire or maintain a job). Cognitive remediation involves treating and improving cognitive impairments, such as memory (e.g., short-term and working memory), attention span, or problem solving skills. It is hypothesized that cognitive remediation will significantly improve peoples' employment outcomes in a supported employment program.

Ample evidence documents that supported employment is an effective strategy for improving the vocational outcomes of persons with schizophrenia and other severe mental illnesses. However, a significant amount of clients receiving supported employment services work little or not at all. With respect to factors that may influence the work outcomes of persons participating in supported employment programs, cognitive functioning appears to be potentially important. Cognitive impairment in persons with severe mental illness (SMI) is strongly correlated with functional adjustment in the community and has been shown to be correlated with work, both contemporaneously and prospectively. Studies have demonstrated that clients who did not receive the full benefits of supported employment had more deficits in executive functioning, memory, and psychomotor speed than those clients who had better work outcomes. The current study will use a computerized cognitive training program that will be administered by a cognitive trainer. The program consists of 24 training modules (each one takes about one hour to complete). Clients in an SEP who have been unable to maintain a job that they acquired while in the program can participate in the research. Clients who have agreed to participate in the research project will be randomly assigned to either receive the computerized training and supported employment services (CT-SES) or supported employment services (SES) without the training (i.e., treatment-as-usual-condition). Both research groups will receive the same baseline, three-month, and 12-month follow up interviews that will consists of a brief clinical and neuropsychological evaluation, an assessment of problems associated with finding or maintaining employment, and employment outcomes while enrolled in the study. In addition, both groups will receive a telephonic interview at 18 and 24 months to assess their employment outcomes (clinical and neurological information will not be collected at 18 or 24 months).