Now they’re listening: involvement in clinical psychology training
| Pages | 23-29 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/MHSI-07-2018-0027 |
| Published date | 12 February 2019 |
| Date | 12 February 2019 |
| Author | Laura Lea,Sue Holttum,Victoria Butters,Diana Byrne,Helen Cable,Di Morris,John Richardson,Linda Riley,Hannah Warren |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Mental health,Social inclusion |
Now they’re listening: involvement
in clinical psychology training
Laura Lea, Sue Holttum, Victoria Butters, Diana Byrne, Helen Cable, Di Morris,
John Richardson, Linda Riley and Hannah Warren
Abstract
Purpose –The 2014/2015 UK requirement for involvement of service users and carers in training mental
health professionals has prompted the authors to review the work of involvement in clinical psychology
training in the university programme. Have the voices of service users and carers been heard? The paper
aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach –The authors update the paper of 2011 in which the authors described
the challenges of inclusi on and the specific approaches the authors take to in volvement. The authors do
this in the context of the recent change to UK standards for service user and carer involvement, and recent
developments in relat ion to partnership worki ng and co-production in m ental healthcare. The au thors
describe the work carried out by the authors –members of a service use r involvement group at a
UK university –to ensure the voices of people affected by mental health difficulties are included in all
aspects of training.
Findings –Careful work and the need for dedicated time is required to enable inclusive,
effective and comprehe nsive participation in a me ntal health training pr ogramme. It is apparent tha t
there is a group of service users whose voice is less heard: those who are training to be mental
health workers.
Social implications –For some people, involvement has increased. Trainee mental health professionals’
own experience of distress may need more recognition and valuing.
Originality/value –The authors are in a unique position to review a service-user-ledproject, which has run
for 12 years, whose aim has been to embed involvement in training. The authors can identify both
achievements and challenges.
Keywords Inclusion, Co-production, Service user and carer involvement
Paper type Case study
Background
Recent years have seen a greater inclusion of service users and carers in the provision of mental
health services in the UK and other countries. Since 2015, the UK’s Health and Care Professions
Council (HCPC), the registration body for mental health professions, has required the
involvement of service users and carers in the training and education of professionals (Health and
Care Professions Council, 2015).
A theoretical frame work that has been pr oposed to underpin w ork in this area is that o f
co-production (Rhodes et al., 2016). This is a way of working with service users and carers
or lay people where traditional barriers between people who are service users or carers and
professionals are broken down. Lay people’s capacities and skills are acknowledged so
that together they can work towards changing organisations and services. Thus, service users
and carers become agents of change. But co-production (Social Care Institute for Excellence,
2015) is one of those words like partnership. It can mean so much. Who defines it and how
it is implemented makes the difference between achieving change and renaming
existing practices.
Laura Lea, Sue Holttum,
Victoria Butters, Diana Byrne,
Helen Cable, Di Morris,
John Richardson, Linda Riley
and Hannah Warrenare all
based at Salomons Centrefor
Applied Psychology,
Canterbury ChristChurch
University,Tunbridge Wells, UK.
DOI 10.1108/MHSI-07-2018-0027 VOL. 23 NO. 1 2019, pp. 23-29, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2042-8308
j
MENTALHEALTH AND SOCIAL INCLUSION
j
PAG E 23
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