Parity of Esteem policy: an examination of its articulation, implementation, and effectiveness

This study intends to focus on understanding the concept of "Parity of Esteem" (POS), which seeks equality between Physical and Mental Health Services (P&MHS). The term has been of great political importance since 2011, however more needs to be done to define the term (Millard & Wessely, 2014). The proposed research aims to determine to what extent POS has been achieved in the opinion of service users. The experiences and expectations of service users will be sought with the overall aim of going someway in defining the term POS from the view point of the service user.

Literature Review: The Health and Social Care Act (2012) specifically mandated the concept of POS within the National Health Service. The Equality Act (2010) also supports the concept. In 2013 a report by The Royal College of Psychiatrists gave a ninety-three word explanation of POS based on the opinion of professionals and academics. No research could be found during this preliminary literature review relating to POS that used the experience of service users. All evidence reviewed suggests that POS has not been achieved and more needs to be done for POS to become a reality.

Methodology: The planned research is expected to use a mixed methods approach by combining a questionnaire (predominantly quantitative) followed by a series of focus groups. The two methods will seek to gain information relating to the experiences and expectation of services users who use or have used P&MHS. Participants will be asked to consider both service types before being asked to compare the two. Ethically, processes must be in place to support confidentiality for both participants, professionals and individual services.