Open Dialogue and its Relevance to the NHS: Opinions of NHS Staff and Service Users

Abstract

Open Dialogue is a model of mental health services that originated in Finland and has since, been taken up in trial teams worldwide. As this is a relatively unknown approach in the UK, it is important to tentatively explore perspectives of NHS staff and service-users. Sixty-one Open Dialogue conference attendees, both staff and service-users, were recruited for this study. A feedback questionnaire was administered to determine the extent to which they believed the key tenets of Open Dialogue were important to service user care, and the extent to which they existed within current NHS services. Analysis of data demonstrated a strong consensus on the importance of the key principles of Open Dialogue for mental health care and also moderate disagreement that these principles exist within current NHS service provision. The Open Dialogue principles may offer a useful framework in order to develop services in a clinically meaningful way.

Open Dialogue: Frequently Asked Questions

“…Due to its potential as an alternative approach to mental health care, there has been increasing interest in Open Dialogue outside Finland. Over the last two decades, Open Dialogue has been introduced in health care services across Scandinavia, the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, and the United States (for examples see Brottveit, ; Buus et al, ; Gordon et al, ; Holmesland, ; Razzaque & Wood, ; Rosen & Stoklosa, ). As Open Dialogue expands to settings outside of Finland, there is a need for contextually specific local adaptions of the approach and a need to understand successful implementation strategies, including Australian applications.…”

Diálogo Aberto: a experiência finlandesa e suas contribuições

“…Determinadas cidades, como Leeds e Nottingham, possuem grupos de usuários e serviços capacitados no Diálogo Aberto, que estão disponíveis para ensinar e estimular as pessoas a tal prática. Além disso, até sete serviços nacionais de saúde mental da Inglaterra estão estabelecendo equipes--piloto de Diálogo Aberto em cada um dos seus territórios, a fim de participar conjuntamente de um estudo multicêntrico aleatório sobre o tema (RAZZAQUE;WOOD, 2015).…”

A text on which the ink never dries: dialogical practices for care and treatment planning

“…Open dialogue is a model of mental health care that was first used in Finland in the mid‐1980s in the treatment of early onset psychosis. It has now been used in countries such as the United States of America, Germany and the United Kingdom with reported success (Hawkes & Reed , Razzaque & Wood , Schütz , Alexander ). It involves a social network approach to care in which regular meetings are conducted with the service user, their family and support.…”