Unllais Let’s celebrate conference report

9 Aug 2012

This report has been produced from a conference that was organised by Unllais on behalf of NLIAH, where 167 people attended a conference in Llandudno to talk about the successes of service user and carer involvement in North Wales, to look forward towards the challenges ahead, and to explore how service users and carers can get involved at a local, regional and national level.

Since the 1980’s there has been a huge shift in mental health services away from an institutionalized system of care and towards a more holistic approach, seeking to care for people as individuals and considering their whole needs rather than defining people through a narrow medical model using a collection of diagnostic labels. A big part of this has been the introduction of service user and carer involvement.

Welsh Government, through ‘Stronger in Partnership 2 - 2008’ (SIP2), has encouraged service user and carer involvement both at a national and local level and this has gone from strength to strength. Involvement in the planning and monitoring of services has played an essential part in shaping the services we know today, but none of this would have been possible without the dedication and willingness of service users and carers across North Wales.