Discussion

Mental health disorder is a type of illness that involves changing of the emotions, thinking or the behaviour.  Integrating people with lived experience of mental health disorders in the service of consumers with mental health disorders, is one of the important step towards a person centred care. It is the people with lived experience that helps the people with mental health disorder, believe that the concept of recovery is not just about staying in control of their lives than the elusive state of return to a lower level of functioning (Mashiach-Eizenberg et al. 2013). This assignment aims to focus on how people with lived experience of mental health disorder can help in providing a person centred care and follow a strength based approach of recovery for the sake of the clients with mental health disorders. This report outlines the strategies how these persons can help in the comprehensive recovery of people with mental health disorder. Finally the assignment provides a reflection regarding the development of my own practice to work with people having lived experience of mental health disorder.

Each person with mental health disorder will have different experience even with the same diagnosis. Recovery from mental illness, including a meaningful role in the social life is possible especially when a proper person centred care is started early. People who had suffered from mental health illness at past and have recovered have an extensive experience in coping up with their everyday lives, managing with the symptoms and the medications, dealing with the stigma (Queensland Mental Health Commission. 2016). They can be well placed to give suggestions to those people facing the similar problems or the symptoms. They can reassure them that things would turn better and give emphasis on the importance of persistence and perseverance.

Lives experience can give a massive head start in the relationship building. Recruiting people with lived experience in mental health organisation to help the people with mental illness (Jacob 2015).  Lived experience leadership and monitoring could improve the design of the system and change the type of service to increase the quality of care to the persons with severe mental health illness. Furthermore integrating people with lived experience in an organisation can increase the rate of acceptance and reduce the stigma surrounding mental health disorders (Jacob 2015). It has to be remembered that mental health services are not immuned from stigmatising beliefs. Hence it is the people with lived experience that can provide education to them that people with mental health disorders should not be treated differently and excluded (Mashiach-Eizenberg et al. 2013). The lived experience helps to provide a source of insight and understanding that is of value to both the professionals and the consumers. The expertise that comes due to lived experience and the clinical expertise should be respected. In some cases, people under the recovery process might feel guilty for not recovering as per the plan, people with lived experience helps such patients to have a strength based outlook to one’s own life (Byrne et al. 2013). Engagement of the people form culturally and linguistically diverse background having lived experience can provide more responsive support. A workforce consisting of people with more lived experience helps in the development of a compassionate workforce and a workforce that is capable of developing rapport with the consumers. According to Bland & Tullgren, (2015) people with lived experience have roles beyond the development of a workforce. People with lived experience possess the role to provide education to the community regarding the stigmatisation of mental health disorders, thus providing a voice to these people and helping in their recovery (Mashiach-Eizenberg et al. 2013). The main aim is to support the people with mental health illness in the journey of recovery instead of the trajectory of permanent disability. 

The Importance of Integrating People with Lived Experience in Mental Health Organisations

A paper by Coates, Livermore & Green (2018) have stated that older peer workers with a lives experience of mental illness have a level of maturity and experience that can be benefitted to the peer workforce by the providing with allied range of strategies supporting the wellbeing and the ability to cope up with the uncertainty and the ambiguity in the peer work practice.  People having lived experience helps the service to focus on the person and not just the symptoms. The process of recovery is also influenced by the active participation of the family, friends and the professionals. A peer worker with a lived experience can only understand, what kind of a collaboration is required in the health care practice. People with lived experience helps the patient to look beyond mere survival. They encourages to set new goals and get on with their lives.

According to Byrne et al. (2016) Australian Mental Health Policy requires that the overall mental health services facilitate meaningful and comprehensive consumer participation under all aspect of the mental health services. This comprehensive practice mainly encompasses working collaboratively with the individuals with lived experience in mental health. Byrne et al. (2016) are of the opinion that working with individuals with lived experience must be done with developing recovery oriented services under proper resourcing and adequate support. Myself, while developing recovery oriented services under collaboration of the individual with lived experience in mental health will follow the process of effective communication.

Bramhall (2014) are of the opinion that effective communication in nursing is one of the foundations of effective exchange of information between the nursing professionals and other individuals in the care plan. O’hagan et al. (2014) highlighted on the or first principle is putting the patient’s first in the communication process. Putting patient’s first takes a shift of mind and this help that individual in communication to feel that his or her opinion will be taken into consideration or is important in the process of conversation. So in order to out the patient fist, I will start my conversation with the individual with lived experience in mental health via taking time to introduce myself and explain them how and why their opinion matters. I will mainly converse with smile and in a welcoming voice. Foronda et al. (2014) highlighted that a welcoming voice and greeting with smile helps the individual with lived experience to feel secured and welcomed which help them to open freely in the conversation process and thereby giving effective inputs in developing the progress plan.

Roles of People with Lived Experience in Mental Health Organisations

Another approach, which I will undertake in order to work in joint collaboration with individuals with lived experiences, includes practice of active listening. Gunasekara et al. (2014) highlighted that active listening is an important part of communication and requires proper listening of the content, intent and emotional feeling running within the speaker. So while practicing active listening, I will pay proper attention regarding what the individual is trying to explain and will also allow them to finish their sentence without any interruption or judgment. Paraphrasing or echoing back to them what they have said and proper maintenance of eye contact are key elements of active listening. Explaining back the entire concept what the individuals with lived experience has communicated helps both the nursing professionals and the communicator (individual with lived experience) to undertake the ups and down of the recovery process and according helps in framing of the care plan going forward (Gunasekara et al., 2014).

Hungerford and Fox (2014) argued that effective communication with individuals with lived experience in mental health requires communicating at the heart’s content. Communicating with individuals with lived experience in mental health requires adequate time. Frankness and honesty are two important parts of effective communication. So in order to achieve the same, I will promote sincere intention of understand what are concerns which have bothered the individuals with lived experience in their past. At the same time, I will show them kindness and courtesy and will sympathize with their suffering. This approach will help to acknowledge attitude of the individual’s with lived experience and simultaneously tune into their feelings. I will mainly ask open-ended questions, will speak slowly, and will use simple and non-medical language while conversing with the individuals with lived experience in the mental health. I will also use handouts, notes and pictures in order to demonstrate what exact process that I am planning to use in order to draft the mental health recovery plan.

Conclusion

Thus from the above discussion, it can be concluded that understanding of people’s lived experience of a mental health disorder helps in the development of person-centered care plan in mental health nursing. This person-centered care plan is mainly based on the pillars of the personal experience of the individuals with lived experience in the domain of social stigmatization which individuals with mental health complications encounters and subsequent coping strategies which are useful in overcoming such stigmatization. The reflection in the second part of the assignment highlighted that effective communication is an important aspect in understanding the experiences of the individuals with lived experience in mental health. In order to improve the effective communication skills, I being a mental health nurse will mainly facilitate active listening, maintenance of eye contact and giving preference to the mental health individuals in the conversation process. This active listening and effective communication will help to encourage lived experience individuals to participate in the making of the recovery plan for the future care process.

References

Bland, R. & Tullgren, A., 2015. ‘Lived Experience of Mental Illness’. Psychosocial Dimensions in Medicine, pp.43-56.

Bramhall, E., 2014, ‘Effective communication skills in nursing practice’, Nursing Standard (2014+), vol. 29, no. 14, p.53.

Byrne, L., Happell, B. & Reid-Searl, K., 2016, ‘Lived experience practitioners and the medical model: world’s colliding?’, Journal of Mental Health, vol: 25, no: 3, pp.217-223.

Byrne, L., Happell, B., Welch, T. & Moxham, L.J., 2013. ‘Things you can’t learn from books’: teaching recovery from a lived experience perspective. International journal of mental health nursing, vol. 22, no.3, pp.195-204.

Coates, D., Livermore, P. & Green, R., 2018. ‘The unique contribution of older people with a lived experience of mental illness to the peer workforce: observations from older peer workers. European Journal for Person Centered Healthcare,vol 6, no.1, pp.78-87.

Foronda, C., Gattamorta, K., Snowden, K. & Bauman, E.B., 2014, ‘Use of virtual clinical simulation to improve communication skills of baccalaureate nursing students: A pilot study’, Nurse Education Today, vol. 34, no. 6, pp.e53-e57.

Gunasekara, I., Pentland, T., Rodgers, T. & Patterson, S., 2014, ‘What makes an excellent mental health nurse? A pragmatic inquiry initiated and conducted by people with lived experience of service use’, International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, vol. 23, no. 2, pp.101-109.

Hungerford, C. & Fox, C., 2014, ‘Consumer’s perceptions of R ecovery?oriented mental health services: An A ustralian case?study analysis’, Nursing & health sciences, vol. 16, no. 2, pp.209-215.

Jacob, K. S. 2015. ‘Recovery Model of Mental Illness: A Complementary Approach to Psychiatric Care’. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, vol.37. no.2, pp.117–119.

Mashiach-Eizenberg, M., Hasson-Ohayon, I., Yanos, P.T., Lysaker, P.H. & Roe, D., 2013. ‘Internalized stigma and quality of life among persons with severe mental illness: the mediating roles of self-esteem and hope’. Psychiatry research, vol.208, no.1, pp.15-20.

O’hagan, S., Manias, E., Elder, C., Pill, J., Woodward?Kron, R., McNamara, T., Webb, G. & McColl, G., 2014. ‘What counts as effective communication in nursing? Evidence from nurse educators’ and clinicians’ feedback on nurse interactions with simulated patients’, Journal of advanced nursing, vol. 70, no. 6, pp.1344-1355.

Queensland Mental Health Commission. 2016.‘Promoting lived experience in mental health’, Access date: 3.10.2018., Retrieved from: https://www.qmhc.qld.gov.au/sites/default/files/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Summary_Promoting-Lived-Experience-in-Mental-Health-Forum.pdf