Improving User/Carer Involvement in Commissioning and Reviewing Mental Health Services
| Published date | 01 March 2006 |
| Date | 01 March 2006 |
| Pages | 16-20 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/13619322200600004 |
| Author | Andy Dickens,Alan Miles,Mary Watkins |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care |
Improving User/Carer
Involvement in
Commissioning and
Reviewing Mental
Health Services
Andy Dickens
Mid Devon Primary Care Research Group
Alan Miles
Faculty of Health & Social Work
University of Plymouth
Mary Watkins
Faculty of Health & Social Work
University of Plymouth
Case Study
Introduction
Improving mental health care provision is a
government priority as set out in the National Service
Framework for Mental Health (Department of Health,
1999). Importance is placed on improving care and
reducing variation in provision by setting national
standards and supporting delivery. A fundamental
aspect of the government’s targets is the involvement
of users and carers in the delivery of mental health
care(Department of Health, 1997; 2000; 2001a;
2001b), an aim supported by user groups and charities
such as MIND and Rethink.
Increasingly,user/carer involvement is actively
encouraged in the planning of many services and Goss
&Miller (1995) identified five levels of participation:
■no involvement
■consumer education and marketing services
■limited two-way communication
■listening and responsive
■partnership, representing optimal involvement
whereby users, carers and health professionals
have equal power and status.
The health authority,concerned to work more closely
with users and carers to improve mental health
services, established a pilot steering group with the
aim of identifying ways for service users/carers to be
involved with and active in the monitoring, planning
and deliveryof mental health services and to improve
participation by producing a best-practice guide. This
was a two-year pilot and commenced in December
2000. The group membership included users, carers
and managers and a project worker responsible for
engaging users, carers and their organisations.
It was considered essential for the initiative to be
independently evaluated and the aims of the
evaluation, jointly agreed with the commissioners,
wereto:
■set out the context of user/carer involvement
and collect data through various methods
■analyse the data and reporton the structure,
processes and outcomes of the project
■make recommendations based on these findings
to promote user/carer involvement in the
monitoring, planning and delivery of mental
health services.
16 The Mental Health Review Volume 11 Issue 1 March 2006 ©Pavilion Publishing (Brighton) 2006
To continue reading
Request your trial