Book review - Handbook of service users' involvement
Handbook of service users’ involvement reviewed by
Katrina Bannigan, The Director of the Research Centre for
Occupation & Mental Health
The Handbook of service users’ involvement is part of
the World Psychiatric Association Evidence and experience in
psychiatry series. There are a range of authors, whose backgrounds
include researchers, being a user of services, service user
researchers and clinicians. That the book is focused on mental
health means it is of interest to the readership of The Bridge
because it touches on the specific issues we face in our research
practice. It is a detailed, edited text which I could not hope to
do justice to in this short reflection. My perspective, as a
researcher who works with service users, is that this is a useful
resource to dip in and out of for advice about practical issues
that arise when working with service users, e.g. payment. The book
clearly explains what needs to be considered in paying service
users. I found this advice was not readily available elsewhere when
I needed.
I also found the book valuable for exploring issues that I have
to navigate as a researcher. For example, in the chapter on
Collaboration, Is collaborative research possible?, Diane Rose of
SURE (which was mentioned earlier in this edition of The Bridge)
explores the background to collaborative research but she also
draws on her experience as a service user researcher. Her analysis
seems both balanced and honest. She concludes “collaborative
research is not easy to do and will take some more time to become
established” (p178) and in doing so reassures me that others are
learning as I am learning.
Overall I think the book should be kept on the shelf for
reference purposes but only after making time to read some of the
chapters, if not all, in more detail to apprise yourself of the
issues that shape and affect service user involvement in mental
health research.
If you would like to read this book, the full reference is
Wallcraft J, Schrank B, Amering M (2009) Handbook of service User
Involvement in mental health research Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell ISBN
9780470997956