Search results

The Care Programme Approach (CPA) is the fundamental framework for supporting the care and treatment of individuals with severe and complex mental health needs. National consultations with stakeholders (Department of Health, 2006) identified a lack of consistency in the implementation of the CPA across England, informed fresh guidance (Department of Health, 2008a) and highlighted the need for a valid and flexible training initiative to support the workforce in this important aspect of their practice. In response, a partnership team was commissioned by the Department of Health to design and disseminate such a learning resource. This paper details the first impressions of this resource from those who requested the materials and subsequently responded with an online evaluation questionnaire (n=27).These early responses demonstrate that the CPA learning resource is viewed by respondents as flexible, easy‐to‐use and comprehensive. In addition, DVD narratives of professionals, service users and carers' experiences of CPA in adult mental health services were identified as valuable elements of the resource as they assist trainers in the illustration of critical themes. Further results explore its utility in the training environment and highlight flexibility of delivery as an important feature. This enables the resource to be integrated with existing training materials or to guide the development of new training initiatives. As further evaluations are collected and analysed, they will feed into a process of incremental improvement of the learning package to ensure that it meets the requirements of the multidisciplinary workforce.

This paper will review aspects of current policy in mental health with specific reference to policy that has a values focus. In this context, values refers to the standards and expectations we hold and which we use to guide aspects of practice performance. Service users state that core values that support, respect choice, collaboration, and customer service are critical foundation stones of a trusting therapeutic relationship. Attending to these foundations for practice has merit in ensuring the quality of care delivery in mental health. This paper will analyse what this means for the mental health workforce in their engagement with service users and delivery of policy priorities. Finally, the paper will explore resources, such as the Ten Essential Shared Capabilities (see Appendix 1), which support engagement and ongoing promotion of person‐centred mental health care.

The 10 Essential Shared Capabilities (ESC) are a description of the core aspects of practice that support effective implementation and delivery of mental health care. The ESC have been derived directly from work with users, carers and mental health personnel. To support their introduction a learning pack was developed giving examples of the 10 ESC as they relate to current practice.A pilot programme across England was developed to test the acceptability and potential utility of these materials and this paper reports on the evaluation of that pilot programme. Facilitators (n=75) and learners (n=579) were asked to rate each of the seven modules contained in the learning pack. A number of recommendations have been made to improve the materials that are being acted upon.

This position paper focuses on the current tensions and challenges of aligning inpatient care with innovations in mental health services. It argues that a cultural shift is required within inpatient services. Obstacles to change including traditional perceptions of the role and responsibilities of the psychiatrist are discussed. The paper urges all staff working in acute care to reflect on the service that they provide, and to consider how the adoption of new ways of working might revolutionise the organisational culture. This cultural shift offers inpatient staff the opportunity to fully utilise their expertise. New ways of working may be perceived as a threat to existing roles and responsibilities or as an exciting opportunity for professional development with increased job satisfaction. Above all, the move to new ways of working, which is gathering pace throughout the UK, could offer service users1 a quality of care that meets their needs and expectations.

Peer support (PS) workers are being employed despite uncertain evidence for clinical and cost-effectiveness. Psychological theories have been proposed to explain the mechanisms of PS but these lack empirical validation and specificity to professional PS. The purpose of this paper is to develop a substantive interpretive grounded theory of service-users’ experience of professional PS work.

Constructivist grounded theory was used throughout. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten service-users who had engaged with a professional PS worker.

Three overarching themes were constructed. “The process of disclosure” describes how disclosure of mental health difficulties, experiences as a service-user and wider disclosure about life experiences, interests and values facilitate the development of a shared identity with the PS worker. “The product of disclosure” highlights the sense of being understood as a result of the disclosure and marks a deepening of the relationship. “Dual roles” describes the tenuous position of holding both a professional relationship and friendship.

Future research should seek to refine the theory developed and compare the effects of therapist self-disclosure with that found within PS. There were limitations within the study, including limited diversity within the sample as well as difficulties with recruitment.

This study connects service-users’ accounts of receiving PS with existing psychological theory to move towards an understanding of the relationship between receivers and providers of professional PS.