Book excerpt: Managing Mental Health in the Community is a guide to best practice in the management of community care for people with mental health problems. A major theme is how to balance the 'triangle of care' that represents the needs and concerns of the user, carer (professional or family) and community. Rather than focusing on the mechanics of the task, this book aims to encourage reflective practice amongst staff, managers and policy-makers. The experienced practitioners who contribute not only challenge some of the assumptions prevalent in the field, but also present some tried and tested interventions used to enable users, staff and managers to function more effectively in community settings. They consider: * how community care has developed * the fundamental concepts of community care * how management is affected by practice * how care systems are designed. Managing Mental Health in the Community should be essential reading for Mental Health Practitioners, Managers, Social Workers, Policy-Makers, Organizational Consultants and all those professionals who are committed to improving the quality of mental health services provided in the community.