Towards a critical theory of mental health carer knowledge; understanding carers experiential knowledge for research, policy making, and social change

Lovelock, Cassandra (2023) Towards a critical theory of mental health carer knowledge; understanding carers experiential knowledge for research, policy making, and social change. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

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Abstract

Background Mental health carers are significant stakeholders in the mental health landscape in the United Kingdom despite being a neglected group in research, policy making, service design and improvement initiatives. Whilst some knowledge and practical gains have been made in working with mental health carers as part of the care team, there has been little research into what mental health carers experiential knowledge is, how it is learned, and how it equips mental health carers as social actors. The aim of the study, therefore, was to investigate how mental health carer knowledge existed within current lived experience epistemologies and indeed if it should. Method The study was conceptualised within the social theory of symbolic interactionism and used constructivist grounded theory methods and an innovative use of autoethnographic research methods to develop substantive theory about how mental health caring impacts people’s identity, knowledge, and access to different social worlds. The study utilised three distinct data gathering techniques including constructivist interviews, participant observation of a cognitive interviewing process, and a set of autoethnographic self-interviews, consistent with the interpretivist qualitative research tradition. Data analysis occurred concurrently with data collection and incorporated open coding, focused coding and member checking that led to generation and confirmation of propositions of the theory. Results The results from the study identified the multiple ways mental health carers conceptualise their role, how it influences their sense of self, and their ability to access a range of social worlds. The carers in the study go on to describe the different ways they have learned their experiential knowledge and their experiences sharing it as change makers within mental health research and policy making fields, primarily. This thesis goes on to present an argument towards a critical theory to understand mental health carers, mental health caring, and the value of those experiences for social change.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Additional Information:	© 2023 Cassandra Lovelock
Uncontrolled Keywords:	unpaid carers, mental health, critical theory, autoethnography, systems change
Library of Congress subject classification:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology H Social Sciences > HM Sociology H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine
Sets:	Departments > Health Policy
Supervisor:	Evans-Lacko, Sara and Knapp, Martin
URI:	http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/4749

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