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Is it time to abandon care planning in mental health services?: A qualitative study exploring the views of professionals, service users and carers

Is it time to abandon care planning in mental health services?: A qualitative study exploring the views of professionals, service users and carers
Is it time to abandon care planning in mental health services?: A qualitative study exploring the views of professionals, service users and carers
Background
It has been established that mental health‐care planning does not adequately respond to the needs of those accessing services. Understanding the reasons for this and identifying whose needs care plans serve requires an exploration of the perspectives of service users, carers and professionals within the wider organizational context.

Objective
To explore the current operationalization of care planning and perceptions of its function within mental health services from the perspectives of multiple stakeholders.

Settings and participants
Participants included 21 mental health professionals, 29 service users and 4 carers from seven Mental Health Trusts in England. All participants had experience of care planning processes within secondary mental health‐care services.

Methods

Fifty‐four semi‐structured interviews were conducted with participants and analysed utilizing a qualitative framework approach.

Findings
Care plans and care planning were characterized by a failure to meet the complexity of mental health needs, and care planning processes were seen to prioritize organizational agendas and risk prevention which distanced care planning from the everyday lives of service users.

Discussion and conclusions
Care planning is recognized, embedded and well established in the practices of mental health professionals and service users. However, it is considered too superficial and mainly irrelevant to users for managing mental health in their everyday lives. Those responsible for the planning and delivery of mental health services should consider ways to increase the relevance of care planning to the everyday lives of service users including separating risk from holistic needs assessment, using support aids and utilizing a peer workforce in this regard.
1369-6513
597-605
Brooks, Helen Louise
595eb8f9-a4d7-47ec-b67c-a9b0c0e5306a
Lovell, Karina
5d35b37c-4545-4ba4-a66c-9d94e1e9e780
Bee, Penny
76e373ee-12be-4966-8bb6-8157e1dc037d
Sanders, Caroline
1121a9ec-e719-489a-9ffd-ae8cb6e49a78
Rogers, Anne
105eeebc-1899-4850-950e-385a51738eb7
Brooks, Helen Louise
595eb8f9-a4d7-47ec-b67c-a9b0c0e5306a
Lovell, Karina
5d35b37c-4545-4ba4-a66c-9d94e1e9e780
Bee, Penny
76e373ee-12be-4966-8bb6-8157e1dc037d
Sanders, Caroline
1121a9ec-e719-489a-9ffd-ae8cb6e49a78
Rogers, Anne
105eeebc-1899-4850-950e-385a51738eb7

Brooks, Helen Louise, Lovell, Karina, Bee, Penny, Sanders, Caroline and Rogers, Anne (2018) Is it time to abandon care planning in mental health services?: A qualitative study exploring the views of professionals, service users and carers. Health Expectations, 21 (3), 597-605. (doi:10.1111/hex.12650).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Background
It has been established that mental health‐care planning does not adequately respond to the needs of those accessing services. Understanding the reasons for this and identifying whose needs care plans serve requires an exploration of the perspectives of service users, carers and professionals within the wider organizational context.

Objective
To explore the current operationalization of care planning and perceptions of its function within mental health services from the perspectives of multiple stakeholders.

Settings and participants
Participants included 21 mental health professionals, 29 service users and 4 carers from seven Mental Health Trusts in England. All participants had experience of care planning processes within secondary mental health‐care services.

Methods

Fifty‐four semi‐structured interviews were conducted with participants and analysed utilizing a qualitative framework approach.

Findings
Care plans and care planning were characterized by a failure to meet the complexity of mental health needs, and care planning processes were seen to prioritize organizational agendas and risk prevention which distanced care planning from the everyday lives of service users.

Discussion and conclusions
Care planning is recognized, embedded and well established in the practices of mental health professionals and service users. However, it is considered too superficial and mainly irrelevant to users for managing mental health in their everyday lives. Those responsible for the planning and delivery of mental health services should consider ways to increase the relevance of care planning to the everyday lives of service users including separating risk from holistic needs assessment, using support aids and utilizing a peer workforce in this regard.

Text
Is it time to abandon care planning in mental health services? A qualitative study exploring the views of professionals, service users and carers - Version of Record
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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 20 October 2017
e-pub ahead of print date: 16 November 2017
Published date: June 2018

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 419339
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/419339
ISSN: 1369-6513
PURE UUID: 32165867-f716-43f3-99d5-835fd6a57e8c

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 11 Apr 2018 16:30
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 19:21

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Contributors

Author: Helen Louise Brooks
Author: Karina Lovell
Author: Penny Bee
Author: Caroline Sanders
Author: Anne Rogers

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