Iran Occupational Health (17355133)20(2)
Background and aims: *The objective of the present study was to investigate the model of career issues of individuals with bipolar disorder and to develop a vocational rehabilitation program tailored to these individuals. Methods: *This research consisted of two parts. The first part aimed to discover the career issues of people with bipolar disorder, which were extracted from three sources: articles published on the subject of career issues of people with bipolar disorder (N=34), interviews with people with bipolar disorder (N=48), and interviews with experts who have worked in this field (N=11). These were extracted using a qualitative method (exploratory meta-synthesis). Then, based on these extracted factors, in the second part of the research, the model of career issues was designed. Finally, based on this model, the vocational rehabilitation program for people with bipolar disorder was prepared and formulated. Results: *Based on the findings of the research in the career issues model of people with bipolar disorder, the conditional factors lead to the emergence of factors, developing career issues. These factors also exacerbate the disorder symptoms, and after the worsening of the disorder symptoms, the factors that accelerate career issues lead to the formation of career issues in the two areas of poor work performance and feeling work insecurity. Also, the findings showed that the occupational rehabilitation program for people with bipolar disorder includes three levels of intervention on people in the workplace, family members, and the person with bipolar disorder. Conclusion: *Discovering career issues and developing rehabilitation programs for bipolar disorder are necessary for improving the career and mental health of persons with bipolar disorder. © 2024 Iran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved.
