Service User Involvement

1. Induction Training Service User Involvement Induction Training

2. Induction Training Next Back Home Welcome… Welcome to this web based knowledge session on Service User Involvement. It should take you approximately 10 minutes to complete this material. How to use this pack To go to the next page, please click the button. To go to the previous page, please click the button. To go to the first page, please click the button. To display additional points on a page click the button. Additional information will be displayed in a separate font. Blue bullets indicate how many times to have to click to display all the information. Show Me

3. Induction Training Aims & Objectives… By the end of this session you will have knowledge of: The Background of concept of Service User Involvement Service User Groups Support Plans Prestige Policy

4. Induction Training Background… This module will cover the area of Service User Involvement, which is the concept of service users being actively involved in their care and decisions about it, rather than simply receiving care which has been designed for them. This idea is not a new one and it seems obvious that the people at the receiving end of Care should be involved in the design of the service. However, for a long time it has been attempted to formalise this approach with best practice and guidelines but the roll out is still ongoing. For example in 1991 the then Conservative government introduced the Citizen's Charter, with the intention of moving patients from passively receiving services to them being 'consumers' of healthcare services and therefore exercising their right of choice.

5. Induction Training Background… Following on from this the New Labour government continued to focus on choice but also introduced the ideas of citizenship and rights and responsibilities within service provision. The coalition government is again putting much focus on the NHS and on service provision and will no doubt have its own take on the idea of service user involvement. Clearly there is a high level approach to Service User Involvement which will influence overall policies, guidelines and best practice. As individuals we are unlikely to have much influence at that level. However, there is also a much more personal level to consider.

6. Induction Training Background… Service users should be involved in the decisions about their daily care, their ongoing service needs and how they are spending their time. Why? Because as one service user interviewed for the 'Making user involvement work: supporting service user networking and knowledge' report so aptly puts it: "People think the only thing we know is how to moan. But they are not listening. We know what needs changing, what works and what doesn't work. We know this because we live it 24/7, 52 weeks a year with no days off."

7. Induction Training Background… Service users have a voice and the right for that voice to be heard – this leads to empowerment, increased rights and dignity of service users and ensures that the services provided reflect their needs and wants. But it can also lead to wider positive effects such as: Improving service effectiveness Enhancing public perception of quality of service Monitoring quality of service Increasing democratic accountability for service users Nancarrow & Johns (2004) You can see that Service User Involvement makes sense at every level.

8. Induction Training Service User Groups… Which sectors do you think Service User Involvement should be applied to and in many cases already is? Show Me Disability Health and Social Care Housing Homelessness Addictions Mental health Youth Older people

9. Induction Training Service User Groups… You will probably have recognised service user groups that you work with. Did you know that service users often feel that their knowledge is not valued or taken seriously by professionals and services? You can do your bit to ensure that your service users do feel taken seriously. As a company we support this, just consider the introductory paragraph of our policy on Service User Involvement: Prestige Nursing will not assume from the outset or at any time during the process that we know best about a service user needs. We believe that they are the experts about their needs and our role will be to see how they are best met using the resources available.

10. Induction Training Support Plans… Service user involvement is integrated into the Support Plans that detail the care and support our service users need. The plan reflects what is essential to the service user, their capacities and what support they require: Focussing on capacities Identifying supports Discovering what is important to the service user Very often service users are looked after by informal carers which may be family members. They will know the service user better than anyone and can provide really valuable information about their likes and dislikes. We will always aim to include informal carers in the planning and decision making process for the support plan.

11. Induction Training Support Plans… Involving informal carers and/or other family members also means that you as a care worker may need to a clarify things with them. You may deliver care to the service user during a respite period for the informal carer to recharge their batteries. This transition should be as smooth as possible for the service user and our aim is to deliver care in the same way as the informal carer would. It's up to you to fit in with the ways of working to ensure the service user gets the service they want. All this will be documented in the support plan. Support plans result in actions that are about life, not just services and reflect what is possible, not just what is available. They respect the rights of the service user to make choices over how and when their agreed needs are met. Care workers are at the front line to make sure supports plans are delivered in the way we want to.

12. Induction Training Support Plans… So what does this approach mean for you and your work? Most importantly it means that you need to listen – and by that we don't just mean hear what your service user or carer tells you. But really LISTEN to what they have to say, how they would like things done, what their preferences are. And what if their preference is different to how you would do things? It means that you need to adjust to their way of doing things, not the other way round.

13. Induction Training Prestige Policy… Consider this extract from the Service User Involvement policy to underline this point: The nature of our business demands that our services continue to evolve, that they remain relevant to each individual service user and that they become ever more sophisticated and flexible in nature. We regard service users as being vital resources available to us in this respect and we seek to maximise what we can learn from them at all times. To be able to learn you must ask questions, listen to the answers and apply your new knowledge.

14. Induction Training Review… This module has explored the concept of Service User involvement, looked at its origins and political approaches taken. It has also looked at extracts of the Prestige Nursing policy. The module has also discussed how the concept applies to you in your role as a care worker. It has pointed out that one of your most valuable contributions will be to listen to your service users and really understand their likes and dislikes and preferred ways of doing things. It will be up to you to adapt your ways to fit in with your service users' preferences while you are working for them.

15. Induction Training Well done! You have completed this web based package on Service User Involvement. Please now complete the assessment on Service User Involvement. Click to exit