Editorial

Citation

Bailey, D. (2019), "Editorial", The Journal of Mental Health Training, Education and Practice, Vol. 14 No. 2, pp. 73-73. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMHTEP-03-2019-064

Welcome to edition 14.2 of the Journal of Mental Health Education and Training Practice. In this editorial I wanted to take the opportunity to thank my colleague and co-editor Dr Nicola Wright as she steps down from the main editorial team of the journal. Nicola has reviewed numerous manuscripts as well as contributing to and editing special editions on young people’s mental health (Vol. 9, No. 4), mental health pathways for people with intellectual disabilities (Vol. 12, No. 4) and risks in mental health practice (Vol. 13, No. 1). As a nurse by background Nicola has raised the profile of the journal with nursing colleagues nationally and internationally and her contributions in so many ways have undoubtedly contributed to the journal’s success since 2013 when she joined the editorial team.

As we say au revoir to Nicola we welcome Dr Anne Felton as a new co-editor. Anne coedited the recent special edition with Nicola on risk (Vol. 13, No. 1) and is also a nurse by background, with special interests in recovery, risk and service user involvement.

Already 2019 seems well underway with this second issue and on reading the papers to be included it reminds me that in 2012 I wrote a book on Interdisciplinary Working in Mental Health (Palgrave) which emphasised the importance of service user and carer expertise alongside that of mental health professionals if we are talking about a truly interdisciplinary approach. This edition of the journal reflects this interdisciplinary focus.

It begins with three papers that focus on the issues facing mental health professionals: Jomeen considers the important issue of perinatal illness and how healthcare practitioners’ decisions can be influenced by their perceptions. Stone explores the experiences of approved mental health professionals who are nurses by background and Alyousef and Alhamidi tackle how the stigma associated with mental ill health influences Saudi doctors’ practice.

The following three papers focus on the important issue of peer involvement and service user experience in mental health training, education and practice. Zeng discusses a stepped model of peer provision, as she explores the journeys experienced by peer providers supporting a peer with mental distress. Wilson considers how clinical psychology trainees can learn from service users and carers during their training and Chiocci et al. consider how a carer led psychoeducation programme for carers as peers can improve their wellbeing and reduce the burden of care they provide.

As Editor I am delighted to introduce such a range of papers in this edition that reflects the importance of contributions from a range of disciplinary perspectives in developing best practice. From whichever discipline you hail I trust you will find the papers in this edition thought provoking and illuminating. If you are yet to submit a manuscript to the journal I hope the content of this edition encourages you to do so and/or to agree to review a paper for future editions.