Consumer involvement in the tertiary‐level education of mental health professionals: A systematic review |
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| Authors: | Brenda Happell Louise Byrne Margaret McAllister Debra Lampshire Cath Roper Cadeyrn J. Gaskin Graham Martin Dianne Wynaden Brian McKenna Richard Lakeman Chris Platania‐Phung Helen Hamer |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Central Queensland University Rockhampton, Institute for Health and Social Science Research, Centre for Mental Health Nursing Innovation, School of Nursing and Midwifery, , Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia;2. Institute for Health and Social Science Research, Centre for Mental Health Nursing Innovation, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Central Queensland University, , Noosaville, Queensland, Australia;3. School of Nursing, University of Auckland, , Auckland, New Zealand;4. Consumer Academic, Centre for Psychiatric Nursing, School of Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne, , Melbourne, Victoria, Australia;5. Centre for Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience Research (Suicide Prevention Studies), Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, The University of Queensland, , Brisbane, Queensland, Australia;6. School of Nursing and Midwifery, Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, , Perth, Western Australia, Australia;7. School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine, Australian Catholic University, , Brisbane, Queensland, Australia;8. North West Mental Health, , Melbourne, Victoria, Australia;9. School of Nursing, Southern Cross University, , Lismore, New South Wales, Australia |
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| Abstract: | A systematic review of the published work on consumer involvement in the education of health professionals was undertaken using the PRISMA guidelines. Searches of the CINAHL, MEDLINE, and PsychINFO electronic databases returned 487 records, and 20 met the inclusion criteria. Further papers were obtained through scanning the reference lists of those articles included from the initial published work search (n = 9) and contacting researchers in the field (n = 1). Thirty papers (representing 28 studies) were included in this review. Findings from three studies indicate that consumer involvement in the education of mental health professionals is limited and variable across professions. Evaluations of consumer involvement in 16 courses suggest that students gain insight into consumers' perspectives of: (i) what life is like for people with mental illness; (ii) mental illness itself; (iii) the experiences of admission to, and treatment within, mental health services; and (iv) how these services could be improved. Some students and educators, however, raised numerous concerns about consumer involvement in education (e.g. whether consumers were pursuing their own agendas, whether consumers' views were representative). Evaluations of consumer involvement in education are limited in that their main focus is on the perceptions of students. The findings of this review suggest that public policy expectations regarding consumer involvement in mental health services appear to be slowly affecting the education of mental health professionals. Future research needs to focus on determining the effect of consumer involvement in education on the behaviours and attitudes of students in healthcare environments. |
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| Keywords: | consumer inclusion mental health professional education service user |
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