How Canada wants to position itself at the forefront of mental health at work
Professor Marc Corbière, who holds the Research Chair in Mental Health and Work created in 2017 at the University of Quebec in Montreal, studies the integration and return to work of people suffering from "mental disorders." This term, used in Quebec and the English-speaking world to describe mental disorders, includes so-called "common" disorders, such as depression, and "severe" disorders, such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.
With his team of researchers, Marc Corbière also participated in the creation, in 2021, of the International Community of Practices for Mental Health and Work, a French-speaking network of mental health and employment stakeholders, and works in particular with France on integration schemes.
How has Canada invested in the issue of mental health disorders at work?We see returning to work as the cornerstone of recovery. The Canadian model for the professional integration of people with mental health disorders was implemented in the 1990s, more than thirty years ago, inspired by what had existed in the United States since the 1980s. The particularity of this model, which is called an "employment support program," is its speed: without necessarily going through internships, the person is mobilized as soon as they enter the program and a specialized employment counselor accompanies them in this process. The idea is to train individuals in situ, in a workplace.
These are proven practices that are based on data: 50% of people enrolled in these programs find employment within a few months. In France, this model was implemented a little less than ten years ago, in the form of the "supported employment system" , which is aimed at all people with disabilities, not just mental disabilities.
Our work involves developing interventions for the target audience, which we test, validate, and implement, as well as developing measurement tools for corporate health professionals, such as questionnaires, assembled in a digital application accessible to all. We are also interested in the consequences of disclosing mental health disorders at work: what are the positive or negative impacts of disclosing one's disorder?
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