Market Mechanisms and Consumer Involvement in the Delivery of Mental Health Services: A UK-US Comparison

Both the United Kingdom and the United States Are in the midst of health care reform. By focusing on services for the severely mentally ill this paper compares recent developments in managed care in the U.S. and care management in the U.K. It particularly focuses on the use of market mechanisms and consumer involvement in these reforms

EMPOWERMENT THROUGH CLIENT AND FAMILY COUNCILS:CRITICAL ISSUES IN IMPLEMENTATION

The Empowerment Initiative at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto, Canada involved the creation of client and family councils and the increased participation of clients in organizational governance. A review of this initiative was conducted in collaboration with the coordinators of the Empowerment and Family Councils.  The primary intent of this review was to identify the progress that had been made to date and identify some of the factors that have facilitated or impeded the implementation of this initiative. The methods employed for gathering information included document review, key informant interviews, focus group meetings with a wide variety of stakeholders, membership feedback sheets and data mining from a range of sources. A number of implementation issues were identified that are instructive to any organization undertaking similar empowerment initiatives. KEYWORDS: empowerment. client & family councils. organizational change. advocacy

Mental Health Reform in Ireland: Social Workers’ Perceptions of Progress

This is the published version of an article published by the Irish Social Worker in 2010. Reproduced with permission of publisher. Further reproduction prohibited without permission

Empowerment of Human Service Workers: Beyond Intra-Organizational Strategies

The need for workers to experience a sense of empowerment in the human service organizations where they are employed is essential, but insufficient. The conceptualization of worker empowerment also needs to extend beyond the organizational context toward a broader context. In this article, the authors review the construct of social worker empowerment, examine conditions which negatively impact the potential for empowerment, and suggest strategies available to administrators and workers for increasing the potential for empowerment both within and beyond the organizational work setting