Case Study: Design in Mental Health Network

The Design in Mental Health Network (DIMHN) was set up by project team members from various mental health construction schemes who found they had common difficulties being involved as, or having the responsibility to involve, service users, carers and staff in their design. First as a committee, then as a not-for-profit limited company board and finally as the trustees of a registered charity, its organisers work with its members to find ways of encouraging and supporting involvement and  innovation in design. While made up of a wide range of industry professionals from all levels of seniority – including planners, architects, manufacturers, clinicians and academics – there are no specific service user or carer places on the DIMHN team. This is because many of the team already have service user or carer experience in their own right as well as their professional roles. Far from being a predetermined intent, this was the way in which the organisation grew naturally; it attracted the right people. Methods by which the organisation collaborates with people in strategy and industry include holding local and national conferences and exhibitions, publishing a website and a journal and setting up workstreams for projects that research, discuss and question best practice. While the organisation is relatively free of internal bureaucracy, it has procedures to manage conflict of interest and to ensure that output is not unfairly influenced by businesses, institutions and individuals whose participation funds and supports it. As a charity it takes responsibility for focusing solely on its original objectives of improving the design of mental healthcare environments, which must be shown to be of public benefit. By being led by people with service user and carer experience, DIMHN hopes to show that those belonging to this group should not be difficult to engage – they should be impossible to ignore.

Website: www.dimhn.org