Public Participation In The Mental Health Sector

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Everyone has a right to public participation; while it is a political principle or practice it is also a basic human right. Everyone deserves to have their basic human rights upheld and this is true for none more than the many people who suffer from mental health issues. These people are already greatly disadvantaged in society and therefore maintaining their engagement in their wider community and society as a whole is of the utmost importance. In this paper the principle of public participation will be explored in context to how it might relate to people with mental health issues. Public participation in the mental health sector is often referred to as consumer participation where the individuals and their families who are the consumers …show more content…

‘Previously, people with mental illness were institutionalized, whereas now their care and treatment has a community focus, enabling treatment in the least-restrictive environment.’ (Bennetts et al. 2011, p. 158) Arguably the most important factors in consumer participation at the service level are the culture of the services and the attitudes of their clinicians and staff. ‘When clients are dissatisfied with their experiences of mental health services, lack of respect from mental health professionals and lack of access to therapeutic time are common complaints.’ (Ruddick, 2010, p. 24) The service level of participation does begin to see the involvement of wider stakeholders in contributing to an effective mental health service. These include not only the consumers and carers but also the mental health service providers and mental health service managers. (Department of Health and Ageing, 2005) Rogers (cited in Ruddick, 2010, p.24) affirms that these mental health professionals must show ‘acceptance, genuineness and emphatic understanding’ towards their consumers to achieve ‘effective therapeutic relationships.’ The consumer consultant is a particularly key stakeholder at the service level of public participation. Interviews (Bennetts et al. 2011, p. 159) of mental health service managers found that …show more content…

Some argue that ‘Consumer participation is an integral platform for mental health service reform’ (Bennetts et al. 2011, p. 161) Lammers and Happell (2003, p. 386) argue that reform is happening and poor cultures are being recognised as ‘Changes to the way in which mental health services are delivered continue to be implemented and governments and communities continue to aspire to changing the culture in which mental health services have existed for so long.’ State and federal governments in Australia have responded to concerns by commissioning a number of inquiries ‘that primarily investigated the clinical and management practices undertaken within psychiatric institutions. These investigations spearheaded the introduction of policies designed to improve…conditions’ (Lammers & Happell, 2003, p. 186) Here policy development can be seen playing an important role in improving mental health services and their consumer participation. While in the previously mentioned interviews of mental health service managers ‘Training and education emerged as a theme and seemed to be recognized as an appropriate place for consumer participation’ (Bennetts et al. 2011, p. 162) The need for additional education and training to better meet the needs of people with mental health issues was also highlighted in ‘The Report into the Human Rights of People with Mental Illness,

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