Mental health consumer participation on boards and committees: barriers and strategies.

The article provides an overview of factors related to the participation of consumers of mental health services on boards and committees. Six primary barriers to effective consumer participation are addressed: incongruency between stated values and actual practice, tokenism, lack of representativeness, role strain, poor communication and economic factors. Strategies are proposed to increase the potential for effective implementation of consumer participation. The article concludes with a broad statement affirming interdependence and the potential for increasing the effectiveness of boards and committees and exerting a positive influence on the system.