Learning from service user and carer involvement in clinical psychology training

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to build a theoretical model of how and what clinical psychologists learn from service user and carer involvement in their training.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative research design was adopted, and verbatim transcripts of semi-structured interviews conducted with 12 clinical psychologists were analysed using grounded theory methodology.

Findings

Findings indicated that clinical psychologists learned from service user and carer involvement in a variety of ways and a preliminary model was proposed, encompassing four main categories: “mechanisms of learning”, “relational and contextual factors facilitating learning”, “relational and contextual factors hindering learning” and “impact”.

Research limitations/implications

Further research is required to establish to what extent the current findings may be transferrable to learning from service user and carer involvement in the context of educating professionals from other disciplines. Additionally, participants had limited experiences of carer involvement, and more research in this area specifically would be useful.

Practical implications

This study advocates for service user and carer involvement in clinical psychology training, and specific recommendations are discussed, including service user perspectives.

Originality/value

Service user and carer involvement has become mandatory in Health Care Professional Council-approved training programmes for mental health professionals, yet if and how learning occurs is poorly understood in this context. This study makes an important contribution in evaluating outcomes of service user and carer involvement in clinical psychology training by advancing theoretical understanding of the learning processes involved. The authors are unaware of similar work.

Citation

Schreur, F.K., Lea, L. and Goodbody, L. (2015), "Learning from service user and carer involvement in clinical psychology training", The Journal of Mental Health Training, Education and Practice, Vol. 10 No. 3, pp. 137-149. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMHTEP-02-2015-0009