Acute solutions and beyond: lessons on service user involvement

This paper describes how service user involvement at all levels can offer a different route for the provision of good quality care for people experiencing mental distress. Taking examples of service user involvement in the acute solutions project (Sainsbury Centre for Mental Heath, 2006), the paper demonstrates how effective involvement can bring about measurable change in service provision and patient satisfaction. Examining the benefits, barriers to, and practicalities of service user involvement, it is argued that placing involvement at the centre offers solutions to the persistent problems found in mental health services. Workers who value and facilitate effective service user involvement enable social inclusion, change service users' status and enrich their own lives and practice.