Quality, Discrimination, and Participation in Mental Health Research

Abstract

This study focuses on the issues underpinning non-clinical mental health research involving people with experience of mental illness. It examines a participatory action research project undertaken with the New Zealand Mental Health Commission as well as a systematic review of recent non-clinical mental health research, including New Zealand research. The systematic review focuses on the issues that researchers encounter when formulating their research - the ethical, methodological and research design issues that researchers have to address. An equally important issue is the role that people with experience of mental illness play in research. The findings focus on this, as well as the implications for the quality of mental health research, issues of discrimination, and the appropriate use of language in mental health research. This study queries whether people with experience of mental illness should be regarded as incompetent or incapable when seeking informed consent in mental health research, as well as questioning the appropriateness of trying to 'empower' people with experience of mental illness in the research process.