Centre for Mental Health

Understanding values is key to resolving conflicts in mental health practice, says new guide book

13 July 2004

Conflicts in mental health care can be resolved if practitioners are more aware of their values and those of their clients, says a guide published today by the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health (SCMH).

Whose Values, by Kim Woodbridge and Bill Fulford, argues that an ability to understand a service user's values is a fundamental skill for mental health workers and vital for them to offer people a choice in how they are treated. Only by learning what a person values, and knowing what clashes of values exist around them, will they be able to help them and their families adequately.

Whose Values introduces the idea of values-based practice in mental health. It sets out the skills practitioners need to learn to be aware of values, to know how to explore them and to help to resolve any tensions around them.

Bill Fulford, Professor of Philosophy and Mental Health at Warwick University, said: "Values usually don't come to the surface until there are conflicts between service users, carers, staff and managers. Yet they exist in every aspect of health and social care practice, often below the surface without ever being understood.

"Values-based practice gives mental health staff the skills they need to get below the surface and to build better relationships with their clients and with each other. It helps them to negotiate conflicts of values and to see diversity as an asset to be used rather than a problem to get over."

Kim Woodbridge, SCMH Programme Lead for Values, said: "People we have trained in values-based practice tell us it has helped them enormously in their work and made them grow in confidence.

"This is no mere add-on to the more technical skills of mental health work. It is a foundation stone of effective practice. As mental health services focus more and more on offering choice, on promoting recovery and on tackling social exclusion, values-based practice is more important than ever. Our guide will help anyone working in mental health to know how to use values to benefit everyone they work with."

Health Minister, Rosie Winterton MP, said: "I am delighted to welcome this workbook in values-based practice. As the first of its kind in the world, and the product of a unique collaboration between the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health and Warwick University's Department of Philosophy and Medical School, the workbook will bring an exciting and innovative resource to support training in a range of skills essential for working effectively with values, alongside evidence, in all areas of mental health."