Lacking Insight - Community Law

Part 3 > The Involuntary Patient Experiencethey are at present. But I do think that they needto have some process of review and also ongoingtraining or whatever so that they are continuing todo their jobs. Doing their jobs well.NM - ConsumerThe experience of attending Board hearings meansthat consumers are in an excellent position to makesuggestions regarding the training and performanceof Board members. Consumers are the audienceto whom the Board is attempting to communicate.They are the recipients of decisions, and they (alongwith their advocates) are the only participants notemployed by the DHS.Educating Board members about theconsumer experienceIt is important that Board members are aware ofwhat it’s like to appear before the Board. Consumereducation is an important way of giving membersanother perspective on the process. Listening to, andhearing the views and experiences of those who haveappeared before the Board, may assist membersto conduct proceedings in a way that can be betterunderstood by consumers, and not be a detriment totheir health.I don’t know how much [Board members] hearfrom consumers themselves when they getinducted and trained but they need to hear theconsumer voice very loudly. They need to hearpeople’s experiences of other Mental HealthReview Boards if they are being trained forone. They need to understand the precarioussituation people can be in . . . and they need tounderstand that sometimes people are moreaware of their environment than people give themcredit [for]. A lot of people think because [youare unwell] you are not taking in anything aroundyou . . . you don’t forget and you rememberkindness and you remember the bad things thatare done to you. . . . I think the training for theReview Board people, I think they need to havesome sort of compassion for the person andacute awareness of the circumstances and whatit means if they are going to certify someoneinvoluntary; what does it really mean to them? . . .[And] not to be too judgmental, not to be instantlyjudgmental.TF - ConsumerSummary of consumer viewsIn summary, consumers raise the following issues.Inquisitorial v Adversarial,The Board: a rubber stamp?• Consumers experience the Board hearing as anadversarial forum;• Far from fulfilling its inquisitorial function,consumers told researchers that it is theirexperience that the Board merely confirms theview of treating clinicians;• Consumers experience the Board as havingmade a decision prior to the commencement ofthe hearing;• Consumers experience the Board members asonly seriously investigating and giving weight tothe evidence of the treating team.Access to information• Access to information (in the person’s own casefile and about Board procedures) is a problem.As a consequence, consumers describe asystem that poses problems for the concept ofnatural justice; they do not experience a systemthat presents all parties with an equal opportunityto present their case;61