School of Nursing & Midwifery Annual Report 2018

Catherine McAuley School of Nursing and Midwifery, UCC

10th Annual Critical Perspectives’ Conference, held on 14 and 15 November 2018 in Brookfield Health Sciences Complex, UCC

The Story: Critical Perspectives on and Beyond ‘Recovery’: Ten Years On. A series of annual critical perspectives conferences have been organised by the Schools of Applied Social Studies and Nursing and Midwifery since 2009. These conferences aim to provide a broader platform to discuss and debate mental health systems and share new initiatives and approaches. Now at its tenth year the conference is considered one of the most significant events of its kind nationally and internationally, attracting speakers and delegates from across the continents. The critical perspectives conference is unique as it is free for all delegates and, as a result, involves people from diverse backgrounds (self-experience, survivors, professionals, academics, carers) presenting, discussing and debating critical and creative perspectives in mental health. The Critical Voices Network Ireland (CVNI) emerged out of these deliberations as a coalition of service users, carers, professionals, academics, national campaigning and advocacy groups, all looking for a mental health system not based on the traditional bio-medical model. Donations come from delegates, the respective organising schools, and the Irish Institute of Mental Health Nursing (IIMHN). Key note speakers travelling from Europe receive a small contribution towards their expenses, with those travelling from outside Europe a larger sum. All speakers (keynote and concurrent) receive a ¤10 coffee and luncheon voucher. The annual budget is around ¤2000. Rooms are free, as the conference is free, and no sponsorship is received. There is a dedicated website, www.cvni.ie

Conference Theme: At the first critical perspectives conference, in 2009, recovery principles and practices were debated and discussed with a considerable optimism about their potential to radically change mental health care. With the conference now in its 10th year, it is timely to take another critical look at recovery and in particular the adoption of so- called strategies of inclusion (e.g. co-production, community engagement, and the employment of peer support workers) by mainstream institutions. The conference considered whether such strategies have led to a recovery-focused mental health care where service users have choices, control and authority, or whether these strategies constitute an act of appropriation and co-option servicing primarily the interests of the mental health establishment. Conference Programme: The conference was organised around 6 keynote and 39 concurrent presentations across the two days. Speakers came from Canada, USA, South Africa, Germany, UK, and Ireland. The speakers came from various backgrounds, including people using mental health services, experts by experience, mental health care providers, practitioners, support workers, academics, researchers, reflecting the overall ethos of the CVNI. Attendance: Over 600 people were registered across the two days. Some were registered for both days, some for one day. Registration is through email. Attendance on Wednesday 14 November was around 450, and on Thursday 15 November around 350. As with the speakers, the delegates came from diverse backgrounds. The conference is part of the curriculum

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