Person-Centred Care and Mental Health: Lived Experiences in Nursing

This essay delves into the realm of person-centred care within mental health nursing, emphasizing the crucial role of lived experiences in shaping effective practices. The introduction establishes the shift from paternalistic healthcare models to patient-centered approaches, highlighting the importance of understanding individual experiences with mental disorders. The discussion explores how lived experiences contribute to person-centred care, emphasizing the value of consumer and family perspectives in fostering empathy and holistic care. The essay also identifies areas for personal development in nursing practice, advocating for increased research and education within the lived experience sector. The conclusion reinforces the significance of person-centred care and the incorporation of lived experiences to enhance the quality of mental healthcare, particularly in the Australian context.

Running Head: PERSON-CENTRED CARE
Person-Centred care and people’s lived experiences of mental disorder
Students name
University affiliation
Date

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Person-Centred care and people’s lived experiences of mental disorder
Introduction
Health care provision has evolved over the years from the application of conventional
paternalistic approach of ‘nurse knows best’ to an approach of patient-centred care. under the
conventional paternalistic approach, health practitioners prescribed and instructed treatments
with restricted or limited inputs from families and patients (Gask and Coventry, 2012; Goulding,
Allerby, Ali, Gremyr & Waern, 2018). Conversely, currently, research recognize and appreciate
the significance of patient-centred approach in the health care delivery. Systematic investigations
and research of the independent experiences of mental health as well as distress and of being
vital, representing a significant tool for coming up with the cooperative attention to the
foundation of information as well as inspiring health care providers to listen wisely to people’s
voices with mental health issues (Alharbi, Carlstrom, Ekman, Jarneborn and Olsson, 2014) Even
though the usual view of the severe mental health issues in the healthcare settings can still be that
of a long-lasting disease leading to unavoidably poor result, it should be noted that recovery is
probable and the realms of normal life is the setting for complete mental recovery. It is through
this background that individuals come up with measures on how to prudently contain their
challenges by themselves or through the aid of other people. In this view, empirical research of
lived experiences has generally gathered concrete as well in-depth data concerning the recovery
process in daily life setting that normally help steer health care practices to a person-centred
approach. Nevertheless, an important issue to comprehend concerning recovery is an individual’s
exclusive experience is the initial theme for all actions.
The process of collaboration starts with attempting to comprehend an individual’s
experiences and how such experiences impacts the daily life from his or her point of view. More

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emphasis and focus on regulations and policies concerning to involvement of users, rights of
individuals living with disabilities and human rights has contributed to the demand for an array
of knowledge base in services of mental health. The concept of person-centredness and recovery
has resulted to such phenomenon and has led to known ideas in mental health service. The ideas
are famous in certified plan documents in numerous nations as well as in the World Health
Organization’s People-Centred Health Care; A Policy Framework. The article recognizes an
array of weaknesses as well as gaps in the present systems of healthcare which require attention,
that is, they are required to move above the conventional systems of offering healthcare as well
as of evaluating performance of health systems, giving much attention to collaborative healthcare
services (Gondek, et al 2017).
The main of objective of this paper is to debate on the developments of person-centred
mental health care and how using people’s lived experiences of a mental disorder do contribute
to the development of person centred mental in nursing practices. The paper will also identify an
aspect of my own nursing practice which requires developments to work collaboratively with
individuals who have lived experiences of mental disorder.
How People’s Lived Experiences of a Mental Disorder Contribute to the Development of
Parson-Centred Mental Health Nursing Practice?
Person-centred care is progressively considered as a vital factor of quality care as well as
a distinguishing characteristic of mental recovery. According to Morgan and Yoder (2012), in
the mental care, person-centredness entails delivering as well as delivering a all-inclusive respect
as well as approach to the people and their exceptional needs and experiences. Therefore, person-
centred care is considered as a concerted process between an individual looking for help and the
health expert in numerous settings. For instance, a research was conducted by Mogan and Yoder

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(2012) on the idea analysis of person-centred care and they discovered that the defining features
of person-centred as; individualized, empowering, holistic and respectful. Moreover, in the
healthcare environment, a person-centred environment include a commitment and vision,
organizational behaviors and attituded and shared governance. People’s lived experiences of a
mental disorder normally aids in the person-centred care (Van der Meer, et al 2018). People’s
lived experience is described as the knowledge as well as the comprehension one gets when he or
she has lived through something. In this paper, I have described people with mental health lived
experience as individuals having mental illness and are referred to as consumers and friends or
family supporting an individual having with mental illness mostly known as carers.
It should be noted that individuals living with mental issues as well as their
support/families promote and enhance person-centred healthcare approaches toward both mental
and physical health including allied supports, social services and housing. I believe that there is
significant benefit for consumers in coming up with a personalized service response entailing
respectful as well as reflective listening resulting to enhanced understanding and empathy of
individuals experiencing mental health issues and accompanying emotional distress. Person-
centred care needs a holistic approach that involves every stakeholder in the provision of care for
individuals with mental health issues (Chenoweth, et al 2018). It should be noted that most
families and friends of individuals of mental health normally complain that their rights to be
engaged in care for their loved ones is limited. Nevertheless, families and friends represent a
basic and key support system to mental healthcare. They normally give health practitioners first-
hand experience with both intra and interpersonal relationships. It should be noted that when
communication with the individual is limited, these experiences normally remain an integral
development feature in mental health care (World Health Organization, 2010).

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People with severe and serious mental health issues have wide experience in managing
their daily lives, coping with various symptoms, undergoing numerous treatment forms as well
as dealing with stigma. Such individuals are well placed to offer advice to other individuals who
may be going through similar problems and issues (Shipton & Lashewicz, 2017). Most
individuals that healthcare givers speak toon numerous occasions usually are eager to provide
suggestions, drawing conclusively from their own experience (Cooper, et al 2018).
Overwhelmingly, such individuals want to reassure other people, telling them that most things
that they are undergoing will get over and things will eventually get better. They normally
provide hope and assure mental disorder patients to have persistence and perseverance.
Fundamental areas that peoples lived experience offer to other patients include taking care of
oneself, seeking aid, relationships with mental health and health professional as well as
maintaining social relationships and participation. In looking for oneself, most of the individuals
having lived experience of mental disorder suggested how to accept or manage illness or
symptoms, taking preventing approaches in order to avoid becoming ill as well seeking medical
help early.
An aspect in my own nursing practice that requires development in order to effectively promote
lived experience of mental disorder
Individuals with lived experience have been enhancing and promoting the idea of
recovery for more than ten decades and have had a deep collective and internal comprehension
of what recovery entails and how it feels like (Kogstad, Ekeland and Hummelvoll, 2014). Since
1960s, people with lived experience have come up with movements which has contributed
importantly to the push concerning a recovery-oriented mental health system (World Health
Organization, 2007). There are very many numerous policy interventions going on in numerous

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nations like the United States of America, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia (Kadri, et al
2018). Even though important development has happened, currently, Australia has a less
enhanced and developed lived experience or peer workforce than in some other countries. For
instance, in the united states of America, certified lived experience specialists are currently
available in some states as a subsidized service by the government through Medicaid. Peer work
in the USA is viewed by the government an important part in terms of recovery for mental health
patients.
In my own nursing experience, I would promote research and education in the lived
experience sector in order to improve their service delivery to the patients as well as to other
medical practitioners. Research has recognized issues of significance to services and healthcare
institutions, thus funding bodies often differ to those of individuals accessing mental healthcare
services (Byrne, 2015). it should be noted that researchers of lived experience ensure the correct
and relevant questions are asked and priorities of individuals accessing services are importantly
addressed. Participation of lived experience is gradually increasing within higher settings of
education. For instance, in the 33 Australian universities, 76% entailed some lived experience
involvement in nursing education. Nevertheless, the rate of involvement especially input into the
curriculum was considered to be highly variable (Australian Commission on safety and quality in
healthcare, 2010). This shows that most of the mental health nursing education have not
embraced research and development so as to support lived experience department. My
suggestion to my department would be to create a department of lived experience whereby
professional individuals can be incorporated into the department. I would write a proposal
entailing my idea of supporting the department financially in order to have enough funds

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required in conducting further research on the prerequisite of lived experience. I would also
promote further education to the current practitioners on the significance of lived experience.
Conclusion
Person-centered care has emerged as one of the best approaches in handling mental
health patients as well as initiating a timely and long-lasting recovery (The Health Foundation,
2016). Incorporating people with lived experience has been as vital in the process of person-
centred care (Borg & Davidson, 2008). therefore, individuals with lived experience should be
highly trained and further research performed to improve on the quality of health care in
Australia.

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