Patients’ and carers’ journeys through older people’s mental health services

Abstract

Mapping the patient journey is a way of investigating the experiences of people using older people’s mental health services, particularly those with a dementia. It is a useful concept for patients and their families and enables them to tell their stories in a way which carries the potential for improving and developing the service. Similarly it is a useful concept for health and social care professionals in giving them the opportunity to understand, and reflect on, how their services work in practice for users and carers and how they might be improved. The collaboration between patients, carers and professionals may itself bring about broader benefits and changes in culture for the individuals and services involved. The West Midlands Older People’s Mental Health Collaborative has encouraged the use of mapping by Collaborative teams in order to identify areas for improvement work.