Functional improvement is a better predictor of steady work than medical improvement for individuals with mental health conditions.

The Supported Employment Demonstration (SED) offered vocational and mental health services to recently denied disability benefit applicants with mental health conditions, along with other multiple co-morbidities, to evaluate the impact of evidence-based interventions on fostering employment and downstream benefits such as self-sufficiency, improved quality of life, and improved mental health. Using the SED public use file, we analyzed work outcomes for the study participants in relation to functional improvement, as measured by the Work Disability Functional Assessment Battery, vs. medical improvement. Using both Bayesian logistic regression models and neural networks, we found that functional improvement is a better predictor of steady work than medical improvement.