Anglia Ruskin University

What are the benefits of involving service users and carers in health and social care training?

What do we mean by the term 'service user' or 'carer'?

Service users are people who use health and social care services, or who are potential users of health and social care services. This definition also includes disabled people and people who identify as survivors of the mental health systems, people who have physical or sensory impairments, and young people and elderly people who have received services.

Carers are defined as people who provide unpaid support to a relative, partner, friend or neighbour and help with their difficulties, disabilities or illness. The carer may be a long distance carer, supporting someone in supported/residential/nursing accommodation, or the carer may be supporting someone in their own home. Not all 'carers' identify with the word carer and prefer to be called a 'mum', 'dad' or 'partner'.

Why do we involve service users and carers in training social work students?

Service users and carers are extensively involved at Anglia Ruskin University in the training of social work students. The General Social Care Council (GSCC), the professional body that governs the professional social work qualification, requires that service users and carers be involved in every way in the training of social work students (Dept of Health 2002). Service users and carers should be involved in a variety of ways: in student selection, the design of the degree, teaching and learning provision, preparation for practice placements, provision of placements, learning agreements, assessment and quality assurance (Levin, 2004, p. 8).

What is the view of service users and carers?

Service users and carers from the Programme Advisory Group identified the following as the benefits of service user involvement at our University:

• encouraging dialogue
• developing confidence/interpersonal skills of students
• dispelling myths and de-mystifying
• encouraging discussion/sharing views/information
• breaking down barriers/dispelling/confronting fears
• telling it how it is because hearing personal representations is a powerful tool for learning
• promoting a working partnership between professionals, service users, and carers
• promoting a process that can be as empowering as the outcomes
• promoting democratic power sharing between all participants
• promoting a shift of expertise from professional to service user

How do we understand disability?

We support the social model of disability. This is in contrast to the individual model of disability (often referred to as the medical model). The individual model sees disability as a problem that belongs to the individual whose 'disability' needs curing and, where this is not possible, managing by others who can help make their life as 'normal' as possible.

The social model on the other hand states that the problem lies with society, which denies disabled people their human rights by abdicating its duty to remove the barriers that prevent them from participating on equal terms with non-disabled citizens (adapted from Byron et al, 2005, p. 28). This may, for example, be equal physical access to buildings for wheelchair users, or equal access to employment for mental health service users because of the stigma associated with their mental health issues.

We believe that it is society's barriers that stop disabled people participating as effectively as they might in their society, neighbourhood and community. We want to include people and respect their human rights by supporting and advocating their involvement.

References

Byron M, Howell C, Bradley P, Bheenuck S, Wickham C, Curran T (2005) Be open to the different differences that difference makes. Bristol: University of Bristol Accessed 15.04.09 www.bris.ac.uk/pip/framework.pdf

DH (2002) Requirements for social work training. London: HMSO

Levin, E., (2004) Involving service users and carers in social work education. Social Care Institute of Excellence. London: The Polity Press.