The Benefits to Young People Experiencing Psychosis, and Their Families, of an Early Intervention Programme: Evaluating a Service from the Consumers' and the Providers' Perspectives

The new agenda for mental health services, driven by the National Service Framework for Mental Health, places emphasis on social inclusion, the promotion of mental health, the provision of needs-led services and the development of partnerships with users, carers and the wider community. The evaluation focused on an occupational therapy initiative that embraced this agenda and which was targeted at young people, aged between 16 and 25 years, who were experiencing or who had recently experienced psychosis. The programme, known as ‘TIME’, integrated the provision of evidence-based psychosocial therapies, namely early intervention, family intervention, cognitive therapy and cognitive-behavioural therapy, and occupational therapy. It was evaluated by gaining the perspectives of all the key stakeholders, that is, both consumers and providers of the programme. Although TIME was valued by the service users, the findings indicated discrepancies between the embedded values and norms of the health care systems and those espoused by theorists and policy. Thus, if services that strive to embrace the values and standards laid down in the National Service Framework for Mental Health are to succeed, these important issues will need to be addressed and specific consideration given to the underpinning values essential to the delivery of user-led services.