C
MH68.2013 Co-produce action plans which assist stakeholders in improving environments and practices to promote mental health
Overview
This standard covers gaining the support of people who use services and other stakeholders and working co-productively to improve environments and practices and facilitating action to do so. This involves encouraging stakeholders to see the value of improving environments and practices and working with them to develop action plans to determine how to do it. The term ‘co-production' refers to a way of working whereby citizens and decision makers, or people who use services, significant others, family carers and service providers work together to create a decision or service which works for them all. The approach is value driven and built on the principle that those who use a service are best placed to help design it.
The environments may be homes, workplaces, public places, or the broader environment such as towns, housing estates and the countryside. Environments will also cover social, cultural and aesthetic aspects as well as physical aspects and the interaction of people with their environment.
The term ‘practices' is used to describe significant activities which take place within the environment, including:
how the environment is used for working or domestic practices, therapeutic activities, public access and use, routine activitiesinterpersonal relationshipsinitiatives that will increase the capacity of those who live in, work in or otherwise use the environment to promote mental health and well-being.
This standard applies to anyone who works in the mental health sector in a role in which they need to work co-productively with stakeholders to improve environments and practices to promote mental health.
Users of this standard will need to ensure that practice reflects up to date information and policies.
Version No 2
Knowledge and Understanding
You will need to know and understand:
- the current national legislation, guidelines and local policies and protocols which affect your work practice
- the importance of evidence-based practice and why it is important to use evidence from research about what is effective
- the importance of values-based practice for eliciting and understanding the values of stakeholders and for resolving conflicts between them
- the purpose of communicating progress and emphasising achievements
- the services, policies and priorities of your own organisation and how these relate to the services, policies and priorities of other organisations working to promote mental health
- the sources of information, advice and expertise that are available to support implementation of action plans and how to access relevant information/documentation
- who are the stakeholders in the area of practice in which you work
- the tensions that may exist between your professional concerns and interests, the concerns and priorities of your agency and the concerns and priorities of the groups, organisations and communities with whom you are working, and ways of managing these tensions
- your own role and responsibilities and from whom assistance and advice should be sought if required
- your own values and how these affect your work with people who use services and with other service providers
- the contractual arrangements relating to the services and support you offer
- the range of issues which people and organisations are likely to experience when they are seeking to change and improve environments and practices
- the range of resources which people and organisations are likely to be able to draw on when they are seeking to develop action plans to improve environments and practices
- the different ways of supporting stakeholders in improving environments and practices and their applicability in different contexts and with different people
- ways of promoting mental health in environments and practices
- the different, and perhaps competing, interests which stakeholders may have
- how to challenge effectively the views and interests of others, whilst respecting their rights to hold such views and asserting one's own views
- how to encourage people to recognise and respect the views of others
- how to encourage people to work towards an agreement which is in their mutual interest, to take ownership of the issues and to take responsibility for their actions
- obstacles to change and the reasons for them
- resources for change
- how to encourage people to think past obstacles to change and gain the confidence and interests to move forward
- how to encourage people to gain the confidence to draw on their own strengths and other resources for change
- the plans and processes which need to be put in place to enable people to manage change
- effective change management processes and how these may differ in different contexts and settings
- how to adopt an approach and working style which is supportive of change
- how to support people in developing priorities for change
- how to evaluate options and how to determine the best option for the circumstances
- how to develop courses of action which meet the identified needs and perspectives
- the level of detail which is necessary in action planning
- the purpose of recording action plans and confirming them with stakeholders and how to achieve this
- how to effectively disseminate action plans and who needs to receive them
- how to determine the necessary frequency with which people need to be contacted
- the ways in which issues can be turned round to develop solutions and move practice on
- how to monitor progress and identify problems
- how to recognise achievements in ways that are appropriate to those concerned and the nature of the achievements particularly in relation to recovery and development of self-management skills
Performance Criteria
You must be able to do the following:
- identify and present the advantages of working co-productively to improve environments and practices and the implications of not doing so to stakeholders in a style and at a level appropriate to the stakeholders concerned
- work co-productively with stakeholders to identify their own priorities for improving environments and practices and the strengths and resources as well as concerns and difficulties they bring to the change process
- support stakeholders in identifying any obstacles to change and the impact of these on how they may proceed
- enable stakeholders to develop priorities for improving environments and practices, balanced against known obstacles to change, through considering:
- the advantages of doing so
- the implications of inaction
- work co-productively with stakeholders to identify the different ways in which the priorities could be implemented
- encourage stakeholders to think through and explore their commitments to change and to find areas of common agreement
- help stakeholders to evaluate the different options available and determine which is best in the circumstances
- work co-productively with stakeholders to propose courses of action which:
- achieve the best possible balance between the perspectives of different stakeholders
- are consistent with stakeholders' evaluation of available options
- limit the known obstacles to change
- ensure your proposed courses of action are within available human and financial resources and specify:
- the essential details of what will happen
- who is responsible for doing it
- when it will be done
- procedures and responsibilities for monitoring and review of the plan
- ensure that when stakeholders do not agree or cannot commit themselves to the initial proposals for courses of action, you work with them to re-negotiate plans until overall agreement is gained
- record the agreed action plans accurately and completely and send them to stakeholders for comment without delay
- use effective processes to confirm stakeholders' formal agreement to the plans
- ensure that once the action plans have been agreed by stakeholders, you disseminate agreed action plans to all those who are to implement them using an agreed style and format
Additional Information
This National Occupational Standard was developed by Skills for Health.
This standard links with the following dimension within the NHS Knowledge and Skills Framework (October 2004):
Dimension: HWB1 Promotion of health and wellbeing and prevention of adverse effects to health and wellbeing