| LPR The patients council movement within the mental health care in the Netherlands The National Organisation of Patients Councils (LPR) is a non-profit organisation founded in 1981 by and for patients council members. The LPR has a board of (at this time) 9 members; all clients or former clients and two thirds of them are also members of a patientscouncil. There are national supportgroups for councils in the general psychiatric hospitals, the sheltered living arrangements, the activity centers the non-residential mental health care and the addiction-care. Twice a year a general meeting of all the councils is held; in this meeting policy is decided upon and members of the board are elected. The LPR promotes and supports all forms of patients-say, patients-participation and patients-councils in all mental health institutions; this in order to improve the influence of patients on their housing/living/treatment situation. Therefore the LPR improves the quality of council-work and supports councils actively. Over the years the LPR has developed training facilitites and training programs for council members, supported the establishment of a platform for consumer-run projects, developed systems of quality control for councils, acted as consultants for/with councils in the care of reorganisations of the regional mental health institutions, influenced national debates on mental health policies and related subjects. Back to the groups of (ex-)users and survivors of psychiatry (and other addresses) in The Netherlands |