15 April 2002
Dear Editor
Professional Dilemma
Simon Lawton-Smith raises some interesting arguments against the over-professionalising of support workers (11 April), and we would be among the first to argue that the quality of the relationship, and the amount of time, that mental health service users can have with support workers is critical. We know it is also one of the aspects that draws people in to this work to start with, and that flexibility is key.
But let us not throw the baby out with the bathwater. The Mental Health Foundation's Certificate in Community Mental Health Care - now being run in around 150 different local centres - is not an aim to erect boundaries between support workers and service users or remove the humanity of support workers. It is a way to try and ensure that those with experience have a chance to strengthen that and reflect upon it, hopefully encouraging them to stay in the field. By ensuring that it remains as practical as possible - involving both practitioners and service users in delivering the training and support - it aims to provide real value to both those studying and to service users (indeed many people fall into both categories).
However, this has thrown up its own dilemma that perhaps readers can help us with. There appears to be a shortage of mental health service user trainers. To try and ensure that training does remain real rather than "professional" (whatever that means) we are currently in the process of building a website and database - a mental health trainers network. If you know of anybody who should be included in this, they can go to www.mhtn.org and enter their details. And in order to try and build the number of mental health service user trainers out there we are also in the process of piloting a "train the trainer" programme.
Yours faithfully
Nigel Duerdoth
Director of Research and Development, Mental Health Foundation
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