Practice Guidelines for Co-Production of Mental Health Nursing Education

Abstract

COMMUNE (Co-production of Mental Health Nursing Education) is an Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership Project based on the collaboration of experts by experience (EBE) and mental health nursing academics from six European universities and the University of Canberra in Australia. Its purpose was to advance the involvement of those who have experiences of mental health service use (EBE) in mental health nursing education. The project combined experiential and academic knowledge, with the aim of co-producing a module on ‘mental health recovery’ for undergraduate nursing students; a module that was taught to the students by EBE. Principles of co-production where followed as much as possible, involving EBE in all stages of the process, from grant application to dissemination. The project tried to move beyond typical service user involvement and towards co-creation of knowledge, where power differentials are acknowledged and equity issues addressed. Barriers to meeting these goals were experienced and will be discussed in this Guidelines. We hope that these Practice Guidelines will be useful for those who intend to co-produce learning programs or modules in mental health nursing and inspire others to follow similar paths and learn from our experiences, positive or otherwise. These Guidelines provide an overview of our experiences, learnings, limitations and barriers.The Commune team decided on the term ‘Expert by Experience’ (EBE) to describe the members of the team and other collaborators who has lived experience of mental distress. Other more commonly used terms are ‘service user’, ‘consumer’ and ‘people with mental illness.’ As not all experts by experience are mental health care users, and what constitutes an illness is highly debated, the team decided on a term that more correctly describes and value lived experience.