Mental health panel to host public evenings in cavan and monaghan

Members of the public in counties Cavan and Monaghan, who avail of, or have availed of mental health services and their carers and family are to attend information evenings in the Farnham Arms Hotel, Cavan on March 30 at 8pm and the Westenra Arms Hotel, Monaghan on March 31 at 8pm.

The meetings will be hosted by the newly established Mental Health Consumer Panel for Cavan Monaghan. The aim of the meetings is to hear directly from service users and their families about their experiences of accessing and using mental health services.

Mental Health Consumer Panels are a bridge between the HSE and members of the public who use or have experience of using mental health services, as well as people who have an interest in developing and improving the service. These Consumer Panels allow service users and their carers to share their direct experiences of dealing with the service and highlight areas for improvement. The goal of the Consumer Panel is to form a larger group of interested people who wish to have an input to mental health services and to make sure these services are as user-friendly as possible and easy to navigate for everyone involved.

This collaborative approach to the development of mental health services is a key principle of A Vision for Change, the 2006 Government adopted Report of the Expert Group on Mental Health Policy, which advocates the involvement of service users and their carers in every aspect of service development and delivery.

A Consumer Panel for Cavan Monaghan has already been established and has received comprehensive training about the role of the panel, service user involvement, mental health policy, HSE structures and self advocacy. These information evenings are geared at encouraging more people to become involved in the Consumer Panel, so that the voice of service users and families will have an input into service development and delivery.

Encouraging people to attend the information evening, and consider participation in the Cavan Monaghan Mental Health Consumer Panel, Dr. Feargal Leonard, Acting Executive Clinical Director said, “People who have directly experienced the mental health services, in addition to their family members or carers, have a unique insight into how a mental health service can be most effective. The consumer panel process affords all of them the opportunity to have their voice heard and have an input into the mental health service.”