title: The impact of services that offer individualised funds, shared management, person-centred relationships, and self-direction on the lived experiences of consumers with mental illness.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Mental health service providers across Australia, including Western Australia (WA), have begun to offer individualised funds, shared management, person-centred and self-directed (SPS) services. No research exists on the impact of SPS services on the lived experiences of these particular consumers. This study explored the impact of a SPS service offered for the first time in WA to consumers with mental illness.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data on sixteen consumers' lived experiences were analysed using an abbreviated grounded theory approach. These data had been developed by the consumers, Guides (staff) and an independent evaluator, and most of it had been collected in the past prior to the commencement of the study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three over-arching categories, and related subcategories, emerged indicating that 1) access to individualised funds enabled practical and psychological benefits to consumers; 2) consistent contact in shared management and person-centred relationships enhanced the provision of timely and meaningful staff support to consumers; and 3) high quality shared management and person-centred relationships with staff and the opportunity to self-direct enabled consumers' change and growth.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  SPS services enhanced consumers' lived experiences and enabled staff to provide and consumers to experience timely access to recovery resources, consistent contact, responsive and high quality support, and self-direction of services. In this, consumers changed, grew and achieved desired recovery experiences. The overall impact of the SPS service seemed to be founded on the goodness of fit between person characteristics of staff and consumers, which enabled rich support that provided for corrective emotional experiences. This enabled consumers to build meaningful and hopeful lives where they started to live with, and beyond, their mental illness.
authors.affiliation: School of Occupational Therapy and Social Work, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Sunila
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Peterson
authors.affiliation: School of Occupational Therapy and Social Work, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Angus
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Buchanan
authors.affiliation: School of Occupational Therapy and Social Work, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia ; Department of Medicine and Health Sciences (IMH), Rehabilitation Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping University & Pain and Rehabilitation Centre, UHL, County Council, Linköping, Sweden ; School of Occupational Therapy, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Vic, Australia.
authors.forename: Torbjorn
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Falkmer
keywords: Consistent and quality support relationships; Corrective emotional experiences; Grounded theory