Table 1 Summary of the characteristics of the included studies
From: Participation in mental healthcare: a qualitative meta-synthesis
| Source/country | Purpose | Method/data collection | CASP total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bennetts et al. [23]/Australia | To explore what managers believe consumer participation to be, how they view the role of consumer consultants, and how they developed their understandings of consumer participation | Thematic analysis involving semi-structured interviews with 7 senior mental health managers working within an organization that had included consumer participation for many years | CASP = 20 |
| Chong et al. [24]/Australia | To explore the perceptions of different healthcare professionals on shared decision-making and current interprofessional collaboration in mental healthcare | Thematic analysis involving interviews with 11 pharmacists, 7 nurses, 4 psychiatrists, 4 general practitioners, 2 social workers, 2 occupational therapists, and 1 psychologist | CASP = 18 |
| Connor and Wilson [13]/United Kingdom | To obtain the views of a sample of users of mental health services regarding user involvement | Grounded theory study involving focus groups with 31 service users | CASP = 22 |
| El Enany et al. [14]/United Kingdom | To explore the role of the user, and the basis of their ‘lay’ knowledge, in user involvement processes | Deductive reasoning involving semi-structured interviews with 35 health professionals and 28 service users | CASP = 18 |
| Elstad and Eide [15]/Norway | To add to our understanding of user participation by exploring the experiences of users and professionals within a community mental health service | Thematic analysis involving interviews with 10 service users of community mental health centres | CASP = 24 |
| Galon and Graor [16]/United States | To describe the social process of engagement in primary care treatment from the perspective of persons with severe and persistent mental illness | Grounded theory study involving semi-structured interviews with 32 service users | CASP = 21 |
| Goodwin and Happell [25, 26]/Australia | To contribute to the body of knowledge regarding psychiatric or mental health nurses’ attitudes toward consumer and carer participation in mental health care | Content analysis involving focus groups with 30 psychiatric nurses | CASP = 16 |
| Kidd et al. [17]/Australia | To explore the perceptions of consumer advocates and clinicians about the concept of consumer participation in mental health services and examine how consumer participation policy initiatives are enacted at a service delivery level | Thematic analysis involving semi-structured interviews with 8 health professionals and 2 consumer representatives, all of whom were members of a steering committee of mental health services | CASP = 19 |
| Lammers and Happell [19]/Australia | To explore and discuss the perceptions of mental health service consumers regarding the reality of available opportunities for participation in the development, delivery and evaluation of mental health services | Thematic analysis involving in-depth interviews with 15 service users | CASP = 19 |
| Lester et al. [18]/United Kingdom | To describe the views on, potential for, and types of patient involvement in primary care from the perspectives of primary care health professionals and patients with serious mental illness | Thematic analysis involving 18 focus groups with 45 service users, 39 general practitioners, and 8 practice nurses | CASP = 14 |
| Lloyd [30]/United Kingdom | To identify the methods of empowerment used by mental health nurses | Thematic analysis involving semi-structured interviews with 10 mental health nurses | CASP = 23 |
| Matthias et al. [28]/United States | To explore how consumers and providers make decisions in medication management consultations | Thematic analysis of directly observed medical consultation involving 4 providers, each of whom provided one consultation with 10 service users | CASP = 16 |
| Petersen et al. [22]/Denmark | To gain insight into how the user’s understand and experience user involvement in mental health rehabilitation | Ethnographic study involving field observations and interviews with 12 service users | CASP = 24 |
| Restall and Strutt [21]/Canada | To explore the perspectives of people who use mental health services on participation in mental health service planning and evaluation | Thematic analysis involving interviews and focus groups with 63 service users | CASP = 13 |
| Rise et al. [31]/Norway | To investigate and compare service users’ and service providers’ own definitions of patient and public involvement and their implications | Grounded theory study involving semi-structured interviews with 20 patients, 13 public representatives and 44 health service providers/managers | CASP = 18 |
| Rise et al. [32]/Norway | To investigate the experiences of professionals and service user representatives who took part in the implementation of a comprehensive development plan intended to enhance user involvement in a mental health hospital | Thematic analysis involving interviews with 5 service users and 13 health professionals. Ten meetings between service users and health professionals were also observed and notes were taken | CASP = 18 |
| Robert [33]/United Kingdom | To explore the involvement of mental health service users in the redesign of in-patient mental health services | Thematic analysis involving 65 semi-structured exploratory interviews undertaken with project managers, team members, user representatives and other key informants and stakeholders | CASP = 16 |
| Solbjor et al. [29]/Norway | To investigate mental health service users’ and providers’ views on patient participation during episodes of mental illness | Grounded theory study involving interviews with 17 patients, three service user representatives, 17 health professionals and 8 managers | CASP = 18 |
| Summers [34]/United Kingdom | To explore psychiatrists’ views on active user involvement in the development of local NHS services | Thematic analysis involving semi-structured interviews with 14 psychiatrists | CASP = 16 |