Welfare Reform on the Web (February 2000): Mental Health Services - Overseas

EMPOWERING THE PEOPLE

C. Jackson

Mental Health and Learning Disabilities Care, vol.3, 1999, p.42-45

Mental health service users in the emerging democracies of eastern and central Europe are beginning to make their voices heard.

THE MADISON MODEL OF COMMUNITY CARE FOR THE MENTALLY ILL: SOME LESSONS FOR BRITAIN

M. Stephens

Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, vol.21, 1999, p.221-234

Describes the highly successful and comprehensive system of community care of people with mental illnesses operated in Madison, Wisconsin. It is an integrated network of services dedicated both to supporting the mentally ill in the community and to finding them work, where possible. There is a professional and system-wide recognition that, with proper support, most mentally ill people can remain living in the community with dignity and a decent level of independence. Such an approach runs counter to the growing perception in the UK that the way to handle the seriously mentally ill is to coerce them into taking their drugs or to find new 'mini-asylums' where they may be incarcerated.