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Mainstream education as a possible route to recovery and social inclusion: a review
- Authors:
- ATKINSON Susan, COLLIS Benjamin, SCHNEIDER Justine
- Journal article citation:
- Mental Health Review Journal, 23(4), 2018, pp.246-252.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to focus on the findings of a review of the Learning Advice Service which provided mainstream learning opportunities and individual support to people using mental health services. The service was decommissioned after 15 years due to service reconfiguration and cost-cutting. Design/methodology/approach: Semi-structured interviews were carried out with members of the Learning Advisor’s caseload by a researcher with no affiliation to the NHS or the Institute of Mental Health and no connection to the clients. The researcher also transcribed and analysed the interviews. This ensured that there could be no personal or positive bias. The clients faced significant mental health challenges and used the Learning Advice Service to facilitate and support their entry into mainstream learning. Findings: The service enabled individuals facing significant mental health challenges to gain access to adult, community, distance and further and higher education facilitated by individual advice, guidance and support. They were able to broaden their sense of identity beyond that of someone using mental health services and to widen their social and educational base. Research limitations/implications: Lack of funding within mental health services to continue this type of work limits research which would further explore the value of mainstream education in the recovery of people with a mental health diagnosis. While this cohort was small because of funding and staffing constraints, it would be possible to generalise to a larger scale, using flexible person-centred ways of working if the will, staffing and funding were made available. Further research is certainly indicated as current practice has moved away from mainstream inclusion to discrete provision with associated limitations. Practical implications: The practical implications include the development of autonomy and the development of a sense of identity that is separate from a mental health diagnosis and where appropriate to gain qualifications and further the student’s knowledge. Social implications: Social implications include broadening one’s experience, developing communication skills in a broad context, transferable skills, independence and strengthening one’s sense of identity separate from a mental health diagnosis. Originality/value: Individuals from a variety of educational and other backgrounds who expressed an interest in pursuing education in mainstream facilities were encouraged and supported in doing so in flexible and individual ways. It appears to be more usual that people using mental health services are encouraged to learn in groups comprising other people using such services, frequently on mental health service premises with associated limitations. (Publisher abstract)
Campaign appears to influence subjective experience of stigma
- Authors:
- SCHNEIDER Justine, BEELEY Chris, REPPER Julie
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Mental Health, 20(1), 2011, pp.89-97.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- London
Between September 2007 and Mental Health Awareness Week in October 2009, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust in England conducted an anti-stigma campaign. It hoped to reduce the general public’s stereotyped attitudes to mental health problems and mental health service users. The campaign's rationale was based on social contact theory, which holds that bringing together 2 groups can reduce inter-group hostility. This study evaluates the campaign's impact on removing barriers to service users’ employment, promoting recovery and social inclusion, reducing the incidence of discrimination, as well as dissipating stereotyped attitudes and self-stigma. Factor analysis of questionnaires returned by 243 service users revealed 3 key factors referring to service users’ perceptions of: public attitudes to mental health; service users’ relationships with staff; and other interpersonal relationships. Service users’ perceptions of public attitudes towards mental health were improved, suggesting a short term, successful outcome from the main thrust of the campaign. However, there was no significant effect on the other 2 factors. The authors conclude that certain aspects of stigma associated with mental health may be changed through targeted strategies and community-level interventions. But, there remains an intractable core of stigma experiences associated with interpersonal relationships with family and staff, discrimination and social interactions. Bullying, harassment and assault can occur. These hard core issues present the greatest challenge to future anti-stigma strategies.
Work interventions in mental health care: some arguments and recent evidence
- Author:
- SCHNEIDER Justine
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Mental Health, 7(1), February 1998, pp.81-94.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- London
Evidence of the effectiveness of work in psychiatry in the UK is limited to studies conducted a generation ago, when mental health care was still hospital-based, and the level of unemployment in the general population was lower than today. Employment is scarcely considered directly in mental health policy, while purchasers have few guidelines on which to base their strategies. This article offers five perspectives on work in psychiatry, ideological principles; macro-economic considerations; demand on the part of service users themselves; the changing context of mental health care, with its effects on the public presentation of mental illness; and evidence of clinical benefits from constructive occupation. Each of these cases is presented, with particular attention paid to the clinical benefits which are relevant to evidence-based health care.