Lay summary
People who experience mental health or addiction problems are much less likely to be in employment than people who do not. Māori and Pasifika peoples who experience mental health or addiction problems are further disadvantaged when trying to find or keep employment. Yet these issues are not a reflection of peoples’ employment aspirations.
Effective collaboration between welfare, employment and health agencies is crucial to address these inequities. Collaboration promotes access to financial support when people are not working, and the right type and intensity of employment assistance to enable the person to regain employment.
Using a case study design, this research will identify models of successful collaboration between Work and Income case management services and contracted employment support providers. It will identify approaches to collaboration that successfully support people with addiction or mental health problems, particularly Māori and Pasifika peoples, to return to, and stay in, employment.
The research will identify the approaches used by successful models of collaborative case management in order to help organisations transfer these approaches to other contexts and populations.