Commissioning Services for Older People with Mental Health Problems: Is There a Shared Vision? Available to Purchase

UK policy seeks to shift commissioning of services ‘closer to the people’ with a view to establishing shared visions of local care services grounded in the opinions and priorities of the public. The participation of older people with mental health problems and their carers in the strategic planning process has been patchy, however. This article compares practitioner and public perspectives of the services that should be provided for older people with mental health problems in an area of North West England. Significant differences were found in the services the various stakeholder groups prioritised for development, and in their views on how they should be organised. The implications for commissioning are discussed.