(L-R) Orygen Executive Director Prof. Pat McGorry, event MC Melina Sarris, Director of Employment and Education Partnerships Gina Chinnery, former IPS participant Gaby Duran-Lopez and Chief of Research and Knowledge Translation Prof. Eóin Killackey.
For young people recovering from mental ill-health, access to tailored career and education support can be life-changing. That’s why Orygen introduced Individual Placement and Support (IPS) program for young people in 2005, setting a new standard for integrating mental health care with employment and educational opportunities.
Two decades on, Orygen has celebrated 20 years of IPS success at a special anniversary event with founding figures, sector leaders, and former participants who say how valuable the IPS program was to them reaching their career and recovery goals.
Former IPS participant, Lindsay Rattray, told the event audience via video, “working with a IPS vocational specialist truly changed the trajectory of my life – having a job I cared about was a big part of my recovery from mental ill-health, and set me on a really positive path.”
As the home of Australia’s Centre of Excellence for Youth IPS, Orygen is continuing to expand and develop the program in collaboration with world-leading researchers, service providers, vocational specialists and young people.
Chief of Research and Knowledge Translation, Professor Eóin Killackey, was instrumental in bringing IPS to Orygen, having seen its positive impacts overseas and knowing how important employment and education are to recovery.
“Again and again we heard from young people that what they wanted, and what they felt would really help their recovery from mental ill-health, was finding a sense of purpose and achievement through employment, education or training,” Professor Killackey said.
“Now, over 20 years of introducing IPS at Orygen, alongside over 28 randomised control trials from all over the world have shown the program outperforms conventional approaches to helping people experiencing mental ill-health find employment.
Prof. Pat McGorry and Gina Chinnery with representatives from TAL Insurance, supporters of Orygen and the anniversary event.
Director of Employment and Education Partnerships at Orygen, Gina Chinnery, said “that's why, in 2020, we established the Youth IPS Centre of Excellence, to harness Orygen’s expertise and leadership in developing and advocating for IPS programs across Australia, and to continue our research and innovation in this vital area.”
More about IPS:
- IPS programs are now being run in 50 headspace centres across Australia.
- The program is delivered by vocational specialists, who work one-on-one with young people to understand their individual interests, preferences and skills.
- Specialists then match young people with the right employment, education or training.
- IPS specialists are co-located with mental health treatment teams, working collaboratively to support young people.
- Specialists also work in partnership with schools, TAFEs and universities.
- Thanks to this multi-faceted and personalised approach, IPS has proven to be the most effective employment and education program used in mental health services worldwide.