Tuesday and Wednesday in Scotland meeting Hafal's sister charities in the British Isles: Rethink (England), NSF Scotland, Mindwise (Northern Ireland), and Shine (Republic of Ireland). We discuss the future role of our organisations all of whom have their origins in families coming together to address the hidden scandal of neglect of people with schizophrenia. Although we all now reach out to people with other severe illnesses including bipolar disorder we all still hold a clear focus on those with high needs (the experience of perhaps 1 in 30 of us in our lifetimes) who require some 80% of all the resources dedicated to mental health services. The other distinctive characteristic of our organisations is a pragmatic, consumerist approach (no doubt a result of being controlled by mass memberships of people personally affected) uncluttered by stale old debates about "medical" versus "social" models of care and similar doctrinaire stuff. For a practical, holistic approach to care and treatment see Hafal's recovery plan here but please also follow the links above to see what our friends have to offer - and note this important conference in November organised jointly by the two Irish organisations.
