Service user and carer involvement in mental health care and research

When: Apr 19, 2021 02:00 - 04:00 PM GMT / 03:00 - 05:00 PM CET

Platform: Zoom Webinar

Target audience: mental health professionals, mental health researchers, service users, carers/family members

Register in advance for this webinar:
https://qmul-ac-uk.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_j35kGktORWSkP4Zss1z24A

Description: Involvement of service users in mental health has been acknowledged as a ‘good thing' however, it often remains unclear what it means and how it can be implemented in practice, particularly in South-Eastern Europe (SEE). Such involvement may relate to different aspects of treatment, participation in community advocacy/legislation, and in mental health research projects. In SEE, all three segments are still in their infancy, because their development began in the 2000s. Recently, significant progress has been made about user involvement in research, which was previously a largely neglected area.

The European Commission-funded research project IMPULSE (2018-2021) aims to improve the care of individuals with psychotic disorders (impulse.qmul.ac.uk). Within IMPULSE, five countries in SEE have successfully set up Lived Experience Advisory Panels (LEAPs). The LEAPs have included individuals with psychotic disorders, who over time developed a very unique expertise in advising mental health researchers on all aspects of the research process. Their contribution has improved the quality of research and helped the interpretation and dissemination of research findings.

This event brings together service users, carers, experts and researchers from IMPULSE, to share their work and discuss service user involvement in mental health care and research. We will share video clips showcasing user-led organisations in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. We will also present a Booklet with tips how to set up and run a user-led organization. We hope this event will facilitate service user and carer involvement in SEE and beyond. Certificates for attending the webinar will be sent out to all attendees (2h-equivalent CPD points).

Speakers:

Professor Norman Sartorius (Association for the improvement of mental health programmes, Switzerland)

Ms Tihana Majstorović (NGO Menssana, Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Ms Dženana Nikšić (LEAP member, Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Ms Mina Aleksić (NGO Prostor, Serbia)

Dr Nikolina Jovanović (Queen Mary University of London, UK)

"Let's Work Together" Booklet

The IMPULSE research team has recently published a booklet about user involvement, entitled "Let's Work Together". This unique publication describes the project activities related to involving service users in research, exploring the current situation with service user-led organisation in the Balkans, and developing a model for successful user-led organization in this region. The user involvement in the Balkan countries, especially in research and policy engagement, has been neglected so far and we hope that this work will give an impulse for further development of this important area. The booklet is available in English, Serbian, Albanian, Macedonian, Bosnian and Montenegrin: Let's Work Together Booklet