Accessible summary
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This paper reports the use of personal budgets in three early intervention teams in the North West of England.
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Person-centred thinking tools, an essential component of personal budgets and self-directed support, were helpful to staff enabling new insights about what is important to and for the service user.
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The methodology demonstrated how personal budgets generated progressive narrative, enhancing recovery for service users.
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Mental health practitioners need to work with service users creatively in partnership towards outcome-focused interventions that may not fit traditional service responses.
Abstract
This paper will report an innovation in the delivery of support in three early intervention teams in the North West of England. The paper will draw on a data set from an evaluative study exploring individual budgets and discuss the approaches’ impact. Narrative analysis methodology is described and the method’s application in revealing how individual budgets supported recovery is demonstrated. The service users reported progressive narrative towards recovery. These data signpost options for mental health service delivery. Early intervention team staff report support planning and person-centred thinking tools provided different insights about service users’ needs and what assists their recovery. Challenges for mental health nurses and the services they work for are discussed and the roles person-centred care planning should play are identified.