User Involvement in Scottish Mental Health Policy: Locating Power and Inequality

Abstract

As in other parts of Britain, 'user involvement' the active participation of service users in shaping or influencing services (Watson 1997) has been a significant policy development within mental health services in Scotland in recent years (Scottish Executive Health Department 2000, 2001a, 2003a, 2003b; Scottish Office 1997; Scottish Development Centre for Mental Health [SDCMH] 2001), Alongside this has been a policy emphasis on the social control function of mental health services in Scotland, including as outlined in the new Mental Health Act (Scottish Executive Health Department Mental Health Division 2003). Other significant developments in mental health policy have been closely related to the Scottish social justice policy agenda, for example with a high-profile 'anti-stigma' campaign and attention to mental health 'improvement' (National Advisory Group for Improving Mental Health and Well-Being 2003) and, to a lesser degree, to the addressing of mental health inequalities (Scottish Executive 2001; SDCMH 2003a). Yet the fit between these different mental health policy initiatives in Scotland is far from clear and policy in this area may also be criticised for neglecting considerations of gender. This latter issue would appear particularly pressing in light of moves towards 'gender mainstreaming'