Mental health service user participation in Chinese culture: a model of independence or interdependence?

Background: Current models of user participation in mental health services were developed within Western culture and thus may not be applicable to Chinese communities.

Aims: To present a new model of user participation, which emerged from research within a Chinese community, for understanding the processes of and factors influencing user participation in a non-Western culture.

Method: Multiple qualitative methods, including focus groups, individual in-depth interviews, and photovoice, were applied within the framework of constructivist grounded theory and collaborative research.

The big picture unfolds: Using photovoice to study user participation in mental health services.

Background: User participation is advocated on the basis that consumers know their own needs better than anyone else. Photovoice is a participatory research method that empowers the grass-root population to give voice on concerned issues for eliciting social change.

Aim: This study explores the experience and impact of user participation in mental health services (MHS) in Hong Kong through photovoice.