NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde      

Helping you get back into work

A programme which helps people on Incapacity Benefit back into work has received 1400 referrals in Glasgow alone, since 'going live' over a year ago.

The Condition Management Programme (CMP) is a key part of the UK-wide Pathways To Work initiative, which offers work-focussed support and advice to people who have been unable to work because of illness.

The programme is delivered by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and Glasgow City Council in partnership with Jobcentre Plus (JCP) and offers a unique combination of specialist help, advice and support.

Teams

In Glasgow, there are five teams of Condition Management Practitioners (CMPs) based in Jobcentre Plus offices across the city and each one is closely linked to its local Community Health and Care Partnership (CHCP), which provides local health services.

In the Clyde area, which piloted the scheme in 2003, they have dealt with 3,619 referrals to date, from 13 Jobcentre Plus Offices. Since the beginning of 2007, there have been five teams of CMPs in Clyde, working in each local council area: West Dunbartonshire, Inverclyde, Argyll & Bute, Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire.

Work

Sue Plummer, Director, Condition Management Programme, Glasgow City, said: "We know that around a third of people who claim Incapacity Benefit desperately want to get back to work.

"The CMP Practitioners support clients in working towards this goal by helping them to gain a better understanding of their health condition and to explore strategies for dealing with it. The aim is to increase the individual's confidence in his / her capacity to work rather than focussing on their incapacity.

"Around 70% of our clients are people with a mental health problem, including depression, stress or anxiety, and this is often made worse by the effects of unemployment."

Strategies

Sue said that practitioners use the principles of cognitive behavioural therapy to support clients in developing coping strategies.  These address the individual's perceived needs, and can include help with stress management, anger management, depression, anxiety and management of pain.

Sue said: "Although the CMPs deal with people suffering from mild to moderate health conditions, client's lives are often chaotic and they present as complex cases.

"For example, most people who have been unemployed for any period of time will have money worries and some have very significant debt problems. If CMPs are to be effective in supporting clients, they have to take all these wider issues into account." 

Self-help
 
What Sue's teams provide is 'supported self help'. They work with the client to help improve their confidence, raise their self-esteem and get them to a point where they believe that they have something to offer.

"Many of our clients have already gone through mainstream health services and received a good service that's helped a lot to alleviate their physical symptoms.

"What we provide is the work-focussed support that complements these services, helping clients to believe that they can return to work, preparing them mentally for that challenge.

"But this is NOT about trying to get people back into work when that is not a realistic proposition. Nor is it about doing things for people, long-term counselling or providing a fast track to NHS services.

"It IS about short-term - four to 16 - sessions of work-focussed supported self help. We hope, and evaluation so far shows, that by the end of the programme, clients feel far more confident about returning to voluntary work, training or into full-time paid employment."

Support

Lynne McAdam, Team Leader for the Condition Management Programme in Glasgow North CHCP, said: "What we do is set clients on a path, supporting them to help themselves in all aspects of their life. It's great when we're able to help individuals take those first steps back into work."

One of Lynne's clients was Katherine Robertson from Sighthill. Lynne worked with a Job Centre Plus colleague, Karen Ross (an Incapacity Benefit Personal Advisor at Springburn Job Centre Plus), to help the mum-of-four back into work.

Katherine had been out of work for three years and her self-esteem was at an all time low. Thanks to the programme, she's now working full time for a well-known baker's firm.

She said: "I'd been suffering from depression and didn't think I could give an employer 100%. I wasn't going out and I wasn't even seeing friends.

"Then I agreed to try the programme. I came and saw Lynne for eight sessions and, through working with her, have gradually built up my confidence and got my self esteem back."

Confidence

The mum-of-four really rates the programme saying that the techniques she learned on it really helped her regain her confidence.

She added: "What was good about working with Lynne and Karen that they listened to me without having an opinion. I didn't feel I could talk about my depression to family and friends, but I could with them."

One thing Katherine found useful about the programme is the support she got when moving from Benefits back into work.

"The minute you get a job, your Benefits stop dead," she said. "Karen was able to sort out financial assistance to help me during the weeks between stopping Benefits and getting my first wage. It really helped."

So, what does Katherine say to others thinking about trying the programme?

"It's definitely worthwhile," she said.

Information

For more information, contact the Condition Management Programme via Incapacity Benefit Personal Advisors at your local Job Centre Plus.

Pictured: (left to right) Katharine Robertson and Lynne McAdam.