The ethics of conducting research with mental health service users

There is a growing emphasis on conducting research that represents the voices of mental health service users in relation to their experiences of and desires for health care. However, this type of research may sometimes be complicated, as mental health users are frequently identified as a vulnerable research participant population. The aims of this article are to firstly highlight some of the main ethical issues that researchers encounter when carrying out research with people who use the mental health services and secondly to identify strategies that can be used to address these issues. The authors draw on their personal experiences of conducting this type of research. While of general relevance, this article is particularly designed to provide guidance to researchers conducting qualitative studies.