Abstract
In June 2005 it became mandatory for psychiatric trainees to receive training directly from people who experience mental health problems and their carers. This will be checked on approval visits to all training schemes, and accreditation may be withheld until this aspect of training is in place. For many of those who are responsible for training, this may be a new undertaking. We outline some of the issues that trainers need to consider when involving service users and carers in their training programmes, including background issues, how to prepare both those delivering and those receiving training, and logistical considerations. It is hoped that this paper will alert trainers to issues that need to be considered if such training is to be successful.
Highlights
Background and context factorsThe shift towards the greater involvement of carers and service users in training is to a large extent value-driven, and represents a change from some of the stated and implicit values that have been in place in training environments
It is the case that the people who attend training sessions are often those that are most open to listening to service users and carers. It is important for those experiencing mental health problems and their family members to avoid talking about particular individuals by name, or making comments that are insensitive, inaccurate or that overgeneralise, such as talking about the ‘poor communication skills’ of psychiatrists
Training scheme leads may wish to use existing tools such as the Continuous Quality Improvement Tool (Northern Centre for Mental Health, 2003) to help them with this process. This is an exciting development in training that it is hoped will lead to a richer learning experience for trainees and more responsive services for both service users and those who care for them
Summary
In June 2005 it became mandatory for psychiatric trainees to receive training directly from people who experience mental health problems and their carers This will be checked on approval visits to all training schemes, and accreditation may be withheld until this aspect of training is in place. There are already areas of good practice where service users and carers are involved in psychiatric training, and there is a growing literature on this topic (Crawford & Davies, 1998; Butterworth & Livingston, 1999; Turner, 2000; Ikkos, 2003; Livingston & Cooper, 2004) It must be recognised, that ensuring that this happens routinely is likely to present challenges, where those providing education lack experience in this area. We outline the background issues; preparation of carers, service users and trainee psychiatrists; some logistical considerations; getting started; and training and preparation for accreditation teams
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