A Comparison of Competitive Employment Outcomes for the Clubhouse and PACT Models

Abstract

This study determined whether the clubhouse model of community support and psychiatric rehabilitation can produce competitive employment outcomes that are comparable or superior to those of the Program of Assertive Community Treatment (PACT) model. This longitudinal study followed a group of 170 individuals with severe mental illness who were randomly assigned either to the experimental design, a clubhouse program (N=86), or to the control design, a PACT team (N=84). Study participants were tracked for 30 months, and employment outcome data were collected. After 30 months, 72 clubhouse and 76 PACT participants remained active in the project. After 30 months, 74 percent of PACT participants and 60 percent of clubhouse participants had been placed in at least one job. The average clubhouse participant worked 21.8 weeks per job and earned $7.38 per hour, whereas the average PACT participant worked 13.1 weeks per job and earned $6.30 per hour. Participants from both the PACT and clubhouse models achieved high employment levels, with no significant differences in weekly employment or 30-month job placement rates over the course of the study. During this time, clubhouse participants earned significantly higher wages and remained competitively employed for significantly more weeks per job than PACT participants.