COMMUNE (Co-production of Mental Health Nursing Education) is an Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership Project based on the collaboration of experts by experience (EBE) and mental health nursing academics from six European universities and the University of Canberra in Australia. Its purpose was to advance the involvement of those who have experiences of mental health service use (EBE) in mental health nursing education. The project combined experiential and academic knowledge, with the aim of co-producing a module on ‘mental health recovery’ for undergraduate nursing students; a module that was taught to the students by EBE. Principles of co-production where followed as much as possible, involving EBE in all stages of the process, from grant application to dissemination. The project tried to move beyond typical service user involvement and towards co-creation of knowledge, where power differentials are acknowledged and equity issues addressed. Barriers to meeting these goals were experienced and are discussed in the Practice Guidelines.
The final product of the project were Practice Guidelines that describes the process of the co-production and is accessible to everyone. We hope that it can provide some help and inspiration to those who are interested in co-production approach to mental health education.
Contact us
For further information contact Dr. Páll Biering, professor of mental health nursing at the University of Iceland: pb@hi.is