INVOLVEMENT MATTERS

October 2004
 
The Involvement Matters conference was held at Portsmouth Guildhall recently and was well attended. The conference was an opportunity for mental health service users to have their say on the type of treatment and service they receive in the form of a number of workshops designed to offer feedback to the people that matter. It is hoped that some of the findings and information gained at the conference will be used to benefit service users in the future and help to tailor service user needs and wants to the service user by providers.
 
Some of the issues that came up throughout the day included the contentious one of payment for service users time during projects. It seemed pretty obvious to me that the unanimous verdict was that service users should be paid for their time and efforts should be rewarded. It was divided whether or not this should be in the form of expenses, a fee, or both. However, some people felt they would still get involved whether they received payment or not.
 
The issue of what could be done to get more service users involved was investigated with some interesting results. Some people felt that if they could actually see results from their involvement that would encourage both themselves and others to get more involved, and again the issue of payment as incentive was raised.
 
I found the conference to be very interesting and worthwhile. I hope that some of the information learned will be taken seriously and used to good effect in the future.
 
There were some interesting presentations on show, and some passionate speakers who helped to make the day flow. The Guildhall was an ideal location for an event such as this and service users were treated to an excellent lunch and refreshments. The organisers of this event deserve a pat on the back for setting up an excellent day and I think most service users enjoyed the day. At the end of the conference, a list was drawn up of names of service users to help in the future and it was good to see so many names actually go down on the list. There are a lot of very keen people who want to express themselves to the people that matter.
 
The day was an opportunity to mix with others, make new friends, and shape the changes to the service in the future. Throw in an excellent lunch, and it would seem safe to say the day was a success.
 
For Further Information
Contact: Duncan Marshall
MACA Service User Involvement
Campion Place, 44/46 Elm Grove
Southsea, PO5 1JX
Tel: 023 9283 7777