Engaging Service Users in Outcomes and Information Development

Using information - it's all about service user recovery

It is important that mental health services help people develop or reclaim the capacity to recover. Te Pou is assisting services to understand whether or how well they are achieving this through the use of outcome measures and other mental health information. We also support, engage and encourage the sector to be active in information collection and use.

If services are to be recovery focused, they need the ability to monitor and measure changes in the well-being of mental health service users, hence enabling continuous service quality improvement. Outcome measurement, as well as being an objective and scientific means of mapping the effect of mental health services, provides an opportunity to embrace the recovery paradigm by making outcomes, rather than inputs and outputs, the focus of service provision.

What is Te Pou doing?

The Information programme plays a lead role in assisting the mental health workforce to focus on mental health outcomes by using tools that measure changes in service users' health, wellbeing and circumstances over time. This information can then be used to support recovery, ensure services are culturally responsive and that comprehensive assessments are completed.

Te Pou also promotes the value of comprehensive assessment practices and effective engagement, as fundamental to the collection of valid and reliable data. Creating understanding about the principles behind measuring outcomes for people who access mental health services also ensures that all aspects of information work (collection, analysis and use of activity and outcomes information) are linked to a model of recovery and enable better outcomes for service users.

Activities and outcomes

Te Pou provides updates and information to service users about outcome developments through its training days, e-bulletin, networks, forums, meetings and conferences. The Information programme is also developing informative material to raise awareness about mental health outcomes and information for use by service user groups and leaders, and district health board consumer advisors.

Providing Information to and engaging with other parts of the mental health sector will stress the importance of service user participation and input into the quality and quantity of mental health information. There is a need to increase awareness of and current access to information about outcome measurement for service users.

Valuing lived experience of recovery

A recovery paradigm underpins all our work, and Sue Rostron holds the national position of information lead - service user, to facilitate service user engagement and direction. This includes work in service user engagement, outcomes and information development and training.

For the mental health sector to reach its full potential in helping a service user's recovery relies not only on the collection of mental health data, but the existence of an 'information infrastructure', so all stakeholders can use mental health information, at local and national levels, effectively.

Useful links

How do you rate me? Very few service users know the HoNOS family of measures (HoNOS) is collected about them. Te Pou believes services users should choose if they want to find out about their mental health information, so we have put together the ‘How do you rate me?’ brochure. It covers HoNOS, HoNOSCA and HoNOS65+.
Download wallet card version - print, cut and fold (PDF, 100KB).
Download A4 version (PDF, 155KB).

National Mental Health Information Strategy

Programme for the Integration of Mental Health Data - PRIMHD

Additional outcome measures

Consumer-self assessed measure - Taku Reo, Taku Mauri Ora.

For more information

Contact Sue Rostron, information lead - service user.

Page last updated: 17 December 2009

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