ABSTRACT
In 1997 and 1998 the authors participated in a series of Australian Commonwealth Government-funded workshops designed to set future directions for the education and training of the mental health professions in Australia (Deakin Human Services Australia 1999). Five mental health professions – psychiatry, psychology, mental heath nursing, social work and occupational therapy – were equally represented in each of the three main workshops. What made the project unique, at least in the experience of the authors, was the high level of direct participation by persons who were (a) the direct users of mental health services (referred to in the workshops as ‘consumers’) or (b) provided lay support to the users of mental health services (referred to in the workshops as ‘carers’). However, despite this high level of participation by consumers and carers it is doubtful that the recommendations of the project, as specified in the Final Report (Deakin Human Services Australia 1999), have had, or will have, any significant impact in influencing the direction of education and training for the mental health professions in Australia. The chapter examines some of the reasons for this apparent lack of impact. Recent Australian mental health policy frames the users of mental health services as ‘consumers’ exercising ‘choice’, as if mental health services were ‘products’ in a kind of health care market place, and this health consumer model operated implicitly and explicitly as the business of the workshops unfolded. It will be argued, however, that the apparent lack of impact of the project can be understood in relation to concerns regarding the applicability of health consumerism to mental health care.
