Continuing the dialogue

2008 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 181-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Ellen Copeland ◽  
Shery Mead
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Service User ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Psychiatric Crisis

We consider the value of dialogue between healthcare professionals and mental health service users with severe mental illnesses. Discussion with the service user before, during and after a psychiatric crisis should help services to offer choice even to individuals under compulsory detention.

scholarly journals The crucible of co-production: Case study interviews with Recovery College practitioner trainers

2019 ◽  
Vol 78 (8) ◽  
pp. 977-987
Author(s):  
Mark Dalgarno ◽  
Jennifer Oates
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Mental Healthcare ◽  
Single Site ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Structured Interviews

Objectives: This study explored healthcare professionals’ accounts of being practitioner trainers in a mental health Recovery College, where they worked with peer trainers, who were people with lived experience of mental illness, to co-produce workshops for mental health service users and staff. The aim of this study was to understand the process of co-production in the Recovery College from the perspective of practitioner trainers. Design: Single-site case study. Setting: A Recovery College in the South of England, open to staff and service users from one mental health care provider organisation. Methods: Semi-structured interviews with eight mental healthcare professionals. Transcripts were thematically analysed. Results: A central image of ‘the workshop as crucible’ emerged from the three themes derived from the analysis. Co-facilitating the workshop was a ‘structured’ encounter, within which health professionals experienced ‘dynamism’ and change. For them, this involved experiences of ‘challenge and discomfort’. Conclusion: Findings from this study contribute to the evidence base for the evaluation of Recovery Colleges by focusing on the training impact on staff. Findings suggest that taking on a trainer role in Recovery College co-production is beneficial for healthcare professionals as well as mental health service users, especially if healthcare professionals are open to the dynamism and possible discomfort of these workshop encounters. Future research, however, should expand beyond single-site case studies to test the extent to which this metaphor and themes are appropriate to describing the ‘transformative’ element of co-production.

Service users’ experiences of participation in clinical psychology training

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 337-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meadhbh Campbell ◽  
Charlotte Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Clinical Psychology ◽  
Service User ◽  
Psychology Training ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Clinical Psychology Training ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Psychology Course

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore mental health service users’ experiences of involvement in a clinical psychology course. Design/methodology/approach Five participants were recruited from a service user and carer group aligned to a university professional clinical psychology course. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and data were analysed using an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Findings Four superordinate themes, group processes, advocating, transforming and power, were drawn from the data, with ten subthemes emerging capturing experiences on the personal, professional and group levels. Research limitations/implications The study is not generalisable and has a small number of participants. However, many of the themes have resonance with existing literature. Practical implications Service user initiatives need to consider the personal and contextual issues that service users may have experienced prior to their involvement. The needs of service user initiatives may change over time. Such initiatives must evolve in conjunction with the personal and political journeys of participants. Originality/value Few studies have explored the experiences of mental health service users in clinical psychology training using a robust methodology. The current study suggests that eliciting these experiences highlights factors that facilitate involvement as well as the barriers.

Irish Mental Health Social Movements: A Consideration of Movement Habitus

2002 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewen Speed
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Service User ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Department Of Health ◽  
Mental Health Service User ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Consumer Model

There has been a lack of any concerted mental health service users‘ movement within the Republic of Ireland. Mental health service users’ movements elsewhere have a marked orientation towards strategies of empowerment and the provision of peer advocacy and support for mental health service users. Two potential user habituses (drawn from the literature) are expounded and discussed, in a context of transformations they have effected in the mental health field. Through an analysis of Department of Health and Children literature and literature offered by mental health service user groups (such as Schizophrenia Ireland and AWARE) service user habitus in Ireland are delineated and explored. A comparison between the habitus drawn from international literature and the Irish literature illustrates that the dominant Irish mental health social movement habitus is a consumer habitus. This analysis demonstrates that Irish governmental psychiatric policy is driven by a consumer model that in turn is adopted by mental health social movement organisations, resulting in a dominant consumer habitus.

scholarly journals Psychiatric drugs: reconsidering their mode of action and the implications for service user involvement

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Marc Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Mental Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Service User ◽  
User Involvement ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Service User Involvement ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Psychiatric Drugs

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine two competing pharmacological models that have been used to understand how psychiatric drugs work: the disease-centred model and the drug-centred model. In addition, it explores the implications of these two models for mental health service users and the degree to which they are meaningfully involved in decisions about the use of psychiatric drugs. Design/methodology/approach The approach is a conceptual review and critical comparison of two pharmacological models used to understand the mode of action of psychiatric drugs. On the basis of this analysis, the paper also provides a critical examination, supported by the available literature, of the implications of these two models for service user involvement in mental health care. Findings The disease-centred model is associated with a tendency to view the use of psychiatric drugs as a technical matter that is to be determined by mental health professionals. In contrast, the drug-centred model emphasises the centrality of the individual experience of taking a psychiatric drug and implies a more equitable relationship between practitioners and mental health service users. Originality/value Although infrequently articulated, assumptions about how psychiatric drugs work have important consequences for service user involvement in mental health care. Critical consideration of these assumptions is an important aspect of seeking to maximise service user involvement in decisions about the use of psychiatric drugs as a response to their experience of mental distress.

scholarly journals Let us say what we need ourselves: report of the interview of mental health service users with schizophrenia in South-West Nigeria.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oyeyemi Olajumoke Oyelade ◽  
Nokuthula Gloria Nkosi
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
High Tendency ◽  
South West ◽  
Low Middle Income Countries

Abstract Schizophrenia is one of the, most chronic mental illnesses that subjects’ individuals who are suffering from dictatorship and control by close associates/friends, family and health professionals. The productivity of individuals who have schizophrenia is also reduced, due to the debilitating effect of the illness. In some countries, the right of such individuals is protected by laws guiding their treatment, however in the majority of the low-middle income countries (64%), Nigeria included, there are no Mental Health Acts that protect the rights of individuals in such categories. Without law or guidance, individual health professionals engage in trial and error, subjective ideas, or dictatorship. However, in a situation where recovery has been achieved, which is a function of remission of symptoms, there is a need for mental health service users to take part in their care. When a mental health service users’ voice is heard and appreciated, there is a high tendency for quick improvement, and this makes rehabilitation goals achievable. This study, therefore, describes the rehabilitation activities for individuals with schizophrenia in South-West Nigeria. A descriptive qualitative approach and semi-structured interviews were used to gather information from mental health service users at the eight clinics of the two tertiary psychiatric institutions in South-West Nigeria. Twenty-nine mental health service users were interviewed. The results of the interview were analysed independently by both researchers through a content analysis approach, using NVIVO version 11. The results of the analysis were compared, and an agreement reached on the conclusion. This study revealed that there was no uniform approach to rehabilitation of individuals with schizophrenia in South-West Nigeria, and instances of dictatorship and dependence by professional on the choice of activities were eminent. For the few who were able to make an informed decision, the mental health service users did better on what they chose to do themselves than what the family and health professionals suggested. However, when the mental health service users, did what they felt was best for them; this indicated a certain level of rehabilitation. This study, therefore, encourages the development of practice guidelines for the rehabilitation of individuals with schizophrenia in Nigeria.

Overcoming challenges in service user involvement in an older people’s mental health service

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 151-155
Author(s):  
Sophie Smith ◽  
Maria Abbas ◽  
Ariane Zegarra
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Service User ◽  
User Involvement ◽  
Service Improvement ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Service User Involvement ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Group Members

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe how an older people’s mental health service involves service users in research and service improvement projects, the value of this work and the ways in which barriers to user-led research have been approached and handled. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted a reflective review of their experiences of running “ResearchNet”, a group aimed at putting service users’ perspectives at the heart of service improvement projects, which benefits from and develops its members’ related skills. The authors explore overcoming barriers to service user involvement in research. Findings This paper identified the following key elements that enabled ResearchNet to overcome barriers which might be found in service user–led research: recruitment processes; identifying research projects; building confidence, sustaining motivation and overcoming setbacks; developing service user’s research skills; keeping multiple views in mind; involving people with dementia; being responsive to group members’ needs; and keeping the group safe. Practical implications Oxleas National Health Service is currently looking at integrating with the quality improvement team to provide further structure and training to group members. Originality/value This paper explores an under-represented area of research – service user inclusion in older adult mental health research and service improvement. It provides much needed clinical implications for clinicians seeking to increase clients’ involvement in research and service development projects.

The Therapeutic Waiting Room: Therapist and Service User Perspectives on the Psychologically Supportive Dimensions of Architectural Space

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-118
Author(s):  
Stephanie Liddicoat
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Service User ◽  
Phenomenological Study ◽  
Interpersonal Relations ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Waiting Room ◽  
Symbolic Content ◽  
Perceptions Of Care

Background: Waiting areas in healthcare settings play an important role in reassuring or potentially further distressing service users. The effects of the designed environment on mental health service users specifically are regarded by health professionals as having a considerable influence on treatment outcomes, experiences, and perceptions of care. Purpose: The purpose of this article is to explore service user and practicing therapist perspectives of waiting areas in mental health service settings and how the design of these spaces affects anxiety levels, comfort, therapeutic relationships, outcomes, and perceptions of care. Methods: The methodology for this exploratory phenomenological study was developed in order to preserve the integrity of participant voices in the essences of experiences, during explorations of their encounters with therapeutic waiting areas. Fieldwork undertaken by the author involved a series of focused in-depth interviews with service users of mental health services and practicing therapists, counselors, and psychologists. Results: Key themes identified through data analysis include (1) space acting as symbolism, (2) interpersonal relations which are threatening, and (3) sensory modulation. Design implications in relation to each theme are presented. Conclusions: This study uncovered a set of findings in relation to symbolic content inferred by spatial design aspects and the ways in which design can afford, or mitigate, development of interpersonal agencies, psychological safety, and negative stigmas. Future transdisciplinary research directions are suggested, including (1) examination of other relationships, beyond the service user–therapist dyad, which may influence waiting area experiences and (2) examination of the applicability of design suggestions to different contexts.

On becoming a student mental health nurse

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Clarke ◽  
Frances Byrne
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Service User ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Mental Health Nursing ◽  
Mental Health Nurses ◽  
Health Nurse ◽  
Health Nursing

This chapter is all about helping you to understand what mental health nursing is. To this end, we will consider what you must know and do when you first meet people with mental health problems. We will introduce a personal account from a mental health service user early in the chapter in order to help you begin to understand what working with people with mental health problems is like and what service users want from mental health nurses. In an effort to help you become familiar with what mental health nursing is, we will explore the following issues: what is a profession; what is nursing; what beliefs and values inform nursing; why is it important for mental health nurses to be self-aware; and what do mental health nurses need to know? In the final part of this chapter we explore the nature of boundaries in professional relationships and the implications of this for practice as a mental health nurse. Before you read any further we would encourage you to recognize that mental health service users are, quite rightly, the real experts in their care and needs. It is vitally important that you listen and really attend to what they are saying to you. We have asked a service user, Deborah Living, to represent for you some of the important issues that she would like mental health nurses to be aware of, and Deborah is going to tell you part of her own life story. I consider myself to be a survivor…not just a survivor of mental health difficulties but also a survivor of mental health services. I feel I am a survivor because I have reclaimed my life after more than ten years of mental health diagnoses and treatments: diagnoses from clinical depression to cyclothymia (described as a ‘milder’ form of manic depression); antidepressants and mood stabilisers from prozac to lithium; and interventions from counselling to psychiatry, through ECT to being an inpatient. It took me over a decade and a 12-month stay in a residential therapeutic community to stop the ‘revolving door’ approach within the mental health service, whereby I would gain short-term stability only to relapse yet again.

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