Handbook of Service User Involvement in Mental Health Research In recent years, the need for patient and public involvement in medical research has been accepted around the world. Patient groups are gaining power and demanding their right to influence the direction of research, while funding bodies are increasingly regarding patient involvement as a requirement for grant applications. However, current knowledge on how to involve service users in mental health research is sparse and dispersed. This book provides clear guidance on best practice in this area, with practical advice based on experience in countries around the world. Handbook of Service User Involvement in Mental Health Research describes the background and principles underlying the concept of service user involvement in mental health research; it provides relevant practical advice on how to engage with service users and how to build and maintain research collaboration on a professional level. The book highlights common practical problems in service user involvement, suggesting ways to avoid pitfalls and common difficulties. Combines the theoretical aspects of service user involvement in research with specific examples, as well as with general practical guidelines Represents the views of service users, in a powerful combination with the views of other mental health professionals Considers the different perspectives and needs of the stakeholders concerned Includes a step by step guide on best practice in successful service user involvement. Handbook of Service User Involvement in Mental Health Research is written for psychiatrists and other medical professionals managing people with psychiatric disorders, as well as for researchers in the mental health field who want to develop projects with service user involvement. It is vital reading for funding bodies requesting service user involvement, and – importantly – is written for those service users who are interested in becoming involved in research.

Service user involvement in mental health research poses specific challenges for both researchers and service users. The book describes the relevant background and principles underlying the concept of service user involvement in mental health research, providing relevant practical advice on how to engage with service users and how to build and maintain research collaboration on a professional level. It highlights common practical problems in service user involvement, based on experience from various countries with different social policies and suggests ways to avoid pitfalls and common difficulties. The book helps researchers decide which level of service user involvement will be adequate for their research activities and what will be feasible in view of the practicalities involved. It is also ideal for service users who are interested in becoming involved in research, providing relevant background information on the possibilities of involvement in professional research.

This book fills an important niche in the market providing practical expert advice on the involvement of service users - patients, carers and the public - in nursing and healthcare research. An invaluable guide for anyone working or involved in nursing and healthcare research, this book provides a step-by-step guide to the principles and process of involvement, including understanding the rationale for involvement, designing involvement, working with service users, and evaluating what has been achieved. With illustrations, worked examples and tool sheets throughout, this evidence-based guide uses real life examples from recent research studies in health and social care research, thus relating theory to practice in a meaningful way. The Handbook of Service User Involvement in Nursing & Healthcare Research introduces a wide range of key issues, including: Why? Why should researchers involve service users? How? How can researchers and service users work together successfully and productively? Who? Who chooses to become involved in research? How are issues of representation and diversity addressed? When? At what stage should service users be involved in the research process?

Worldwide, there has been a growth in service user involvement in education and research in recent years. This handbook is the first book which identifies what is happening in different regions of the world to provide different countries and client groups with the opportunity to learn from each other. The book is divided into five sections: Section One examines service user involvement in context exploring theoretical issues which underpin service user involvement. In Section Two we focus on the state of service user involvement in human services education and research across the globe including examples of innovative practice, but also identifying examples of where it is not happening and why. Section Three offers more detailed examination of such involvement in a wide range of professional education learning settings. Section Four focuses on the involvement of service users in research involving a wide range of service user groups and situations. Lastly, Section Five explores future challenges for education and research to ensure involvement remains meaningful. The book includes forty-eight chapters, including seventeen case-studies, from all regions of the world, this is the first book to both highlight the subject’s methodological and theoretical issues and give practical examples in education and research for those wishing to engage in this field. It will be of interest to all service users, scholars and students of social work, nursing, occupational therapy, and other human service subjects.

This electronic version has been made available under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) open access license. This book is written for patients and members of the public who want to understand more about the approaches, methods and language used by health-services researchers. Patient and public involvement (PPI) in research is now a requirement of most major health-research programmes, and this book is designed to equip these individuals with the knowledge and skills necessary for meaningful participation. Edited by award-winning mental-health researchers, the book has been produced in partnership with mental-health-service users and carers with experience of research involvement. It includes personal reflections from these individuals alongside detailed information on quantitative, qualitative and health-economics research methods.

This collection of essays discusses the value of mental health service users contributing their personal experiences to research in the field and the difficulties they face in doing so. Exploring the importance of autobiography, the contributors examine how our identity shapes the knowledge we produce and ask why voices that challenge beliefs about health and treatment are often silenced. They also consider the imbalance of power and opportunity for service users, as well as the stigmatizing nature of these services, as human rights issues. Ultimately, the essays here stress the importance of research approaches that involve mutual understanding among researchers, clinicians, and service users.

Hearing (Our) Voices describes two innovative participatory action research projects - one on communication with medical professionals, the other on housing - carried out by a group of people diagnosed with schizophrenia under the guidance of Professor Barbara Schneider. Participants designed the research, conducted interviews and focus groups, participated in data analysis, and disseminated research results through a number of innovative strategies including theatre performances, a documentary film, a graphic novel, and a travelling exhibit. Emerging from these projects is the central and significant finding that people diagnosed with schizophrenia are caught between their dependence on care and their longing for independent lives. The research presented in Hearing (Our) Voices points to a way to resolve this paradox and transform lives through the inclusion of people diagnosed with schizophrenia in research, in decision-making about their own treatment and housing, and in public discourse about schizophrenia.