Objective: To compare different perspectives on evidence in relation to mental health care.
Method: The method and materials constitute a selective literature review comparing key elements of evidence-based medicine and evidence-based policy with perspectives on evidence from users, carers and professionals. The aim was to develop an argument concerning these comparisons.
Results: What constitutes evidence from the perspectives of different stakeholders is a field of contestation.
Conclusion: It is timely for a multiple perspective paradigm on evidence in science to be developed and this paper initiates this process in relation to mental health care.