Teachers and researchers at the School of Social Work, Lund University, have been developing this method since 2005, when the first "Mobilisation course" was taught. The course trains social work students together with service user students.
In the Guardian on 29 August, Peter Beresford, emeritus professor of social policy at Brunel University, London, highlights the work done at Lund University. Beresford sees the gap-mending approach as a possible way forward for social work education in the UK, which he describes as being in crisis.
He writes: "Perhaps most important is the process of building trust and understanding between service users and would-be social workers, which is likely to have a profound effect on future relations and practice."
