Citation
(2003), "Featured Web site", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 16 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijhcqa.2003.06216dag.001
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2003, MCB UP Limited
Featured Web site
Connects is a worldwide, interactive, personalised forum for the sharing of information by people interested in mental health problems and/or learning disabilities. At the time of our visit, it claimed to have 10,000 registered members and to contain more than 8,000 resources including details of news items, events, Web sites and organisations.
The home page provides a number of navigation buttons:
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Personal Notice Board. This allows you to select organisations, Web sites, events and news items which match your personal interests.
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News. This is a chronological listing of news items, including news releases, from organisations concerned with mental health and/or learning disabilities.
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Events. This is a chronological listing of conferences, seminars, training courses and other events concerned with mental health and/or learning disabilities.
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Web sites. This is an alphabetic listing of Web sites concerned with mental health or learning disabilities.
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Organisations. This is an alphabetic listing of organisations concerned with mental health or learning disabilities.
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Discussions. Currently this links to the Guestbook but it will eventually provide a range of bulletin boards on mental health and learning disability topics.
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Conference Centre. This is the leading online conference centre for mental health and learning disability issues.
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Foundation. This is a description of the Mental Health Foundation and the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities.
One of the most interesting features of the site is the Conference Centre. This is a new, online conference centre, which was launched in March with a consultation on the Government's National Framework of Values for Mental Health. The Values in Mental Health conference, sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health, the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health and the University of Warwick, aimed to bring together for the first time online service users, service providers and policy makers from around the world to discuss and help develop the Values Framework.
Dr Andrew McCulloch, Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation, said: "Traditional conferences are limited by their location, number of delegates, cost and confidence of delegates to share information. The online conference is an exciting answer to all of those problems. It will create a dynamic, interactive community where everyone can have their say, whether they are in the Outer Hebrides or central London.
"The online conference has the potential to bring together thousands of people. It will promote partnerships between service users, service providers and policy makers enabling each to participate on equal terms. It will give greater access to people who might otherwise not speak out at a conference because of stigma or lack of confidence. By meeting the unique needs of mental health users, it will make the consultative process truly inclusive and comprehensive."
For this first conference, delegates could discuss key themes about the role of values in mental health in relation to social inclusion, the user/survivor movement and the Mental Health Act.
To use the Conference Centre, delegates have to register free online at: www.connects.org.uk/conferences for the conference they wish to attend virtually. They can then move through the virtual conference centre, meeting other delegates in the Foyer, reading papers about the key themes and finally moving onto the Discussion area. The conference uses technology developed by the Mental Health Foundation. Future planned conferences are:
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July 2003: Mental Health Needs of Children with Learning Disabilities.
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November 2003: Strategies for Living with Mental Distress.
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February 2004: Mental Health Promotion.
As well as being a useful site in its own right, the ability to participate in online conferences makes http://www.connects.org.uk/ a very interesting site.