Predictors of post-hospital employment status for psychiatric patients in Hong Kong: From perceptions of rehabilitation professionals to empirical evidence

Fifty participants with mental illness and a concrete discharge plan were selected from two mental hospitals in Hong Kong and assessed on their Psychosocial support by the Chinese Version of the Significant Others Scale, social vocational competence using the Workshop Behavior Checklist and the Vocational Social Skills Scale, medical history, work history, and demographic variables. At three months after discharge, the employed participants (n = 12) were shown to have better psychosocial support and social vocational competence than the unemployed participants (n = 24) by univariate comparison. The employed and unemployed participants did not differ in their medical and work history, and demographic variables. Implications of the results for rehabilitation programming are discussed.