Mind gets the information standard

Posted Friday 28 January 2011

I am a librarian. It’s not trendy, and certainly not something that I shout about at parties, but at my very core (apart from the dewey decimal system) is a belief that access to information gives people the chance to take control of their lives.

For people with experience of mental distress this can be particularly important, especially because so much information out there is confusing, controversial and contradictory.

Debates rage about psychiatric medication, the effectiveness of alternative therapies and the usefulness of diagnostic labels – see for example ‘What’s in a name’ or listen to this excellent podcast by Dr Joanna Moncrieff.

The information team at Mind works hard to produce booklets and web-pages which you can trust, which offer a balanced view of the research into a given topic and also reflect the views and experiences of real people.

For the past six months we have thrown open our doors to assessors from ‘The Information Standard’ which is a new quality mark supported by the Department of Health. On Thursday this week our hard work paid off, and we received certification, proving that we produce information of a very high quality.

I am delighted that we have been recognised in this way, but even more important to me has been the chance to review and tighten up our processes. We have been able to define the topics that we need to write about, and make sure that we are doing all we can to collect and use feedback.

Every day presents new and interesting challenges – how can we best present information about the side-effects of drugs? Should Mind be producing a booklet about bereavement? What terminology should we use to talk about mental health problems? But these challenges keep us on our toes, and keep our publishing schedule fresh and dynamic.

If you haven’t looked at our information recently then click on the A-Z of mental health and find out something new, then use the feedback form at the bottom of the page to tell us what you think!

Beth Murphy, Information Manager

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1 Comment

• Vickipper replied on 28 Jan 2011 at 17:09

  Hurrah for info!