A move towards a culture of involvement: involving service users and carers in the selection of future clinical psychologists
| Pages | 34-44 |
| Date | 01 November 2007 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/17556228200700019 |
| Published date | 01 November 2007 |
| Author | Tushna Vandrevala,Mark Hayward,Jane Willis,Mary John |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care |
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A move towards a culture of involvement:
involving service users and carers in the
selection of future clinical psychologists
Abstract
National policies suggest that service users and
carers should be involved in health care planning
and delivery. Initiatives to involve service users and
carers within the education of mental health
professionals have been reported. However, there
has been no initiative to involve such individuals in
the selection of clinical psychologists. This study
examines the experiences of service users, carers
and members of the Doctorate of Clinical
Psychology programme in the implementation of a
new interview task for the selection of trainee
clinical psychologists at the University of Surrey. This
new initiative involves service users, carers and staff
members working collaboratively to assess
candidates in a discussion based task. The study
employed two focus groups, one pre-selection and
one post-selection, and used interpretative
phenomenological analysis (IPA) to evaluate
participants’ expectations and experiences of the
task. The findings suggest that there was genuine
collaboration between service users, carers and
programme team members that was deeply
engrained in the programme ethos and was a step
forward in normalising and empowering service
users and their carers. Interviewers felt that this task
helped select a different calibre of applicants who
had an awareness of the perspective of service
users and carers and were able to communicate
effectively. Interviewers viewed applicants who were
able to disclose and take ownership of their views
favourably. The introduction of a successful new
interview task at Surrey has set a marker for future
collaboration with service users and carers in
selection, which will have implications for other
doctorate programmes in clinical psychology and
the broader health care training community.
Key words
service users; carers; collaboration; selection; clinical
psychology
Introduction
Department of Health (eg. National Service Framework,
1999; NHS Plan, 2000) policy emphasises the importance
of involving service users and carers in all aspects of
health care planning and delivery (DoH, 1999; 2000).
Moreover, Section 11 of the Health & Social Care Act
places a statutory duty on NHS trusts, primary care trusts
and strategic health authorities to consult service users in
service planning and operation. These policy and
legislative initiatives are premised on the rights of service
users and carers to be consulted about the services they
receive, and the potential value of engaging with the
experience of those who have used health care services.
Yet only recently has rigorous evidence begun to be
generated that can dilute 'a nagging sense that patient and
public involvement is a nice idea with little real justification'
(DoH, 2004a, p1).
The specific involvement of service users and carers
within mental health services is vital as these individuals
are often disempowered through processes of
discrimination and exclusion (Office of the Deputy Prime
Minister, ODPM, 2004). If the traditional division
between 'us' (the professionals) and 'them' (the patients) is
to be challenged and lead to the delivery of services that
are consistent with the expressed needs and desires of
service users and carers, mental health practitioners
require opportunities to learn in a variety of ways from
the experience of those who have personally lived with
mental distress. Such opportunities are enshrined within
the Ten Essential Shared Capabilities (DoH, 2004b), a
framework of values and practices that all mental health
workers should develop as part of their pre-qualifying
Tushna Vandrevala, Mark Hayward, Jane Willis and Mary John, Department of Psychology, University of Surrey
The Journal of Mental Health Training, Education and Practice Volume 2 Issue 3 November 2007 © Pavilion Journals (Brighton) Ltd
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