Community participation and social inclusion in Bristol
| Published date | 16 August 2013 |
| Date | 16 August 2013 |
| Pages | 156-164 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/MHSI-05-2013-0014 |
| Author | Jon Fieldhouse,Anne‐Laure Donskoy |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care |
Community participation and social
inclusion in Bristol
Jon Fieldhouse and Anne-Laure Donskoy
Jon Fieldhouse is a Senior
Lecturer (Occupational
Therapy) in the Department of
Allied Health Professions, at
the University of the West of
England, Bristol, UK.
Anne-Laure Donskoy is a
survivor researcher in mental
health, and research partner
at the Faculty of Health and
Life Sciences at the University
of the West of England,
Bristol, UK.
Abstract
Purpose – This paper reports on action research which explored assertive outreach service users’
experiences of community participation and then fed this learning into a multi-agency forum – where it was
used in joint-planning between mental health services and community partners, aiming to maximise social
inclusion locally.
Design/methodology/approach – Action research methodology was chosen to examine the forum’s
work because it brings together different perspectives to reveal an issue in its entirety and effect change in
practice. Service users’ experiences were explored using semi-structured qualitative interviews.
Findings – Engagement in mainstream community-based activities re-connected service users with
cherished life roles and developed feelings of self-efficacy, belonging, and wellbeing. Effective inter-sectoral
working in the forum was based on a shared agenda and collective action planning.
Research limitations/implications – Whilst every effort was made to ensure an authentic service user
voice informed service development, it is unfortunate – in action research terms – that no service user
interviewees were able to participate directly in the work of the forum. Community development work can
build on micro-level, person-centred mental health care and extend outwards to collective community
activity, aiming to harness social capital.
Practical implications – Assertiveoutreach – harnessing mainstreamoccupations throughcare-planning –
achieved outcomes that institutional rehab could not, and did so with a minimum of stigmatisation.
Social implications – This inquiry highlights that social inclusion is the responsibility of the community as
a whole.
Originality/value – This inquiry appreciated service users as evaluators of the services they used and
aimed to bring that knowledge to bear on service development.
Keywords Community participation, Social inclusion, Community development
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
The social inclusion agenda challenges mental health services to find new ways of promoting
service users’ access to mainstream life opportunities beyond services, which are essential to
an individual’s recovery.However, the social capital of “the community” remains stubbornly
elusive to many mental health service users.
This paper reports on a social inclusion action research (AR) project in Bristol, UK, which asked
service users of an assertive outreach (AO) service what had worked for them. Qualitative
interviews explored their experiences of community participation and inclusion; and this learning
was then fed into Bristol’s multi-agency social inclusion forum where it was used to inform joint
planning between mental health services and a further education (FE) college, aiming to
maximise the inclusivity of FE locally.
In the interviews, service users described how AO practitioners helped them engage in
mainstream activities and how this re-connected them with cherished roles, achieve long-
standing goals, and develop feelings of self-efficacy, self-belief, belonging, and wellbeing.
This action research was funded by
the National Institute of Mental
Health in England (NIMHE) and
received NHS Research Ethics
approval.
PAGE 156
j
MENTAL HEALTH AND SOCIAL INCLUSION
j
VOL. 17 NO. 3 2013, pp. 156-164, CEmerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 2042-8308 DOI 10.1108/MHSI-05-2013-0014
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