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A Longitudinal study of mental health consumer/survivor initiatives: Part 4—Benefits beyond the self? A quantitative and qualitative study of system‐level activities and impacts
Author(s) -
Janzen Rich,
Nelson Geoffrey,
Trainor John,
Ochocka Joanna
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.585
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1520-6629
pISSN - 0090-4392
DOI - 10.1002/jcop.20100
Subject(s) - mental health , qualitative research , perception , context (archaeology) , psychology , legitimacy , public relations , action (physics) , nursing , medicine , sociology , political science , psychiatry , politics , social science , paleontology , physics , quantum mechanics , neuroscience , law , biology
The purpose of this article is to report on the system‐level findings of a longitudinal study of four mental health consumerñrun self‐help organizations. Quantitative and qualitative data revealed that staff and members of the four Consumer/Survivor Initiatives (CSIs) participated actively in system‐level activities, including community planning, public education, advocacy, and action research. The qualitative data revealed a number of perceived system‐level outcomes related to these activities: (1) changes in perceptions (changed perceptions of the public and mental health professionals about mental health or mental illness, the lived experience of consumer/survivors, the legitimacy of their opinions, and the perceived value of CSIs) and (2) concrete changes (tangible changes in service delivery practice, service planning, public policy, or funding allocations). These findings are discussed in the context of previous work on system‐level activities and impacts of consumer/survivor organizations. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.