Links to PDF documents on service user involvement in the UK
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Beyond the Usual Suspects
The focus of this report is making it possible for everyone who wants to, to be more involved in and have more say over their lives and the services they use to live them. This aspiration has come to be framed in terms of ‘user involvement’. The report draws on findings from a national research and development project supported by the Department of Health, which aimed to find out how this could be achieved.
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Strengthening Disabled Peoples User Led Organisations: Facilitating Service User Involvement in Social Work Education.
Report on a Consultation by SWEP (Social Work Education Participation) May 2013. This project used a short survey to gather detailed data about the views and opinions of people with an interest in user participation in social work education. The survey was used to identify a range of perspectives concerning service user and carer involvement in social work education and to seek comments concerning the quality and effectiveness of the new SWEP online web site.
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Strengthening Disabled Peoples User Led Organisations: A National Forum for Service Users and Carers involved in Social Work Education. Report on a Consultation by SWEP (Social Work Education Participation) July 2013
The second phase of this ODI project used a series of semi structured interviews with a range of Higher Education Service User and Carer co-ordinators (SUCI) and representatives from DPULOs to identify;
- The value of a national forum like Social Work Education Participation (SWEP) to service users and carers involved in social work education and DPULOs;
- The value of co-production between Higher Education social work departments and local DPULOs;
- How SWEP can be funded in the future;
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Service user research in social work and disability studies in the United Kingdom
There is growing interest in service user involvement in research and in research studies that are led or controlled by service users.This paper explores the tensions, possibilities and power dynamics of collaboration between social work research and disability studies research in the United Kingdom.
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User involvement in social work education
This report provides service users’ views on service user involvement in social work education. Published by Shaping our Lives, it is part of a larger initiative, developed by the Social Care Institute for Excellence to develop a strategy to support the participation of service users in social work education.
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Developing user involvement in social work education
In 2003–04 the training for people who wanted to become social workers changed. For the first time people who use health and social care services were to be involved. For a long time service users have been saying ‘Nothing about us without us’, and now these important changes made it a requirement that service users should be involved in the education and training of social workers.Shaping Our Lives, with support from SCIE, wanted to find out from service users how their involvement has been going.
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Carers as Partners (CaPs) in social work education
Social workers have the potential to transform carers’ lives, to support and listen to them, and to give them the tools to have a life of their own alongside their caring role. Ensuring that from the start of their careers social workers understand who carers are, and what their needs are, is essential. Too often this does not happen and carers have to fight for recognition. Carers UK hears regularly from carers what a difference a good or bad experience with social services can make to their lives.
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‘We are more than our story’:service user and carer participation in social work education
This report draws on the views of service users and carers from the Social Work Education Participation (SWEP) website steering group and members of the General Social Care Council (GSCC) Visitors group who inspect social work programmes with GSCC inspectors.
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Involving service users and carers in social work education
This guide focuses on how service users, carers and providers of social work education and training can work together on the degree programmes. It covers the principles, practicalities and range of approaches to building and sustaining these partnerships. The key messages of the guide apply also to developing service users’ and carers’ involvement in all types of training for social work and social care staff and in the design and delivery of services.
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Involving Service Users and Carers in Education: The Development Worker Role
The participation of service users, patients, families and carers has been one of the most significant developments in professional education for health and social work over the past decade. The active contribution of people who are ‘experts by experience’ in higher education has reflected parallel developments in the fields of professional practice and research, where patient and public involvement (PPI) and participatory research have respectively gained credence.
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Service Users, Social Work Education and Knowledge for Social Work Practice
This paper explores the implications of service user contributions to social work education in the light of historical critiques of disability research. The paper reflects on the authors’ dual service user and academic perspectives as well as their dual disability studies and social work disciplinary affiliations. Referring back to early critiques of disability research, it argues that isolated user involvement in social work education can be problematic, particularly where that involvement is under the control of the academy.
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University of Sussex, Department of Social Work and Social Care Service Users and Carers as Associate Tutors
There are 16 service users and carers that have applied successfully to become Associate Tutors. This group receive training each year to take part in the selection of students and assessments. In addition to the Associate Tutors the department has an extended network of service uses and carers drawn from local organisations to provide a wide range of perspectives and experiences to enhance the student’s programmes. Communications between the service user and carer organisations and the department is maintained by the coordinator for the involvement who is also an Associate Tutor and a carer.
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Supporting People-towards a person centered support
There is widespread agreement that care and support services must change radically if they are to meet the rights and needs of the rapidly growing number of people who require them.
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What person-centered support means to us
For the first time, Supporting people explores with service users, practitioners, carers and managers what person-centred support means to them, what barriers stand in its way and how these can be overcome.
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Participating in Social Work education
Plymouth University service user and carer consultative group and Young People 4 Change talk about there experience and participation on the social work degree course.