Experts by experience in mental health nursing education: What have we learned from the commune project?

The COMMUNE (co-produced mental health nursing education) was an international project established to embed EBE perspectives in mental health nursing education by developing and delivering a specific mental health nursing module. The underlying intention of this project was to go well beyond ad hoc implementation and tokenistic approaches to EBE involvement. Standards for co-production of Education (Mental Health Nursing) (SCo-PE [MHN]) was developed to provide guidance to the increasing number of academics seeking genuine and meaningful involvement of Experts by Experience in the education of health professionals. These standards were recently published in the Journal of Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing (Horgan et al., 2020): https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jpm.12605 and prompted this Editorial to discuss the COMMUNE project more fully, including the lessons learned.

Changes to mental health service delivery have been exponential, resulting in significant implications for practitioners. We continually hear the call for increased focus on recovery-oriented practice, amidst a growing expectation that service users be recognized and supported as active participants in services, at both the individual and systemic levels. At the same time, we are challenged by reports of inadequate care, a continuing reliance on coercive practices and tokenistic responses to service user participation. These changes require a significant paradigm shift from the traditional medical model approach to care and treatment. The urgent need for a nursing workforce with the skills, knowledge and attitudes to provide professional leadership in navigating the changing landscape presents challenges of its own. The difficulty in attracting sufficient people into mental health nursing is continually noted, particularly in countries with a generic approach to nursing education. As is often the case, the challenges receive considerably more attention than the strategies and solutions that might change the situation.