Conversing with clients: A generic approach to mental health needs assessment

Abstract

Good practice requires mental health professionals to engage service users in a reciprocal working relationship, and good assessment underpins care management and the Care Programme Approach. Both processes can be aided by a comprehensive assessment of needs which allows workers to be flexible and which invites clients to have an active voice in service provision. This paper examines how a structured form of needs assessment the Manchester Care Assessment Schedule, can encourage purposeful conversations between clients and workers which assist engagement and which are relevant to care plans and to review. The approach is broad-based and relies as much on workers' use of self and pre-existing professional skills as on the written format