Building an information culture

 

In order to make a difference to the type of information collected in Mental Health, the major change has to be in why people want to collect the information;  the uses the information will be put to;  who has ownership on the information;  and how accurate the information is.  This culture change requires the development of an understanding of what people want and how to make the changes necessary. 

User workshops  To support the culture change, we have been holding and extending a range of workshops with service users and care providers on their perspectives on information sharing:  the link above will take you to the page describing the meetings. A one page summary of key themes from the series of meetings is also available .

What information does the service have?  What extra information is needed?

In the initial scoping phase of IMHIP, we commissioned a consultation to be undertaken by the Scottish Development Centre for Mental Health www.sdcmh.org.uk/. 
The consultation asked a wide range of agencies and professional groups what information needs they have and whether these needs are being met. 

The full report (973KB)     on findings from the consultation, and a three page executive summary (37KB)     are available as PDF files.  Major themes are:

Considerations for change

• Basic information needs should be met before complex needs are explored
• Information should be as close to 'real time' as possible
• Practitioner ownership is important
• Implementation must be through reasonable processes and supported by training
• Systems must be accessible by many to aid communication at the care delivery level first

Priorities for change

• Integrated person-focused information
• From activity to quality data
• Consistency of definitions
• Attitudes to information

Newsletters and email network   To support the exchange of views on how the information culture change is developing, we have a monthly newsletter and email.  Please complete this form if you wish to join the circulation list.