Legitimizing user knowledge in mental health services: Epistemic (in)justice and barriers to knowledge integration.

Including the voices and knowledge of service users is essential for developing recovery-oriented and evidence-based mental health services. Recent studies have however, suggested that challenges remain to the legitimization of user knowledge in practice. To further explore such challenges, a co-production study was conducted by a team of researchers and representatives from user organizations in Sweden.

[A national project for validation of the Collaborative Care Model in Swedish health care setting is planned].

One third of all persons attending primary care present mental health issues, and psychiatric diagnoses accounts for 45 % of sick pay in Sweden. It is important that cooperation between primary care and specialized psychiatry units function seamlessly, ensuring patients with mental disorders health care on an adequate level. The cooperation between primary care and specialized psychiatry must become more patient focused, effective and safe.