Mental health rehabilitation and digital social inclusion

While there are a number of well-developed and well-designed technological aids to support independent living for those with very profound physical limitations it is much more difficult to identify any systematic and rigorous attempts to focus on the use of digital technologies for supporting independent living for those with severe and enduring mental health problems. In a world where increasingly many aspects of daily life, social relationships and civic engagement are conducted through digital technologies of one kind or another the challenge for those providing adult mental health rehabilitation is how digital social inclusion can become part of the daily practice of rehabilitation services and how digital skills can incorporated into independent living skills that support people to work towards their recovery goals. This paper is an account of a work in progress supported by service users as co-researchers to address this challenge by the Central and North West London (CNWL) Foundations Trust’s Rehabilitation Service Line.