Pathways to Work, introduced in October 2003, aimed to help customers to move from incapacity benefits into paid work. In addition, there was a belief that work could be beneficial for health and therefore, that the reforms could bring about health improvements as they delivered work outcomes. This report examines the outcomes and experiences of new and repeat incapacity benefits customers in the first seven Pathways to Work pilot areas. The report forms part of a comprehensive and ongoing programme of evaluation for Pathways to Work. The main findings are: - Apart from having recently made a claim for incapacity benefits, the customer group shared few common characteristics, and were diverse in terms of their health conditions, work experience and demographic characteristics. - A third of customers were in work at the time of the survey interview, with a further fifth looking for work. Just under half of the population (45%) was not looking for work. The most important factor in finding work was how health conditions were perceived and managed, although a proportion of customers worked despite health conditions, highlighting the importance of other factors. These included problems sustaining work, lack of appropriate work for customers’ skills and experience, and specific problems for those looking for work, such as failure with job applications, a need for flexible working arrangements and a lack of confidence. - The majority of those in work agreed with the statement that ‘being in work helps my health’, although a proportion strongly disagreed that work had a positive impact on their health. - In terms of Work Focused Interview (WFI) experiences, the majority felt that their Incapacity Benefit Personal Adviser (IBPA) listened to them ‘very well’ or ‘fairly well’. There was more variation in terms of impact, as 26% thought the WFIs helped them to think about work ‘a lot’, 28% ‘a little’ and 24% thought they were no help. Those likely to think the WFIs helped them think about work ‘a lot’ included those who felt the IBPA listened to what they wanted to say, those who attended multiple WFIs, those who took up a Choices element and those who received a financial incentive. (Existing services such as the New Deal for Disabled People, Work-Based Learning for Adults, Training for Work and Programme Centres have been brought together into a coherent Choices package.) - Nearly a quarter took up one or more of the Choices package, most commonly New Deal for Disabled People job brokers (9%), work-related training (8%), Programme Centres (6%) and the Condition Management Programme (4%). Bron: website DWP; bewerking RWI
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