Although the issue of confidentiality and information sharing hasn't made it onto our Mental Health Wish List it has cropped up several times as a discussion point over the past few months. Rethink recently sent through some guidance on information sharing from the Department of Health. The report, 'Information Sharing and Mental Health', touches on some of the issues that we've discussed - that service users have a right to access information that impacts on them and that carers often feel that information is withheld from them unnecessarily. The guide is intended mostly for health professionals and is primarily focussed on sharing of information between statutory and non-statutory organisations. So, it doesn't directly address the issues we've been discussing as a group but does give a useful insight into the difficulties that professionals face. However, the guide does reference a report by Rethink for the Department of Health, published in 2004 , 'Positive and Inclusive: Effective ways for professionals to include carers in information sharing' which does look exclusively at information sharing with carers. It's a pretty long report (over 200 pages) but it is summarised - p.9 lists the main results and p.11 the main recommendations.
We had our 'Bring and Share' event tonight and as well as eating too much chocolate (again) I've come away feeling really inspired. We talked about all the skills, experience and knowledge that we've gained by either coping with having a mental illness, or though caring for a loved one who has been very ill. You can see all the ideas we jotted down from the discussion - from coming to understand your limitations (and that these can change), to developing patience, coping strategies and learning how to think positively. We understand how mental health services work and different illnesses themselves. It struck me, particularly from the people in the room who themselves have to deal with what can be devastating mental illnesses, that we're a pretty skilled bunch of people. For some, mental illness forces a process of self examination - and eventually self awareness - that is painful but hugely illuminating. It's a process that many of us won't have to go throu...
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