When equality is not really equal: affirmative action and consumer participation
Abstract
Consumer participation in mental health service planning and delivery is now authorised through Australian government policy. While strategies have been implemented to foster opportunities for participation, they have rarely been evaluated for their effectiveness. Furthermore, the inadequacy of these strategies to support policy implementation has been criticised in the literature and identified as a major obstacle to genuine and effective consumer participation in mental health care. This paper argues that there is an urgent need for affirmative action in order to overcome the current and historical discrimination that prevents consumers from active participation.
Keywords
Citation
Happell, B. and Roper, C. (2006), "When equality is not really equal: affirmative action and consumer participation", Journal of Public Mental Health, Vol. 5 No. 3, pp. 6-11. https://doi.org/10.1108/17465729200600021
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2006, Emerald Group Publishing Limited