Action Plan 2017-2020 Initiative: Service Users and Family Carers' Advisory Group

The advancement of mental health and the provision of appropriate and acceptable mental health care services cannot be truly achieved without the involvement of service users and carers and their advice on the actions proposed: including the design, development, implementation and evaluation of the care services, and advocacy at international, country and regional levels. Yet the delivery of user-oriented and family-oriented services has a prerequisite that the service providers (i.e. the mental health practitioners and others) have received appropriate and evidence-based training on assessment and interventions considered as relevant, acceptable and effective for all parties.

The WPA triennium action plan (2017-2020) had one of its objectives as promoting recovery-based care for service users and carers. In line with this, and also WPA’s role as a psychiatric organisation supporting training of medical students and health practitioners, it is important that WPA at its congresses and in other ways should promote and provide education and training consistent with the goal of equipping health practitioners with knowledge and skills considered as important for care delivery by service users and carers. The WPA needs also to promote research and publication consistent with mutual needs. In order to obtain service users’ and carers’ advice on a range of related matters, WPA has established a service users and carers’ advisory group.

The group was established in 2018 and has worked with enthusiastic participation of its members. It has met regularly and contributed to WPA’s responses to emergency and to several challenging and important projects during the triennium, including congress planning and participation, and the program on Supporting Alternatives to Coercion in Mental Health care. Our "End of Triennium" report can be read here.

The Working Group "Developing Partnerships with Service Users and Family Carers" is continuing the good work that from the previous triennium's Working Group "Service Users and Family Carers' Advisory Group", including the following objectives:

1. To identify topics related to Developing Partnerships with Service Users and Family Carers that are of interest for all WPA components, activities and member societies and develop recommendations for WPA’s involvement in research, education and service development relevant to promoting meaningful involvement of persons with lived experience as service users and family carers and developing Partnerships with Service Users and Family Carers.
2. To identify member societies, institutions and individuals interested and willing to participate in WPA’s programs of research, service development and education related to the Development of Partnerships with Service Users and Family Carers.
3. To liaise with the other WPA Action Plan Working Groups on Developing Partnerships with Service Users and Family Carers with a view to ensure that problems of meaningful involvement of persons with lived experience as service users and family carers and working in Partnerships with Service Users and Family Carers are considered in the work of these groups and vice versa.

• Symposium, workshop, forum other type of meeting
• Webinar(s)
• Position papers, reports, guidelines
• Digital/online, print version documents
• Articles in journals, books
• Products distributable through social media (eg short videos)
• Research protocols and studies
• Training programmes
• Collaboration with other organisations working in this field

The full Terms of Office and proposed outcomes can be read here