Learning organisations: a suitable model for improving mental health services?

The aim of this paper was to describe an organisational model that has created interest in recent business management literature as supporting learning, adaptation and continuous improvement.

Some key features of the literature on learning organisations are outlined, including the values and processes involved, together with a structural and cultural template that has been applied to a community child and adolescent mental health service. Some blocks to learning and the leadership skills required to develop adaptive services are described.

The experience of applying the model has led to a change in mental health service organisational structure and culture towards greater support for research, quality improvement, experimentation and adaptation.

The learning organisation model offers a more comprehensive framework for designing adaptive mental health services and supporting quality management practices than any other recent organisational form.