LVR-Klinikum Düsseldorf Hospital of the Heinrich-Heine University ...

lVr-KlINIKUM DÜSSelDOrF – HOSPItal OF tHe HeINrIcH-HeINe UNIVerSItY DÜSSelDOrF
Rehabilitation includes various activities to prepare for transferring to the jobs market, including assistance with computer training and improving cognition.
Products from the candle workshop are sold in the LVR-Klinikum.
Outpatient and day clinic schemes
In July 1996, staff members of the LVR-Klinikum Düsseldorf,
the LVR and committed citizens established the non-profit
association “arbeit & integration” (a&i), which has the
primary objective of allowing people with mental disorders
to find a way back into employment and their former
professional lives. The association arranges vocational
integration courses and professional orientation courses to
establish each patient’s individual capacity to deal with the
pressures at work and his existing skills, i.e. to what extent
he can be retrained. It also actively seeks employment
opportunities in so-called “integration companies”
(commercial enterprises that make it a point to hire people
with disabilities). For this purpose, individuals may, for
a maximum period of 12 months, undergo a vocational
integration course with the support of the Federal Job
Agency and the social insurance authority. This course is
based on the “place and train” approach, which also provides
the foundation for the American Supported Employment
programmes (SE). The placement of people into such work
experiences/internships on the primary employment market
does not require long periods of preparation in a secure
environment, provided the patients are sufficiently motivated
and clinically stable.
At the same time, medical doctors, psychologists and
educationists work closely together with the individual
patients to develop strategies, on the basis of a behaviour
therapy concept, for solving problems that may emerge in
connection with their mental disorders and disabilities.
The target group consists of mentally ill individuals who
require outpatient care for the foreseeable future (medium
40
or long term), specifically those who have been diagnosed
with one of the following disorders:
s Schizophrenia
s Affective disorders
s Neurotic and stress disorders
s Eating disorders
s Personality disorders
Currently, 25 places are available in two teaching groups.
Professional orientation course
Since February 2004, a&i has been conducting threemonth
orientation courses (on behalf of the associations
that provide the funding) to assess the extent to which
patients are actually capable of coping with the pressures
and stress factors in an employment situation. The threemonth
diagnostic course is intended to benefit people whose
professional qualifications need to be checked, extended
or changed in order to match the requirements of the
primary employment market. Following this course, both the
funding association and the individual can be provided with
a reasonably reliable assessment of the professional and
integrative prospects.
Integration company “a&i”
The cafeteria in the social centre of the LVR-Klinikum
Düsseldorf is operated by the a&i association. It has seven
staff members, four of whom are suffering from a mental
disorder; these include people with a difficult and complex
case history who have not been actively engaged in the
employment market for years. The cafeteria has no sponsor.
It relies on the revenue generated by its sales and occasional
or temporary subsidies.