Consumers

The relationship between working hours and sustainability has attracted research attention since at least the early 2000s, yet the role of care giving in this context is not well understood. Focusing on Australians between 40 and 60 years who have reduced their working hours and income, we explore the relationship between working hours, care giving and consumption. Data from the national census (ABS, 2006, 2011, 2016c) were analysed to contextualise patterns in paid working hours, income and carer roles for men and women aged between 40 and 60 years.

Background: Design of rehabilitation environments is usually "expert" driven with little consideration given to the perceptions of service users, especially patients and informal carers. There is a need to engage with consumers of services to gain their insights into what design aspects are required to facilitate optimum physical activity, social interaction and psychological responses when they are attempting to overcome their limitations and regain function. Research design: Qualitative exploratory study.

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a common mental illness impacting around 1 to 4% of the Australian population (National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) 2012). Perspectives of family carers for people diagnosed with borderline personality disorder: A scoping review on the emergency care responses of nurses and other health professionals, Australasian Emergency Care. Managing people with mental health presentations in emergency departments: A service exploration of the issues surrounding responsiveness from a mental health care consumer and carer perspective, 

This paper will inform mental health service users and carers on how a University in Wales established a service user and carer-led research group. * The group's primary aim will be to undertake its own service user and carer-led research projects. * Mental health service users have undergone empowerment and research training at a University in Wales. This is an important initiative because it is the first service user and carer-led research group in Wales. * This paper is co-authored by a mental health service user and includes transcripts of service users' stories written in their words.

Suffolk's HSJ Award-nominated People Project aims to empower service users and carers. Participants attend workshops on subjects including getting heard. The project has secured a new round of funding to take it through to August 2006.

Our experience of partnership working on a Scottish project on service user and carer involvement in social work education has been a deeply politicising one. First-hand encounters with power enacted at various sites of service user and carer involvement across national, institutional and local university levels have demonstrated to us that 'partnership working that pushes at the orthodox structures of power is difficult' (Barnes et al., 2006, p. 434).

Continuity of care is considered by patients and clinicians as an essential feature of good quality care in long-term disorders, yet there is general agreement that it is a complex concept and the lack of clarity in its conceptualisation and operationalisation has been linked to a deficit of user involvement. In this paper we utilise the concept of the ‘patient career’ to frame patient accounts of their experiences of the mental health care system.

Over the last decade significant developments and debates have highlighted the disadvantages experienced by people who use mental health services.

This article highlights the importance of information‐sharing in mental health care and in particular the difficulties that can follow when practitioners do not perceive lay carers as ‘partners in care’. The findings of a survey, in which views were sought on poor information‐sharing as a barrier to engagement in mental health services, are reported. The authors conclude with a number of recommendations on improving the way information is shared.