Mental health and adult protection
| Date | 01 December 2005 |
| Published date | 01 December 2005 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14668203200500024 |
| Pages | 41-44 |
| Author | Brian Williams |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Sociology |
The Journal of Adult Protection Volume 7 Issue 4 • December 2005 © Pavilion Publishing (Brighton) Limited 41
The Department of Health’s website includes an ‘easy read
version’ of the leaflet explaining the draft Mental Health Bill
prepared for people with learning difficulties. This is available
at: www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/Publications/
PublicationsLegislation/PublicationsLegislationArticle/fs/e
n?CONTENT_ID=4088907&chk=mo1hDq. This email
address would challenge even the most able typist, however,
the document is also available, along with other explanatory
papers, via www.dh.gov.uk by following the ‘Publications’
links. It’s a huge website that is not easy to navigate.
A valuable resource (and a well-designed website) for the
friends, relatives and carers of people requiring mental health
care, and for service users themselves, is provided by
www.mentalhealthcare.org.uk. The site explains the
meanings of the main diagnoses, and has carers’ own stories in
relation to (for example) schizophrenia, bipolar disorder,
autism and eating disorders. Set up by mental health charity
Rethink, the Institute of Psychiatry and the Maudsley Trust, it
also has links to user/carer research. A particularly novel and
valuable feature is an ‘ask the pharmacist’ facility. It is stressed
that this is for use in non-urgent cases. It gives carers and
patients the opportunity to ask questions about their
medication from a relatively objective source, and previous
answers are available for visitors to the site to read.
The mental health campaigning organisation Mind has a
well-designed and comprehensive website which includes (on
its front page at the time of writing) information on how to
withdraw from psychiatric drugs, and details of its other
campaigns such as ‘access all ages’ which concerns the rights
of older people to obtain services. A recent successful
campaign against the withdrawal of financial benefits from
hospital in-patients is outlined, along with detailed
information on its implications for individual claimants.
Another current campaign is the one against the inappropriate
use of anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs) and the site
includes case material on people who have clearly had these
orders placed upon them without any recognition of their
mental distress or individual needs. The site also provides free
access to a wide range of factsheets and rights guides
Mental health and adult
protection
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