Independent Mental Health Advocacy - The Right to Be Heard
Paperback
Release Date:21 Jul 2015
ISBN:9781849055154
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Independent Mental Health Advocacy - The Right to Be Heard

The Practice and Context of Professional Advocacy in Mental Health Services

Jessica Kingsley Publishers

Independent mental health advocacy is a crucial means of ensuring rights and entitlements for persons sectioned under the Mental Health Act. This book takes an appreciative but critical view of independent mental health advocacy, locating the recent introduction of Independent Mental Health Advocates (IMHAs) within a broader historical, social and policy context, and anticipates future developments.

The text includes the voices of service users throughout, both as authors and research participants. Drawing on their research, the authors provide an historical overview of mental health advocacy, independent mental health advocacy in relation to the law, the role and responsibilities of IMHAs, essential values, knowledge and skills required of advocates, relationships with service providers, commissioning, measuring advocacy outcomes, and how IMHA services can be made accessible and appropriate to diverse groups.

This will be essential reading for advocates, social work professionals, academic staff and trainers and will provide mental health professionals with an understanding of, and critical reflection on, the IMHA role. It will also be of particular general interest to survivors and mental health service users, and their families and carers.

Karen Newbigging is a Senior Lecturer at the Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham and is active in advocacy research and development. Julie Ridley is a Reader in Applied Social Sciences in the School of Social Work, University of Central Lancashire. Mick McKeown is a Reader in Democratic Mental Health in the School of Health, University of Central Lancashire. June Sadd, an independent survivor consultant, educator and researcher, draws on her personal experience of the psychiatric system in her work. Karen Machin works freelance in mental health from a perspective of lived experience. Kaaren Cruse is an independent user consultant and researcher. Stephanie De La Haye is an independent user consultant, educator and researcher in mental health. Laura Able is a peer researcher with an interest in disability studies. Konstantina Poursanidou is a Service User Researcher at the Centre for Women's Mental Health, University of Manchester, and has been using mental health services since 2008.
Acknowledgements. Foreword. Kris Chastey. Preface. Tony Brandon. 1. Introduction. From Powerlessness to Power. Part 1. Setting the Scene. 2. Understanding the Territory. Laura Able and Konstantina Poursanidou, Service User Research Enterprise, Health Service and Population Research Department, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London. 3. 'An intelligent and active sympathy' - a brief historical overview. Karen Machin. 4. Mental Health Advocacy, rights and the law. Stephanie De La Haye, User Mental Health Consultant and Researcher. 5. "My rights TO my voice": Service user experiences of compulsion. Laura Able and Karen Machen. 6. Research and reviews of mental health advocacy. Stephanie De La Haye. Part 2. The Practice and Experience of IMHA Services. 7. IMHA role and services. 8. Making a Difference: Outcomes from independent mental health advocacy. Kaaren Cruse. 9. Doing advocacy well: values, knowledge and skills. Karen Cruse and June Sadd. 10. One size fits all? Meeting diverse needs. June Sadd. 11. Relationships with service providers. 12. Commissioning effective IMHA services. 13. Conclusions - The future for advocacy: a glass half full? References. Glossary. Useful Resources.
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