ABSTRACT
This chapter serves as an introduction to the text. It introduces the editors and their backgrounds, and why they have chosen to bring together a text on this topic. It also briefly discusses participation versus co-production, concluding that when participation is referred to throughout the text it is co-production that is the ‘gold standard’ of participation. It then discusses the statutory duty to, as NHS England term it, ‘involve’ patients and parents and carers in matters relating to care and service development, setting the context for participation not just being a ‘nice to have’ but instead a mandatory part of NHS service operations. Finally, it outlines a brief history of children and young people’s mental health participation policy in the UK, exploring the policy journey and how participation came to be on the healthcare agenda.
