Short description:

This book presents a comparative analysis of mental health policy in Western Europe and North America. It also considers how and why different policies have developed.

Simon Goodwin examines the transition from institutional to community-based models of care for people with mental health problems, identifying variations in the inception, pace and style in which community-based service provision has emerged in different countries. Goodwin also assesses the problems and issues that have arisen as a result of the shift towards more community-based systems of care and treatment, and argues that it is a policy made up of conflicting aims and purposes, which is reflected in its implementation.

Long description:

This book presents a comparative analysis of mental health policy in Western Europe and North America. It also considers how and why different policies have developed.

Simon Goodwin examines the transition from institutional to community-based models of care for people with mental health problems, identifying variations in the inception, pace and style in which community-based service provision has emerged in different countries. Goodwin also assesses the problems and issues that have arisen as a result of the shift towards more community-based systems of care and treatment, and argues that it is a policy made up of conflicting aims and purposes, which is reflected in its implementation.

`Accessible review of policy worthy of a place upon an Undergraduate community care reading list' - Journal of Social Policy and Administration

`Opening the book for the first time, the reader will be struck by the clear approach the author has taken to the very complex task of explaining the shift from institutional to community care.... Anyone who has an interest or works in the field of mental health provision should have this book on their top 10 reading list. For an excellent introduction and journey through the development and implementation of mental health policy both here, in Western Europe and North America you could not ask for more. The author goes to great lengths to explain the limitations of comparative analysis in this field, but opens a vista of research and thinking that stimulates both thought and reasoning on the nature of mental health services and their efficacy within the wider context of societies. To have mental health policy placed within a wider context is both useful and necessary for anyone in this field - first to avoid the pitfalls of professional self-adulation, but also to help those who wish to influence policy understand some of the less explicit reasons behind policy development and implementation' - The Health Service Journal

`This expert overview will provide practitioners and policy-makers with food for thought. It is a relatively easy read compared to many comparitive texts and does well to explain to the reader the essentials of policy....Goodwin's focus is both learned and reflective in what is often an emotional arena' - International Social Work