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Expectations and illusions: a position paper on the relationship between mental health practitioners and social exclusion
Author(s) -
BERRY C.,
GERRY L.,
HAYWARD M.,
CHANDLER R.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of psychiatric and mental health nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.69
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1365-2850
pISSN - 1351-0126
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2850.2009.01538.x
Subject(s) - mental health , social exclusion , illusion , position (finance) , psychology , social psychology , psychiatry , political science , cognitive psychology , business , finance , law
Accessible summary• Mental Health and Social Exclusion , published by the Department of Health in 2004, suggested that mental health practitioners may be contributing to the social exclusion of people with mental health problems. • Social exclusion can be defined as people not being involved in different areas of life and their community, e.g. being unemployed and having a limited social network. This is more commonly experienced by people who are perceived to be ‘different’, e.g. people who use mental health services. • Despite there being links between social exclusion and mental health problems getting worse, there is very little research on this issue. The authors suggest that there are many factors which mean that mental health practitioners may contribute to social exclusion, including stigma and restrictive practices. • This paper discusses the relationship between social exclusion and mental health practitioners. The authors argue from the perspective of valuing the lived experiences of people with mental health problems. The authors believe that social inclusion is an important pathway to recovery in relation to mental health problems.Abstract Over the last 10 years, the social inclusion agenda has been gaining momentum as a policy driver in mental health services. Prior to the seminal Social Exclusion Unit (SEU) report, Mental Health and Social Exclusion , there was a lack of awareness concerning the pervasive links between social exclusion and mental health problems. In the report, the SEU suggested that mental health practitioners themselves may actually be contributing to this social exclusion. This finding has been given limited coverage in both social inclusion literature and research. The current paper is a positioned commentary further exploring the relationship between practitioners and the social exclusion of mental health service users. A literature review was conducted in order to identify themes among factors which appear to moderate and contribute to this relationship. These factors are presented and implications for inclusive practice are explored.