Identity as a rights advocate: contextualizing the understanding of mental health user associations in Argentina

Abstract

The importance of mental health services users’ participation regarding rights advocacy has been recognized during the last decades. The analysis of the cultural context in which rights advocacy takes place seems to be useful for understanding the different levels of development of users’ advocacy around the world. With the aim to describe the relationship between the perceptions of participants of a mental health rights advocacy association regarding their involvement in advocacy, its effects, and the cultural context, a descriptive qualitative study was carried out in Argentina, based on a ‘what matters most’ framework. Results show that the recovery of the culturally valued identity of militante (advocate) was seen as an important benefit. Social rights such as work and housing were ranked as the most important to advocate for. Based on the Argentinean National Mental Health Law, the relationship between top-down and bottom-up approaches toward users’ participation are discussed

Keywords:

• participation
• user associations
• advocacy
• mental health

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

UBACYT