SDC was established in 1997 as a development centre, to support the modernisation of mental health services, specifically through the production and implementation of the Framework for Mental Health Services in Scotland.

Since 1997, SDC has played a major role in the development of individuals, teams and organisations working across the wider mental health ‘system’, in Scotland and beyond.

To achieve the vision of good mental health for everyone there is still a need to advance mental health services in their broadest sense, and to provide support to individuals and teams responsible for this improvement in care, treatment and support.

To this end, SDC provides a range of services to local and national organisations and individuals, including:

• Assistance with policy and strategy development
• Consultation with stakeholders to inform strategic and operational decision making, including needs assessment and option appraisal
• Researching and representing the perspectives of service users and carers and making sure this is considered in the (re)design of services
• Gathering and summarising information on good practice, and disseminating this in ways that assist people overcome barriers to change, e.g. working with multi-professional groups or teams in seminars, workshops and tailor-made interventions
• Supporting teams and organisations to identify areas of difficulty, to negotiate barriers and work more effectively towards their goals
• Designing training for trainers and training materials, and delivering training for trainers
• Developing partnership working that delivers necessary changes and improvements

The work SDC does “in the field”, with local organisations and a range of mental health related professionals adds to our research knowledge and puts us in a strong place to provide ideas and innovation around the development of improved mental health services and the enhancement of the population’s mental health and wellbeing.