Involvement: frequently asked questions

Questions answered on this page:

• How do you involve service users, carers and their representative organisations?
• Where can I obtain advice and support?

How do you involve service users, carers and their representative organisations?

We recognise how important it is for us to listen to the experiences and opinions of patients, and their family members, friends or carers, who have been involved with mental health services. We work closely with service users and carers in the design and development of our studies, including with our dedicated patient and public involvement group – Mutual Support for Mental Health -Research (MS4MH-R).

A Project Board provides independent external oversight of our work and includes representatives from key stakeholder groups, and lay members with user and carer experience.

Previously, we have asked about experiences of risk and safety assessment and have gathered views on personality disorder and psychiatric in-patient services (see our projects page).

Our work seeking the experiences and views of patients of mental health services is also published on our website and on our social media accounts (X, LinkedIn, Bluesky).

We speak about our work to service user groups and other healthcare organisations, and we attend public events (e.g. local markets and other community activities) with information about our findings.

Our Patient and public involvement and engagement strategy describes our approach to involving, engaging, and informing patients, and their family members, friends or carers who have been involved with mental health care throughout our work.

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Where can I obtain advice and support?

Sources of help and support can be found on our support page. The Support after Suicide Partnership (SASP) has put together a library of support guides for those bereaved or affected by suicide for each country of the UK on their website.

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