What is Work as a Remedy about?
The project is based on the cooperation of 3 EU partners focused on encouraging people with mental disabilities to enter the labour market. The aim is to strengthen the positive approach of the target group to enter the open labour market and to support the inclusion of this vulnerable group. In the consortium's experience, the target group is often motivated to work. The problem is that mental disorders make the target group have low self-confidence and underestimate their skills and abilities. Therefore, it is necessary to encourage the target group:
- by professionals - psychologists, vocational counsellors (motivational videos)
- by employed people with mental disabilities by sharing their positive work experiences that contribute to dispel the initial concerns of the target group and stimulate their positive attitude that they have chances to succeed on the open labour market.
The needs of the target group, confirmed in interviews with groups of people with mental disabilities, are:
- Encourage with stimulating advice, recommendations, practical help tools provided by specialists (psychologists, psychiatrists, job/professional counsellors...).
- To increase the knowledge about the possibilities of vocational guidance.
- Motivating people with the same problems: sharing good work experiences that help to overcome the initial barriers of the target groups and stimulate their positive approach to take a first step into the labour market.
The aim is to support the inclusion of this vulnerable group and to improve their integration into the open labour market. The target group can directly benefit from the project results:
- A motivating video
- A good practice book reflecting the target group needs
Motivating video
This activity has resulted in the creation of a motivational video for people with mental disabilities. The aim of the video is to encourage the target group to enter the open labour market and to present practical methods of career guidance.
In this activity the consortium and the exchange of experiences, ideas and methods of working with people with mental disabilities have led to the development of the video for the target group of the project.
The concept of the video aims to offer stimulating career counselling by professionals (psychologists, psychiatrists) and professional counsellors/labour market experts on practical counselling tools that will help and stimulate them to enter the open labour market.
This video fulfils the following objectives:
- To raise the awareness of the target group about practical tools of career counselling.
- To increase the target group's knowledge about the variety of jobs on the open labour market.
- To stimulate the positive approach of the target group (to overcome initial concerns about working practices).
- To promote equal opportunities and inclusion of people with mental disabilities in the open labour market.
The created video (in English, Spanish, Czech and Greek) is available for free and can be found below.