Advocacy services for adults with health and social care needs

Anti-oppressive practice

The phrase describes a critical examination of the impact of power, inequality and oppression on people. This could include examining an organisational structure while taking into account the wider social, cultural and political context. Anti-oppressive practice seeks to lessen the exclusion of certain social groups from social equality, rights and social justice.

Anti-oppressive practice may include:

Cultural competence

Cultural competence is the ability to understand and respond to a person's particular religious, cultural or language needs and experiences.

Digital platforms

This describes digital spaces where communication can occur, or information can be exchanged, securely. This could include some social media.

Health inequalities

Systematic, unfair and avoidable differences in health across the population and between different groups within society. They arise because of the conditions in which we are born, grow, live, work and age. These conditions influence our opportunities for good mental and physical health.

Intersectionality

The interconnection of social categorisations such as age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, marriage or civil partnership, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation and other characteristics or experiences listed in box 2, creating unique overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.

Non-instructed advocacy

When a person cannot communicate their views or wishes in a way that can be understood by other people, then advocates may use recognised approaches to ensure that what may matter most to the person is represented. Advocates will need to take additional steps to determine as far as possible what the person's likely wishes, feelings and desired outcomes are likely to be, to best represent the person. The advocate's role in non-instructed advocacy may include: upholding the person's rights; making sure that their likely concerns are recognised and responded to; ensuring access to support; and encouraging decisions to be taken based on what is important for the person, and challenging any that appear not to be. A person's ability to communicate what is important to them might fluctuate and advocates may move between using non-instructed advocacy and using instructed advocacy.

Opt-out

Opt-out is when a person is automatically referred to the advocacy service unless they opt out of the referral. The opt-out system is designed to ensure that people who are eligible for advocacy are made aware of independent mental health advocacy services and have the opportunity to access them. An opt-out measure may overcome barriers to access.

Peer advocacy

Peer advocates have lived experience and can support others with a similar disability or experience.

Reflective practice

A process for staff to:

Reflective practice may also provide insight into personal values and beliefs, and help staff understand how these influence action and decision making.

Self-advocacy

The action of representing oneself or one's views or interests. This may be with respect to the care and support that people receive or the way that services are organised locally.

Structural inequalities

The phrase refers to the inequalities that are systemically rooted in the normal operations of social institutions, in which different categories of people may not be seen as having equal status. This can result in the marginalisation of, or discrimination against, certain categories of people and manifest itself in areas such as unequal access to healthcare, housing or education.

Wellbeing

The Care Act 2014 defines 'wellbeing' as a broad concept, relating to the following areas in particular: