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The modernisation of mental health day services has been shaped by concerns about the social exclusion of people with enduring mental health problems. Initiatives have emphasised the use of mainstream facilities and an individualised approach. In contrast, service users have sought to safeguard opportunities for peer support in safe places. This participatory action research brought together service users, staff and others involved, to explore how these different views could be transformed into modernised services. The research took place in an outer London borough from 2003‐2007, using varied methods to explore social networking, including a visual method, action research groups and individual interviews. The research was designed and adapted to enable the involvement of people with different capacities and interests. Each stage generated findings for local modernisation, pointing to the importance of a safe space, service user knowledge of social and recreational activities and how self‐help groups develop and thrive. The final reconfiguration of local services reflected these research outcomes. Credible and useful outcomes can be achieved from collaborative research, allowing time and creating opportunities to shape interpretations of policy. Emerging initiatives are more likely to reflect service user perspectives and receive their support.

The National Day Services Modernisation Network was launched in January 2009 and is a collaboration between the Inclusion Institute (taking on the role previously held by the National Social Inclusion Programme), Mind, Rethink and Richmond Fellowship. The Network came about in recognition that many of those involved in modernising mental health day services were struggling with the same issues, often in isolation, and that there was a need for a forum to discuss and develop approaches to these issues.

This article describes the results of a survey of adult mental health day service staff that explored their views and experiences of day service modernisation. While respondents acknowledged the positive aspects of service modernisation, they also believed that some people might find these changes harder to accept than others. Even though it can be a daunting prospect for some, based on the testimonies of the staff interviewed, the rewards associated with service modernisation outweigh the initial discomfort.

A postal survey and semi‐structured interviews were under taken with mental health day centre staff in two regions of England, investigating whether criticisms levelled at buildings‐based day services are justifiable. The majority of respondents agreed with recommendations outlined in From Segregation to Inclusion (National Institute for Mental Health in England/Care Services Improvement Par tnership, 2006), believing that mental health services should ideally be based in community locations. Respondents believed that this would help to challenge stigma, facilitate community integration, and provide service users with more oppor tunities. However, concerns were expressed as to the availability of mainstream facilities and whether this approach would be suitable for all service users. Suggestions on how day services could be improved included having access to reliable sources of funding, relaxing access criteria, and having greater service user involvement.

Helen Bird and colleagues report on a small‐scale research project completed in west Yorkshire that examined the effects of the closure of a traditional sheltered workshop on those who attended. The closure was contentious, and the report questions the centrality accorded to ‘social exclusion’ as a central feature of current policy and practice. They argue for a more nuanced approach, which reflects both service users' actual preferences and current social realities.

This article is an account of day service modernisation in Birmingham, describing how a range of innovative approaches to consultation with service users played a key role in reshaping day services in the city.

This article explores some service development practices that help to promote social inclusion through day services modernisation (DSM). It is based on the experiences of one NHS trust that successfully negotiated the transition from segregated, buildings‐based in‐house day care services operating during working hours to ones that are individualised, person‐focused and operate at times and in places used also by the general public, providing individual, person‐to‐person support to enable recovery and quality of life in the wider community. Key to success is the concept of the modern, inclusive day service as a community bridge builder operating across a number of life domains and spanning the mental health/community boundary while retaining strong connections with the rest of the mental health system.

Modernisation and restructuring of mental health day services presents a huge challenge to trusts and commissioners. Ben Taylor outlines the common barriers and suggests some fundamental principles to guide those venturing on this task ‐ not least of which is the involvement of current and potential service users.

The modernisation of day services presents many challenges. One key challenge is not to abandon the people that these have traditionally supported. Peter Bates from the National Development Team makes a plea for a modernisation process that clearly recognises the needs of this important group.

This article describes the approach to modernisation of adult mental health day services taken in Sandwell, which retains a building‐based element to provide for attachment and belonging, while developing community‐based models that promote social integration and recovery.