There is talk of social inclusion and implementing it but is it necessarily geared to the range of individual need among service users? For example people like me want regular ie daily/2-3x a week drop ins and befriending to combat social isolation but these things are being cut across the nation. Not all of us due to past experiences feel comfortable engaging with groups outside the mental health sphere.
Especially given the reactionary and uncivilised attitudes in many quarters supporting government abuses against the mentally ill . A prime example of this was when I went to the over 50s club and was asked and explained my reason for going there. The person asking looked a mixture of bewildered and disdainful when I explained my nurse practitioner had recommended trying it. I got the impression that including and being proactively supportive of middle aged and older people with mental health problems wasn’t high on the agenda of those running the club.
Then we have people like a forum acquaintance of mine who have different ideas of what they want out of mental health provision. It is not that either of us are right or wrong but that we want different things. A better financed and equipped mental/social health service would be better placed to meet both our needs.