Meriden Conference
Diane Froggatt and Dale Johnson, Executive Director and President-Elect of WFSAD, both gave presentations at the Meriden conference "Working with Families—Giving People Their Lives Back," held at Stratford-upon-Avon, England, in March 2003. Apart from contributing to the conference program, WFSAD's presence provided the opportunity to add delegates and presenters from Malaysia and families, patients and professionals from India to the WFSAD network.
Organized by professor of psychology Grainne Fadden, Manager of the Meriden Program of the North Birmingham National Health Trust, the conference served to reinforce the benefits of family work to a large gathering of diverse people. "North Birmingham is at the forefront in changing the face of mental health care," said Anthony Sheehan, Chief Executive of the recently formed National Institute of Mental Health England (NIMHE). He expressed shock and disbelief at the poor treatment received by families in some parts of the mental health system. He asked the question, "When is the money going behind the services? Good people are forced into doing extreme things because of their frustration," he said. He went on to describe the reshaping of services envisioned by NIMHE.
Professor Ian Falloon, one of the key figures in family work, and a member of WFSAD's Families as Partners in Care Committee, spoke compellingly about the challenges faced by programs delivering family work. A major issue was the confusion between the service model and the treatment strategy. It was important to separate the two. He delineated the differences and spoke of the need for continuous assessment to be made not only by the service providers, but more significantly by those using the service. In speaking about treatment strategy he emphasized that it should continue until the optimum state of well being occurred and not be time limited.
The presentations made at the conference will be available on Meriden's website.
Amitava Dutta, a psychosocial activist consumer from India with Ishita Sanyal, Director of Turning Point, Kolkata, India.
Dale Johnson, WFSAD President-Elect with Helen Glover, Australian consumer activist and Chief Executive of C.H.A.N.G.E. Birmingham, and S. Pillay, a Malaysian consumer.
