ABSTRACT
Examples of user-led research in mental health have been multiplying in the last few years, encouraged by the burgeoning survivor movement and demands not only for a voice in the planning and running of existing services, but also for choices and alternatives to traditional medical models of treatment (Lindow, 1994; Rogers et al., 1993). In 1997 the Mental Health Foundation obtained funding from the UK lottery for a three-year service-user-led project, ‘Strategies for Living’, which was to undertake one of the largest ever pieces of UK-wide research devised, steered and carried out by people with experience of mental health problems (Faulkner and Layell, 2000). Beyond the national research, ‘Strategies for Living’ aimed to promote and support local user-led research through a ‘research support network’ involving grants, training and support for six local projects.
