Mapping the patient journey is a way of investigating the experiences of people using older people’s mental health services, particularly those with a dementia. It is a useful concept for patients and their families and enables them to tell their stories in a way which carries the potential for improving and developing the service. Similarly it is a useful concept for health and social care professionals in giving them the opportunity to understand, and reflect on, how their services work in practice for users and carers and how they might be improved. The collaboration between patients, carers and professionals may itself bring about broader benefits and changes in culture for the individuals and services involved. The West Midlands Older People’s Mental Health Collaborative has encouraged the use of mapping by Collaborative teams in order to identify areas for improvement work.
Age Concern England ( 2007). Improving Services and support for older people with mental health problems. London: Age Concern England, Policy Unit.
2.
Andersson, E., Tritter, J., & Wilson, R. (Eds.) ( 2006). Healthy Democracy: The future of involvement in health and social care. Involve and NHS National Centre for Involvement . Retrieved March 29, 2008, from http://83.223.102.125/involvenew/mt/archives/blog_37/Healthy_Democracy/Healthy_Democracy.pdf.
3.
Audit Commission (2002). Integrated services for older people. Building a whole system approach in England. London: Audit Commission.
4.
Aronson, J.K. ( 2000). Autopathography: The patient’s tale. British Medical Journal, 321, 1599-602.
5.
Benbow, S.M., Taylor, L., & Morgan K. ( 2008). Multiple perspectives: Involving users and carers in educating health and social care professionals. Quality in Ageing, 9(2), 12-17.
6.
Blickem, C., & Priyadharshini, E. (2007). Patient narratives: the potential for ‘patientcentred’ interprofessional learning? Journal of Interprofessional Care, 21(6), 619-632.
7.
Bleakley, A. ( 2005). Stories as data, data as stories: Making sense of narrative inquiry in clinical education. Medical Education, 39(5), 534-540.
8.
Calnan, M. ( 1997). Citizens, users and healthcare (Guest Editorial). European Journal of Public Health, 7(1), 1-2.
9.
Care Services Improvement Partnership (2005 ). Everybody’s Business. Integrated mental health services for older adults: A service development guide. Retrieved October 1, 2009, from http://www.mentalhealthequalities.org.uk/our-work/later-life/everybodys-business/?keywords=everybody%26%23039%3Bs+business
10.
Cayton, H. ( 2004). Telling stories. Choices and challenges on the journey of dementia. Dementia, 3(1), 9-17.
11.
Charon, R. ( 2007). What to do with stories. The sciences of narrative medicine . Canadian Family Physician, 53, 1265-1267.
12.
Dartington, T. ( 2007). Two days in December. Dementia, 6(3), 327-341.
13.
Department of Health (2006). Our health, our care, our say: A new direction for community services. London: Department of Health. Retrieved October 9, 2009, from http://www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/12/74/59/04127459.pdf
14.
Department of Health (2009). Living well with dementia: A National Dementia Strategy. Retrieved September 29, 2009, from http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_094058
15.
Divinsky, M. ( 2007). Stories for life. Introduction to narrative medicine . Canadian Family Physician, 53, 203-205.
16.
Fernandez, E., Cortes, A., & Tarragona, M. ( 2007). You make the path as you walk: Working collaboratively with people with eating disorders. In H. Anderson & D. Gehart (eds.), Collaborative Therapy. Relationships and conversations that make a difference (pp. 129-147). London: Routledge.
17.
Frank, A.W. ( 1998). Just Listening: Narratives and deep illness. Families, Systems & Health, 16, 197-212.
18.
Greenhalgh, T., & Hurwitz, B. ( 1998). Narrative Based Medicine: Dialogue and discourse in clinical practice. London: BMJ Books.
19.
Greenhalgh, T., & Hurwitz, B. ( 1999) Why study narrative?British Medical Journal , 318, 48-51.
20.
House of Commons Health Committee (2007). Patient and Public Involvement in the NHS Third Report of Session 2006-07 . Retrieved March 29, 2008, from http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmselect/cmhealth/278/278i.pdf.
21.
Koppel, O.S.B., & Dallos, R. ( 2007). The development of memory difficulties. A journey into the unknown. Dementia, 6(2), 193-213.
22.
Lapsley, P., & Groves, T. ( 2004). The patient’s journey: Travelling through life with a chronic illness. British Medical Journal, 329, 582-583.
23.
National Health Service (NHS) Improvement Network East Midlands (2008a). Mapping the Existing Process. Retrieved March 14, 2008, from http://www.tin.nhs.uk/tools-techniques/process-mapping.
24.
National Health Service (NHS) Improvement Network East Midlands (2008b). More Information on Process Mapping . Retrieved March 14, 2008, from http://www.tin.nhs.uk/tools-techniques/process-mapping/more-information .
25.
NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement ( 2008). A Conventional Model of Process Mapping. Retrieved September 29, 2009, from http://www.institute.nhs.uk/quality_and_service_improvement_tools/quality_and_service_improvement_tools/process_mapping_-_a_conventional_model.htmlNHS
26.
Modernisation Agency (2002) Improvement Leaders’ Guide to Process mapping, analysis and redesign . Retrieved March 27, 2008, from http://www.cancerimprovement.nhs.uk/documents/Publications%20from%20NHS%20Modernisation%20Agency/Process%20mapping.pdf
27.
Office for National Statistics (2005). Focus on Older People. Available at http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_compendia/foop05/OlderPeopleOverview.pdf
28.
Scottish Government (2009). Mental Health Collaborative Programme Toolkit. Retrieved September 29, 2009, from http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/261001/0077874.pdf
29.
Shaw, J., & Baker, M. ( 2004). ‘Expert patient’ - dream or nightmare? British Medical Journal, 328, 723-4.
30.
Toofany, S. ( 2008). How to promote a healthier tomorrow. Nursing Older People, 20(02), 17-20.
31.
Wilcock, P.M., Brown, G.C., Bateson, J., Carver, J., & Machin, S. ( 2003). Using patient stories to inspire quality improvement within the NHS Modernisation Agency collaborative programmes. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 12(3), 422-430.
32.
Woods, R.T., Moniz-Cook, E., Iliffe, S., Campion, P., Vernooij-Dassen, M., Zanetti, O., Franco, M., & INTERDEM (Early Detection and Intervention in Dementia) Group (2003). Dementia: Issues in early recognition and intervention in primary care. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 96(7), 320-324.
