Employment, absenteeism and area-level supply of psychological therapies
What were we trying to do?
We wanted to estimate how much waiting times in England for NHS talking therapy treatments (formerly known as Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT)) had an effect on employment and absenteeism of individuals who could benefit from receiving the treatment.
Why was this important?
Common mental health problems affect up to 20% of the English population. The annual cost of mental health problems in England is largely due to lost productivity of individuals in the workforce.
The NHS developed a response to the problem of common mental health disorders by significantly improving the availability of treatments, through launching and expanding the NHS Talking Therapies for Anxiety and Depression programme.
Investigating how the accessibility of mental healthcare services play a role in the relationship between mental health and employment was essential for understanding the benefits these services can provide to society.
How did we do it?
By combining NHS Talking Therapies for Anxiety and Depression data with the UK Household Longitudinal Study, we looked at regional variation in waiting times. This helped us to identify the effect of treatment waiting times on employment and absenteeism outcomes of individuals who could benefit from receiving therapy.
Findings
In the paper 'The effect of area-level waiting times for psychological therapies on individual-level labour market outcomes', we describe the following findings in greater detail:
- Waiting times for talking therapy affect individual labour market outcomes.
- Increased regional waiting times increase the likelihood of an absence from work.
- Longer regional waiting times for therapy decrease the probability of being employed.
- Both effects are stronger among males compared to females.
- Faster access to therapies can reduce the loss of productivity that is linked to poor mental health.
Downloadable resources
More information
Senior Programme Lead
Mike Spence