Advocacy in health and social care
Find two journal articles that cover the topic of advocacy in health and social care. Use these articles in conjunction with the module materials to discuss how advocacy can increase the power of service users when engaging with health and social care services.
At some point in people’s lives, they will find themselves in a situation where they may need to participate in decision-making about their care and this essay looks at how advocacy can increase the power of service users when engaging in health and social care services. It will look at Arnstein’s ladder of participation, outline the process and aim of advocacy and its different forms, and have a brief look at power. It will consider Henderson and Pochin’s idea of advocacy and Wong’s framework of power, before considering the story of Ellinor, a woman expecting her first baby. Finally, it will look at two articles which look at advocacy and children’s rights and advocacy and social work support for older people moving to a care home.
There is a great emphasis on service user involvement as a means of levelling out the power imbalances within health and social care, and studies have shown that people who are involved in decisions about their care, experience better health. Active participation goes back to the 1990s when the Community Care Act 1990 transferred greater responsibility to individuals and communities to care for people who would previously be cared for by institutions, (MacKian, 2010, p.5). One popular model of participation is that of Sherry Arnstein cited in Turner, 2010, who created a ladder as a means of understanding the different levels which people might be able to participate in decision making. At the bottom of the ladder is the lower level of involvement being relatively powerless and the top where a substantial involvement results in being relatively powerful, (Turner, 2010, p.26). Within the health and social care system, some service care users are able to play an
At some point in people’s lives, they will find themselves in a situation where they may need to participate in decision-making about their care and this essay looks at how advocacy can increase the power of service users when engaging in health and social care services. It will look at Arnstein’s ladder of participation, outline the process and aim of advocacy and its different forms, and have a brief look at power. It will consider Henderson and Pochin’s idea of advocacy and Wong’s framework of power, before considering the story of Ellinor, a woman expecting her first baby. Finally, it will look at two articles which look at advocacy and children’s rights and advocacy and social work support for older people moving to a care home.
There is a great emphasis on service user involvement as a means of levelling out the power imbalances within health and social care, and studies have shown that people who are involved in decisions about their care, experience better health. Active participation goes back to the 1990s when the Community Care Act 1990 transferred greater responsibility to individuals and communities to care for people who would previously be cared for by institutions, (MacKian, 2010, p.5). One popular model of participation is that of Sherry Arnstein cited in Turner, 2010, who created a ladder as a means of understanding the different levels which people might be able to participate in decision making. At the bottom of the ladder is the lower level of involvement being relatively powerless and the top where a substantial involvement results in being relatively powerful, (Turner, 2010, p.26). Within the health and social care system, some service care users are able to play an
References: Dr J. Boylan, J. Dalrymple. (2011) ‘Advocacy, Social Justice and Children’s Rights’, in Practice: Social Work in Action, 23:1, 19-30, DOI:10.1080/09503153.2010.536212 (Accessed on 3 January 2014) J.Manthorpe, S. Martineau. (2010) ‘Deciding to Move to a Care Home: The Shared Territory of Advocacy and Social Work Support’ in Practice: Social Work in Action, 22:4, 217-231, DOL: 10.1080/09503153.2010.494236 (Accessed on 3 February 2014) MacKian, S. (2010) ‘Understanding power and participation for people who use services’, in, The Open University (2010) ‘Exploring power and participation’, Milton Keynes, The Open University. Tilley, L. Walmsley, J. Bornat, J. Goodley, D, (2010) ‘Understanding advocacy – justice, choice and access’, in, The Open University (2010) ‘Exploring power and participation’, Milton Keynes, The Open University. The Open University (2013) ‘Activity 9.6: Elinor’s story’, K217 Learning Guide 9: Power and Participation for people who use services [online]. Available at https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=349915§ion=2.6 (Accessed 3 February 2014) Turner, A. MacKian, S. Woodthorpe, K. (2010) ‘Understanding participation, empowerment and citizenship in health and social care’, in, The Open University (2010) ‘Exploring power and participation’, Milton Keynes, The Open University.