Charity Rethink Mental Illness has launched a series of new guides to help mental health professionals support people with personalisation.

The 6 handbooks offer advice on each stage of personalisation, from helping someone decide whether a personal budget suits their needs, to supporting them in applying for and managing one.

They also give information on how personal budgets can be used by carers, and what support mental health professionals can offer when personal budget payments come to an end.

Paul Jenkins, chief executive of Rethink Mental Illness, said: “Having a personal budget can be really positive for people affected by mental illness, as it offers greater independence and control over the care they receive.

"That’s why we’ve developed these toolkits – to offer step-by-step advice and information on each stage of the process. We hope it will help guide mental health professionals through some of the issues and dilemmas they might face when supporting people to have personal budgets."

The guides are based on the findings of The People Study, a three year project looking at how people affected by severe mental illness have experienced personalisation.

The study, which was carried out by Rethink Mental Illness and the McPin Foundation, also features interviews with 30 mental health practitioners about the issues they have faced in supporting people through personalisation.

To download the guides, visit: www.rethink.org/personalbudgets