[The German Association for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics participation compass II : Implementation of social participation for people with mental illnesses].

For most people living with mental illnesses, participating in society is of existential importance; however, psychosocial care often fails to recognize its significance and therefore rarely includes the patient's interaction with society in the course of treatment. The reasons for this are both substantial and organizational in nature. The endless opportunities for participating in society, current areas as well as ways of taking part in social life even beyond the terms of the social legislative definition are, in addition to institutional variety and regional differences, all too often barriers to providing the very urgently needed support. Further aspects are insufficient knowledge of therapists about established options of rehabilitative treatment and about responsibilities related to participation in specialized training and further education for professional caregivers. The presented compass of participation for social integration of persons with mental illnesses starts at this point: it provides guidelines for psychiatric and psychotherapeutic practitioners, general practitioners as well as for physicians working in residential or day care institutions with a psychiatric and psychotherapeutic background. Both this article and planned online versions should help professionals to timely and successfully assist people, particularly those with severe mental illnesses, to navigate the broad spectrum of services for social and vocational integration in Germany.