Open Dialogue: Kent and Medway leading new approach to mental health care
Date added: 27 August 2026
Last updated: 27 August 2026
Open Dialogue, developed in Western Lapland in the 1980s, brings patients together with mental health professionals and the people they trust, in one open conversation from the start, to enable decisions about a person’s care to be taken together.
Instead of separate assessments, meetings and decisions happening behind closed doors, Open Dialogue ensures everything is discussed openly, with the person involved hearing and contributing to every part of the discussion. People are invited to bring whoever they feel is important to them in that moment, helping to make sure their support network is part of the conversation from the outset.
In Finland, this led to fewer hospital admissions, better long-term recovery, and more people getting back to work, education and daily life.
The national research project, led by the National Institute for Health Research and now running in England, is designed to find out how well this approach works here, within the NHS, and how it can support people and families across the UK.
As one of the first NHS Open Dialogue services in the UK, the Kent and Medway team opened on 1 February 2017 to begin supporting people and their family networks. The trust was also the first stand-alone NHS POD (Peer supported open Dialogue) service and has been operational for nearly 10 years, alongside its development of Open Dialogue.
Since its opening, Kent and Medway has led the way in delivering Open Dialogue in NHS mental health services. Since then, the team has researched its impact against usual NHS community mental health treatment.
Emma Hogwood, Lead for Peer Support Open Dialogue for Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust, says the difference is clear:
“From the work we’ve undertaken so far, we’ve recorded that people are spending fewer nights in hospital, more people say they feel listened to and included. Many are also finding it easier to live their lives in the community, including returning to work, rebuilding routines and staying connected to the people around them.
“It’s making a real difference. Patients tell us they feel heard and involved in their care, which is at the heart of Open Dialogue. It creates space for honest conversations and helps everyone better understand what the person is experiencing.”
She added: “For colleagues, it’s a more human way of working: we focus on being alongside people rather than telling them what to do. This benefits patients, families and colleagues alike.”
Mental health professionals working to deliver the new approach have also noticed benefits. They have recorded reductions in pressure, greater teamworking and support for building more effective relationships with the people they support.
Emma said: “Colleagues have told us that the new approach has reminded them of the reason they joined mental health care in the first place, to help people by listening and understanding.”
Kent and Medway’s role in this national study means the trust is helping shape the future of mental health support in the NHS. The trust also provides Open Dialogue training, helping to share the approach and support the development of Open Dialogue practice across mental health services.
The findings from the research project will show how Open Dialogue can improve care for people here in England, just as it has done elsewhere.The full research findings, can be found here: Open Dialogue versus treatment as usual for adults presenting in crisis to mental health services in England (the ODDESSI Trial): a multisite cluster-randomised trial (The Lancet, 2026)
