Patient involvement in psychiatric research

Recognition of the benefits of mental health professionals collaborating with patients (i.e., patients, families, citizens) during research or when providing health care has become prevalent among academics. In the past ten years, research on the topic of participatory medicine has shed light on these benefits, further strengthening the evidence that, when it comes to mental health, a “one size fits all” approach might not be most effective. To investigate the idea of patient involvement in mental health research, BMC Psychiatry is launching a collection that is interested in all aspects of participatory mental health research. There is a breadth of topics that would be a good fit for this collection, including: experiences with patient involvement in mental health research and mental health care; effectiveness of patient involvement in psychiatric research; and studies focusing on mental health professionals’ perceived responsibility during participatory research or health care. We welcome submissions in the form of research articles, reviews, case reports, and meta-analyses, among others.