First steps:
Under the banner of IRIS a small group of people from around the UK gathered in Cheltenham in 2001 to discuss how they might generate a consensus on how services could be improved for young people with psychosis and their families.
Newcastle upon Tyne 2002
From those initial ideas the launch of the National Institute for Mental Health in England provided an ideal platform for further development. 40 people (service users, family members, and expert practitioners) met with representatives of the World Health Organisation (WHO), IRIS and Rethink to agree standards of care that those developing early psychosis and their families should expect.
Key values agreed at Newcastle
- Support young people with psychosis and their families to achieve an ordinary life - move beyond illness to health improvement
- Raise expectations for users and family members as a key driver of service improvement
- Act as an attractor of good practice
Thus emerged the 'Newcastle' Declaration'
International Recognition Bristol 2004
IRIS, NIMHE and Rethink collaborated to promote the 'Newcastle' declaration internationally. This resulted in Benedetto Saraceno, Director of Mental Health for the WHO, formally releasing the declaration at a UK National EI conference in Bristol, consolidating support from the WHO and the International Early Psychosis Association.
The Early Psychosis Declaration comes of age
National Early Intervention Development Programme 2004 onwards
NIMHE and Rethink collaborate with IRIS to create a national programme of support for EI policy development. The Early Psychosis Declaration becomes the core values and principles that underpin the programme. NIMHE continue this programme 2007 to the present.
The journey of development enabled by the declaration has been likened to a social movement which has strengthened around the notion of social justice for young people and families. That journey continues...