There was a Together conference on the hot topic of Personalisation last Monday – about people who are getting better by playing golf, joining the gym and going to the cinema, now they control their own budgets and don’t get coerced into going to day centres to sit and drink coffee and pretend it’s real life and fun! I particularly liked the story of the wheelchair bound lady who managed to dump the risk assessment in a corner and convince the powers that be that she could and should go water-skiing. So I learnt lots, including the fact that the jargon used around mental health is just that – jargon. Thank you Heather for this illuminating quote....”Peer support? What is peer support? Who is my peer? I’ve been there. I’ve done that. I can help you. “ I also found out some professional guru had spoken, mental health service users are no longer service users. They should now be referred to as clients. I took a big gulp. Every leaflet, booklet, web page we have talks about service users. Thankfully some were there. “I don’t want to be called a client. Actually (voice lowered) it makes me feel like a prostitute. “ Phew..... let’s not change our terminology yet.
Topped off by finding that Dan Fisher, the main speaker at our next conference in November advises Obama on US mental health strategy, when we just thought he was a great speaker...there’s fairy dust about!
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