REFLECTIVE ESSAY ON MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAM

Reflective Essay on Mental Health Program

Reflective Essay on Mental Health Program

Abstract:

Reflective practice is accepted as being a key component of professional education and practice in health and social care. However an emphasis on self reflection frequently fails to broaden the lens to take into account wider issues of power and inequality, to move beyond technical rationalism and remains at the individual level rather than being embedded within relational notions of dialogue both within teams and across professions This paper will challenge traditional uniprofessional models of reflection through the development of an approach to interprofessional learning informed by models of critical practice that seek to critique and transcend traditional professional boundaries. Attention will also be paid to the central importance of service users as the essential focus of collaborative team working. The implications of embedding critical reflection as a key component of an integrated strategy for interprofessional learning will be discussed with reference to the development of a new interprofessional learning strategy for pre registration students within which reflective practice is introduced as both a discrete unit and a continuing theme throughout the curriculum. The paper will conclude that a model of critical and reflective practice will enable future practitioners to respond to the transformation of previously compartmentalised ways of thinking and working and the challenge of new ways of working.

Introduction

The imperative for 'joined up working' in health and social care, seen as representing one of the cornerstones of the 'modernisation' agenda and health and social care policy in the United Kingdom, (Department of Health (2004) The Ten Essential Shared Capabilities: a framework for the whole of the mental health workforce London Department of Health. Pp. 34. ) has led to the need to promote skills and knowledge for interprofessional practice at all stages of professional education and training. (Barr, 1998) A wide range of approaches to developing interprofessional practice can be identified involving practice based and 'formal' education opportunities at all stages of the professional development continuum. Within education the majority of these incorporate interprofessional learning as one component of the overall curriculum alongside a primarily uniprofessional approach. Reflective practice, traditionally viewed as underpinning the core uniprofessional curriculum has tended to remain a uniprofessional activity. However this paper will analyse the relevance of models of reflective practice as they relate to interprofessional learning, recognising the need to facilitate and integrate reflection on the process of 1 learning with the practice of interprofessional working by exploring some of the wider issues concerning identity, communities of practice and managing boundaries. In particular attention will be drawn to the nature of learning as a social and participatory activity founded on dialogue, thereby endorsing the nature of education as negotiated meaning rather than information transmission. The central importance of the service user perspective and experience in the approach of the interprofessional team will be emphasised, linked to the need for a holistic and multi faceted model for understanding issues of health and ...