Background
Individual Placement and Support (IPS) was originally developed to help people with serious mental illnesses into competitive employment but has recently shown positive results when delivered to people in treatment for substance use. This paper explores clients’ views and experiences of IPS for substance use to understand how the program is working across England, United Kingdom, and whether any improvements can be made.
Methods
A longitudinal qualitative study with 48 new IPS clients was conducted between January 2024 and August 2025. Participants were interviewed up to four times each by telephone generating 153 interviews that were analysed inductively by Iterative Categorization. Findings were then mapped onto RE-AIM, an implementation science framework that assesses public health and community interventions.
Findings
Participants’ accounts highlighted eight aspects of IPS (knowledge, engagement, outcomes, overall assessment, support received, valued components, future support desired, and potential improvements) which mapped onto four of the five RE-AIM dimensions (reach, effectiveness, implementation, maintenance). People who joined IPS for substance use tended to have limited knowledge and understanding of the program, but good engagement. They described multiple benefits, had few criticisms, and were overall positive. IPS provided them with practical employment-related assistance plus emotional support through strong relationships with IPS staff. Looking to the future, many participants wanted more of the same type of help from IPS, but also more in-work assistance and aid accessing education or training.
Conclusion
Clients were very appreciative of IPS for substance use. Nonetheless, findings indicate that the program could be improved if more information was available to clients; measures of effectiveness included clients’ subjective views on their progress towards employment; additional resources were available to invest in IPS staff; and further in-work support was routinely offered (both for longer periods of time and to clients who exited substance use treatment).
