USER-INVOLVEMENT IN PSYCHIATRIC RESEARCH –: A SCOPING REVIEW

User-involvement in research is on the international political agenda, e.g. mirrored by an emphasis on user involvement in funding of research. The idea is that user involvement can contribute positive to research. It has been problematized whether the involvement of mental health service users in research is genuine or symbolic, known as tokenism, just to fulfil the political agenda and the criteria’s for funding.
Aim: The purpose of this ongoing study is to identify empirical studies of user involvement in mental health research.
Methods: An ongoing scoping review is carried out 1) formulating research question, 2) identifying relevant studies: based on a systematic literature search conducted in 2017 in five databases (CINAHL, Embase, Medline, PsycINFO, and ERIC), 3) selecting studies, 4) charting the data, 5) summarizing results, 6) consulting service users.
Results: 24 studies were included in the review. The results illuminate how: 1) mental health service users are involved in research, 2) user-involvement influence the research process and 3) the users themselves, such as challenges related to technical language and power imbalances.
Preliminary conclusion: There is a need for education of mental health service users, professionals and researchers doing collaborative research to develop a shared understanding of collaborative research.