Psychosis seminars: an open forum for service users, carers and professionals

Background Psychosis seminars enable service users, their carers and mental health professionals to meet outside of a formal care setting, increase understanding of mental illness and help establish a dialogue. Aims...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Justina Kaselionyte, Aysegul Dirik, Simon Tulloch, Stefan Priebe, Domenico Giacco
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press 2016-09-01
Series:BJPsych Open
Online Access:https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2056472400001800/type/journal_article
Description
Summary:Background Psychosis seminars enable service users, their carers and mental health professionals to meet outside of a formal care setting, increase understanding of mental illness and help establish a dialogue. Aims To explore feasibility of psychosis seminars in the UK and the experiences of participants. Method Seven meetings attended by 25 people were held over a 3-month period. An open-ended questionnaire was returned by ten participants. Responses were subjected to content analysis. Results Benefits experienced were having an open forum for talking freely about mental health issues in a neutral space, learning from others about psychosis and hearing different views. Suggested adjustments were clarifying expectations of participants at the beginning, strengthening facilitation and increasing attendance. Conclusions Psychosis seminars may help to establish a dialogue among users, carers and professionals and seem feasible in the UK, although adjustment to delivery can help their implementation.
ISSN:2056-4724