MHID Products

As well as managing a number of international programmes and projects, MHID also provides a range of smaller products that can be tailored and adapted to individual need. All the products have been developed through larger programmes and have been tried and tested in many countries. The products provide an a la carte option for organisations and funders wishing to engage MHID for specific pieces of work to enhance or contribute to a wider programme. MHID can provide a specialist mental health input to programmes that work in developing countries to ensure that this group of people is involved and included in wider development initiatives.

The various products can be deployed on their own or as part of a modular programme of development for an organisation or community.

Specific principles underpin all the products including:

• A specialist mental health input to the development process



• An active commitment to user involvement and the promotion of users in the planning, implementation and evaluation of all activities



• The promotion of gender issues including reference to the practical and strategic needs of women



• Participatory action research



• An incorporation of the wider awareness of the policy implications of activities and local action.

The core MHID team and our network of activists, facilitators and user consultants around the world deliver all products. The products are listed in six categories:

To purchase a particular product or discuss your development needs please contact Paul Cutler at MHID on paulcutler@mhid.uk.net

It is the intention of MHID that surplus revenues generated by the business will be used to offer some of these products at no cost to local grassroots user organisations in targeted countries who lack the funds to pay.

Training and Development Packages

Organisational Development - this package provides a three day workshop on topics such as developing a missions and vision, management, team building, strategic planning and financial management. Using case studies from real NGOs and group exercises, the package enables participants to develop their understanding of the way organisations work and how to manage them. The organisational development toolkit Building for the Future: Making Organisations Stronger and More Effective, co-written by two of the MHID directors, forms the basis of the package. Participants are supported to analyze their own organisation's needs and implement a plan of organisational development.

Advocacy - this package takes participants from the skills and knowledge of individual advocacy to an appreciation of systemic advocacy and how to establish advocacy services within the context of a local NGO. Using role play and real life case studies, the package provides participants with the tools, checklists and experience to support themselves and others to advocate for their rights and needs.

Self-Help - from the basic principles of self-help through to the skills and knowledge needed to establish a successful self-help group, this package gives participants the confidence to set up one of the most fundamental of civil society groups.

User Involvement - covers fundamental principles and practice of user involvement including looking at why users should be involved and the benefits to all stakeholders. The package enables participants to identify areas in their organisations where user involvement is missing and create proposals and initiatives to promote greater involvement. This package is recommended both for service users and for professionals wishing to learn more about involvement. It forms a highly creative learning environment, which challenges fundamental assumptions, patterns and habits to raise awareness of the issues.

Grassroots Policy Development -provides participants with knowledge and skills about the policy environment and enables them to analyze stakeholder relationships and opportunities for change. Introducing the policy-as-process model and the twin concept of public action, the package promotes a model of grassroots, bottom-up policy development that empowers local stakeholders and users to take control of their voice in the policy process. The workshop also provides participants with the skills and tools to develop their own policy forums, create grassroots coalitions and take public action. The package provides participants with a copy of the MHID toolkit Policy and Public Action.

Public Action - the perfect follow up to the Grassroots Policy Development package, this package provides more in-depth skills and knowledge development of public action including direct action, PR activities, working with the media, planning campaigns and demonstrations. Participants are provided with the tools to create their own local public action coalitions from the stakeholder groups, implement programmes and evaluate their impact. Careful consideration is given to the aims of public action and how it fits within the wider policy context. Case studies of effective public action are considered and skills are tested and developed through role-play and training games.

Project Development and Writing - a very specialized package that supports participants to develop the skills to write effective policy papers, press releases and reports with clarity and impact. MHID recognizes that successful grassroots initiatives often fail to disseminate their learning and effectively promote their policy recommendations. Further barriers are created because grassroots programmes often lack the access to publishing facilities and support available to competing policy agencies such as the WHO and international bodies. By learning the skills of writing for a policy audience and how to influence the reader, participants are enabled to promote user involvement and bottom-up values. The package provides materials and a toolkit of common formats and conventions for writing in the policy sphere. It also provides alternative ways of getting a message across including the use of life stories, case studies, quotes and informal grassroots research.

Leadership Workshops - provides support and development for grassroots leaders in the mental health field.

Planning for Action and Policy - this package uses tools and ideas from a number of diverse sources to enable policy forums and grassroots coalitions to move from talking to action. Sessions include looking at shared visions and collective aims to defining outputs and outcomes of public action. As well as promoting action, the package enables participants to write effective policy plans to attract support and funding by communicating n clear and simple ways the purpose of the policy work. The package is a more in-depth look at planning and provides an appropriate follow up to the organisational development package and the grassroots policy development package. The package provides a number of MHID visual templates that facilitate clear and structured thinking.

The NGO Development Game - a three day intensive residential game that enables participants to develop a fictional NGO and build its capacity. The games introduces ideas such as organisational values, principles and mission and through the three days challenges the participants to respond to unexpected changes and developments in the fictional NGO environment. At the end of the three days the participants are supported to apply the lessons they have learnt to their real world NGOs.

Evaluation Skills - an in-depth look at how to evaluate projects, programmes and public action. The package looks at the purpose of evaluation, learning styles and methodologies.

Action Research - this package supports participants to develop an action research approach into their everyday work. Topics covered include the theory and practice of action research, data collection, analysis and ways to promote learning in the organisation. Special attention is given to the role of the user as researcher and the various research networks that are available to provide support. Case studies look at issues such as the user audit of services, qualitative research and the role of life stories as a research tool. Participants are supported to develop their own small research project.

Campaigning and Lobbying - a three-day intensive look at the skills of campaigning and lobbying as a form of public action. Topics include analysis of power and influence, role plays of lobbying scenarios and the development of a campaign. The MHID toolkit titled Campaigning and Lobbying in Mental Health is provided to all participants.

All training packages provide the possibility of the following:

• Participatory training in workshops including practical exercises, roles plays, games and small group discussions



• Provision of training materials and toolkits



• The development of action plans so that participants are supported to implement their new skills, knowledge and networks in their local communities



• Post workshop support, advice and mentoring



• An emphasis on sharing and learning from the other participants at the workshop.

We also provide a mix and match option where local organisations can create their own workshop timetable from different sessions and topics from any of the packages. We did this most recently for example in Kerala, India where the local policy forum asked us to provide a range of training covering user-involvement, medication issues, campaigning and organisational development.

Forums, Public Consultations and Participatory Events

The MHID team are experienced in designing and delivering events in partnership with local people to build stakeholder participation and community development. Our track record with the various local and national policy forums in Europe and India demonstrates our innovative approaches to involving all kinds of people in mental health.

Consultancy, Mentoring, Support and Coaching - learning through doing

The experience of MHID is that training and workshops need to be followed up with on-going support and mentoring of participants if the skills and knowledge people develop are to grow and be used effectively within the community and organisational context. MHID has the skills and tools to offer mentoring to participants concerned with their own personal and organisational development and we can also introduce individuals to a wider learning network.

In some cases on-site coaching is identified as a specific need and MHID is able to offer this through its network of trainers and facilitators.

Research and Evaluation

MHID provides independent research and evaluation services to other organisations and NGOs wishing to investigate the impact and effectiveness of their work. Since MHID promotes a model of evaluation through learning we can also assist with the dissemination, reflection and wider learning from research and evaluation. Core skills include:

• The design and implementation of research projects



• The design of tailored research tools including semi-structured interviewing schedules, focus group formats, questionnaires and life story work



• Data collection and analysis



• Both qualitative and quantitative research approaches



• The design and delivery of Participatory Action Research (PAR) workshops and activities



• The formation of peer-to-peer learning networks and appraisal



• The facilitation of creative and reflective thinking



• Training of trainers, PAR facilitators and researchers



• A commitment to user perspectives and the promotion of gender issues within all research activities



• Writing research and evaluation reports



• Capturing learning for policy recommendations



• Dissemination and promotion of learning outcomes to wider international networks.

Some examples of research undertaken by MHID directors include:

• Evaluation of the effectiveness of local and international grant making to local communities and NGOs



• Evaluating the impact of international development policy on the mental health system in Albania



• Researching the usefulness of the policy-as-process model to policy activists in India, Romania, Kyrgyzstan and Estonia



• Researching the user experience of mental health services



• The design and delivery of Participatory Action Research (PAR) workshops and activities



• The formation of peer-to-peer learning networks and appraisal



• The facilitation of creative and reflective thinking



• Training of trainers, PAR facilitators and researchers.

Development Management of projects, programmes and activities

The MHID team are training in management and development management and have a successful track record in:

• Project development



• Proposal writing



• Donor relationships



• Programme management



• People management.

Network Development

MHID works with a wide network of mental health groups from the grassroots of many countries. We provide networking support and can organize conferences and networking events to promote mental health, share experiences and disseminate learning.

Values

MHID promotes the following values and principles in all aspects of our work:

• Respect



• Openness



• Trust



• Dignity



• User Involvement



• Bottom-up grassroots development



• Learning together.

We regularly seek feedback on our work and evaluate how successful we are in working to these values, principles and ethics.

MHID Leadership...

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