CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON AND BEYOND “CHANGE” IN MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES 

Claims are made that mental health services are changing for the better. Although changes have been made in terms of location, structures and language, has anything inherently changed in the way mental health services respond to human distress? What could be construed as a ‘better’ mental health service? Is ‘better’ understood in terms of: more funding, access, choice of ‘therapies’, empowerment, influence, collaboration, less medication, no coercion, a lesser role for psychiatry, no psychiatry? This conference, now in its 9th year, aims to explore and debate critical perspectives on and beyond:

• What do we understand by ‘better’ mental health services?
• Do we need mental health services at all?
• If so, what should they look like? If not, what other ways are there? 
• The politics of changing mental health services

Lydia Sapouna, School of Applied Social Studies and Harry Gijbels, School of Nursing and Midwifery (retired).