People with severe mental health problems must be offered more and better practical support to achieve their hopes and ambitions, according to a new Sainsbury Centre guide for health and social care commissioners.
About Time, by Helen Lockett, Linda Seymour and Adam Pozner, sets out how day and vocational services can make radical changes to offer people the support they need to build the lives they want for themselves.
It argues that investment is tied up in day and vocational services which often only offer sheltered and segregated support for people with mental health problems rather than giving people the support to get jobs and pursue their interests.
About Time shows how primary care trusts and county council commissioners can turn their services around by finding out what their users want, drawing on the available evidence of what works and building new forms of support. It shows that involving service users from the start of a process of radical change is crucial to its success.
Helen Lockett, research and development manager at Sainsbury Centre, said: "Day and vocational services need to change. There are pockets of innovation and good practice but there is much more untapped potential and wasted investment. Health and social care commissioners hold the keys to put right the exclusion from mainstream life that too many people with mental health problems endure.
"About Time is the first step-by-step guide to a process that can be complex and demanding for commissioners. It shows how to achieve change and the difference it can make to people's lives."
Donal Hegarty, policy & commissioning manager Surrey County Council said: "Changing day and vocational services is a demanding yet hugely rewarding process for all involved. Our services in Surrey have changed radically since we began to transform them. We hope others will be inspired to make change happen in their localities.
"About Time is a must for all commissioners who are committed to making a difference in vulnerable peoples lives by promoting choice and social inclusion."
About Time is based on experience of making changes to day and vocational services in two counties in England.
We are continuing this work by developing a set of 'key performance indicators' for commissioners to determine how successful they are in helping people with mental health problems to gain and retain work in their localities.