Supported Employment: Training Frontline Staff - SAMHSA Store ...

Use open-ended questions
Open-ended questions are questions that
cannot be answered with a “Yes” or a “No.”
When interviewing consumers, asking openended
questions often yields much more useful
information than asking closed-ended questions.
Open-ended questions are very useful for learning
more about consumers, including their job
preferences, work history, perceived difficulties on
the job, and desire for support.
Examples of open-ended questions:
• I’d like to hear about the kinds of jobs you’ve
worked in the past.
• What sort of things do you enjoy doing
• When you think of the kinds of work you’d
like to do, what types of work do you find
most interesting
• What types of problems have you encountered on
your job
Open-ended questions are better than closeended
questions because they require consumers
to elaborate in responding to the question, giving
you more information about what they want or
are thinking. By asking open-ended questions, you
can also have a greater assurance that consumers
understood your question. People can easily answer
closed-ended questions with a “Yes” or a “No,” even
without truly understanding the question, resulting
in your incorrectly understanding consumers’
preferences.
Open-ended questions are also helpful in checking
the understandings you have with consumers. With
some consumers, it is important to periodically
establish that you mutually understand the
conversation by pausing and asking open-ended
review questions.
For example, you may say:
Let’s go over what we’re going to do together
when we meet with the restaurant manager
about a possible job. What is our plan going
to be
This type of question is more useful in checking
consumers’ understanding than asking a closedended
question such as
Do you understand our plan for what we are
going to do when we meet with the restaurant
manager about a possible job for you
In short, open-ended questions are useful for
eliciting consumers’ preferences and ensuring clear
communication.
Respect consumer preferences
Respecting consumers’ preferences is a core
principle of SE (for SE core principles, see Module
1). Allow consumers’ preferences to guide the type
of SE services that you provide in these areas:
• The type of job that is sought;
• The nature of support you provide; and
• Whether to disclose consumers’ mental illness
to employers.
Respecting consumers’ preferences is important
for a number of reasons. Consumers who feel
understood and respected are more likely to stay
engaged in SE services. Consumers who obtain
work that is interesting to them tend to have higher
levels of satisfaction with their jobs and longer
job tenures. Thus, attending to consumers’ job
preferences will make your work easier because
consumers are more likely to remain on the job.
Furthermore, conflict can occur when consumers’
preferences are not well understood or are not
fully respected. Conflict occurs when tension arises
between consumers and employment specialists,
usually with respect to some aspect of consumers’
vocational plan or problem experienced at work.
Distinguish conflict from disagreement. Consumers
and employment specialists may have different
perspectives on a problem and may disagree about
it, without this disagreement leading to tension. It
is best to avoid conflict with consumers at all times,
since the emotional tension inherent in conflict
Training Job Supports Frontline and Collaborations Staff 11 Module 4