The effectiveness of the service user consultant role in specialist personality disorder services

Abstract

Purpose – This qualitative study considers the roles of service user consultants (SUCs) in six of the original 11 Department of Health (DH) Community Personality Disorder (PD) pilot services; how these roles differ from the active participation traditionally encouraged in therapeutic communities (TCs) around responsibility for self and others; how a service user (SU) becomes a SUC; what responsibilities they hold; the views of both staff members and SUCs on the role and the benefits and difficulties it creates; and how the role could be developed in a service‐specific and general way. It is of particular interest to consider the amount of time for which the SUC role is seen to be beneficial, and what support a SUC would need to leave the role.Design/methodology/approach – Two qualitative interview schedules were developed to investigate issues highlighted in previous literature, one designed to be answered by staff members, another developed with a SUC from Cumbria for SUCs and administered by telephone. ...