ABOUT US
PROJECT AIM
The project will focus on the experiences and knowledge of people with lived experience in mental health distress. To qualify experienced people for this tasks, the project will develop a specific curriculum, different core-modules and learning materials as well as a description of teaching and learning strategies and methods. The involvement of qualified experienced people shall improve knowledge about mental health, it shall improve training for mental health professionals and their skills and at the end it shall improve the delivery of services to be able to meet their users needs and to contribute to their recovery. The social and economic situation of people with lived experiences shall be enhanced through the qualification. It shall create new possibilities of employment for people with lived experiences with an appropriate payment.
BACKGROUND
Mental health treatment and research has a long history of dealing with users as an object of science developed from an outside position. The experiences of users were not regarded as usefull because they were assigned to mad and imbalanced thought processes. This leads to an one-dimensional sight on mental disorder, stigmatisation and a professional-determined treatment instead of exchanging self-direction of the users. Meanwhile a lot of research has shown that user involvement in training and in the delivery of services has a great influence on the improvement of the outcomes. User involvement enables a better understanding of processes and collective experiences of mental distress and a better knowledge about elements of recovery. Experienced involvement has the potential to improve training methods and content for mental health professionals and to improve mental health services outcomes towards a better reflection to the service users’ needs. A growing number of training bodies, universities and services are involving users. The problem is that in many cases the users have, due to the lack of a structured training for their activities, no acknowledged status. To improve the involvement of people with lived experience, to strengthen their abilities and to develop a base for an appropriate employment, it is important to develop a curriculum which reflects the specific position of users, which meets official standards and which imparts the necessary skills.
PARTNERSHIP
To meet the specific request of the pilot project, it is necessary to involve people with lived experience, user organisation, training and research organisations as well as practical services.
To meet the European idea and to guarantee an innovative outcome, organisations in several countries which have a special expertise and approach in user involvement were chosen.
The partners are CHANGE, Birmingham, F.O.K.U.S., Bremen, Instituut voor Gebruikersparticipatie en Beleid, Amsterdam, Initiative for Social Rehabilitation, Bremen, Oslo University College, Stockholms Läns Sjukvårdsområde, Universitätsklinik Eppendorf, Hamburg, University of Central England in Birmingham, University of Ljubliana and University of Maastricht.
To meet the European idea and to guarantee an innovative outcome, organisations in several countries which have a special expertise and approach in user involvement were chosen.
The partners are CHANGE, Birmingham, F.O.K.U.S., Bremen, Instituut voor Gebruikersparticipatie en Beleid, Amsterdam, Initiative for Social Rehabilitation, Bremen, Oslo University College, Stockholms Läns Sjukvårdsområde, Universitätsklinik Eppendorf, Hamburg, University of Central England in Birmingham, University of Ljubliana and University of Maastricht.
OUTCOMES
1.The pilot-project will compile the different experiences of experts and organisations with user involvement in different countries and different contexts in Europe.
2. Existing studies about methods and outcomes of user involvement will be compared and new studies carried out within and through the partnership.
3. The qualification systems and attainable qualifications in the different countries will be compared.
4. The training needs of people with lived experience will be described in order to take part in teaching and delivery of services
5. Description and development of usefull, innovative training methods
6. Development of modules (especially those modules which ensure the transfer of the knowledge of people with lived experience in the training and caretaking process)
7. Development of a curriculum which gives people with lived experience with different backgrounds a useful training to gain the ability and the acknowledgement to participate in the mentioned fields
8. The conditions for an official registration will be checked with the aim to achieve them
Every participating country guarantees to put (parts of) the outcomes into practical action.
2. Existing studies about methods and outcomes of user involvement will be compared and new studies carried out within and through the partnership.
3. The qualification systems and attainable qualifications in the different countries will be compared.
4. The training needs of people with lived experience will be described in order to take part in teaching and delivery of services
5. Description and development of usefull, innovative training methods
6. Development of modules (especially those modules which ensure the transfer of the knowledge of people with lived experience in the training and caretaking process)
7. Development of a curriculum which gives people with lived experience with different backgrounds a useful training to gain the ability and the acknowledgement to participate in the mentioned fields
8. The conditions for an official registration will be checked with the aim to achieve them
Every participating country guarantees to put (parts of) the outcomes into practical action.
