Positively Transitional or Unfortunately Permanent?: The Status of Work Within Clubhouses in the UK

The clubhouse in Britain is a phenomenon of the 1990s. However, their influence possibly far exceeds their numbers in terms of the overall provision of work opportunities for individuals with mental health problems. Maybe such visibility is one reason why clubhouses provoke support and hostility in about equal measure. Often when this occurs both supporters and detractors focus on one particular attribute of the clubhouse to the exclusion of others. There have been few impartial examinations of the clubhouse (and fewer still empirical evaluations of the efficacy of the clubhouse approach to work rehabilitation). In this paper we wish to examine some of the advantages and disadvantages of the clubhouse in relation to vocational rehabilitation goals and offer some thoughts on its future role within mental health services.