Research watch: mental health services supporting social inclusion

Purpose – To examine three recent papers on mental health services and social inclusion.

Design/methodology/approach – A search was carried out for recent papers on mental health and social inclusion. I selected three papers that each spoke to a similar theme, from slightly different angles, and that seemed to advance understanding of how social inclusion might be supported to a greater degree in mental health services.

Findings – One paper vividly describes some of the blocks to social inclusion, and what that can feel like from a service user perspective, and also points to ways for peer workers to support service users’ social inclusion. A second illustrates how mental health professionals and peer workers can choose to stand up for people’s human rights despite lack of organisational support for such actions. The third paper describes pioneering co-designed work to build dedicated support for social inclusion alongside mental health services.

Originality/value – All three papers highlight the on-going need for better support for social inclusion in mental health services across different countries. They also show how such support can be implemented and even made more mainstream. This raises hope for wider progress in mental health services becoming real enablers of social inclusion.