The influence of user involvement on the learning of mental health nursing students

Abstract

This comparative study investigates the effect of user involvement in classroom work on mental health students' learning while undertaking the Diploma in Higher Education and Nursing programme. Recent policy recommendations suggest there should be user involvement in all aspects of the nursing curriculum. However, there appears to be a dearth of literature evaluating the outcomes of this on student learning. In this study, triangulation of methods was utilised; this consisted of classroom observation, student questionnaires and focus group discussion to evaluate the user involvement. A user-centred measurement tool was developed from earlier work that provided a measure on three dimensions: the use of terminology and jargon, empathetic understanding, and an individualised approach when identifying and responding to clients' needs. The outcomes indicated that students who were given an experience of user involvement in classroom work differed from those in the same cohort who had not been exposed to similar user input - they were less likely to rely on the use of professional terminology and jargon, more able to empathise with clients' distressing experiences, less likely to use defensive 'distancing' and more likely to take an individualised approach to assessment and intervention. This supported the intended aims of the project: that user involvement would enable students to take a more user-centred approach to mental health assessment.