The non‐professionally affiliated workforce in mental health ‐ who are these generic mental health workers and where do they fit within a workforce strategy?

Abstract

This paper gives an overview of the ‘non‐professionally affiliated’ (NPA) workforce in mental health in relation to their education, training and development. Some comparison is made with the current situation for the key professions in mental health. We argue that the NPA workforce is an increasingly significant and important part of the workforce and that attention needs to be paid to the construction of an overall development and qualification pathway for these workers, who embody many of the strengths of generic mental health work and have been found to be of great value to service users and their families.

Citation

Cuthbert, S. and Basset, T. (2007), "The non‐professionally affiliated workforce in mental health ‐ who are these generic mental health workers and where do they fit within a workforce strategy?", The Journal of Mental Health Training, Education and Practice, Vol. 2 No. 3, pp. 4-11. https://doi.org/10.1108/17556228200700015