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Advocacy

Advocacy promotes equality, social justice and social inclusion. It can empower people to speak up for themselves.
Advocacy can help people become more aware of their own rights, to exercise those rights and be involved in and influence decisions that are being made about their future.

In some situations an advocate may need to represent another person’s interests. This is called non-instructed advocacy and is used when a person is unable to communicate their views.

Who needs advocacy?

Anyone who needs support to:

• Make changes and take control of their life
• Be valued and included in their community
• Be listened to and understood

A person accessing advocacy could, for example, be someone with a learning difficulty or an older person who has dementia.

What is an advocate?

An advocate is someone who supports a person so that their views are heard and their rights are upheld. They can help a person to put their views and feelings across when decisions are being made about their life.

They can give support which will enable a person to make choices and they inform people of their rights.

An advocate will support a person to speak up for themselves or, in some situations, will speak on a person’s behalf.

Advocates are independent. They are not connected to the carers or to the services which are involved in supporting the person.

An advocate will work one-to-one with a person to develop their confidence wherever possible and will try to ensure that the person feels as empowered as possible to take control of their own life.

Speaking Up Advocacy Service Model

To Speaking Up, independent advocacy is the act of representing the wishes, views and aspirations of a person who is, for whatever reason, unable to do so themselves. All of our advocates are paid and are “independent” in that they have no loyalties or obligations that will conflict with those of the person whom they represent.

As advocates, our role is to be an able substitute for the client, using our skills to seek an outcome which the client would seek, if able to self-advocate. Importantly, our advocates are not advisers, counsellors or brokers between their client and their services. As a process, our independent advocacy services give people the space and support to ensure a “place at the table” and a degree of equality of worth and influence, in relation to others whose job or position in society gives them formal and informal power.

Speaking Up advocacy is about safeguarding people who are vulnerable and discriminated against or whom services find difficult to serve. It is about empowering people who need a stronger voice to express their own needs and make their own decisions. It enables people to gain access to information, explore and understand their options, and to make their views and wishes known. Speaking Up advocates work in a range of settings, from community to medium secure units, therefore we have to adapt our ways of working to suit individual needs. We won’t all work in exactly the same way but we will all be true to the principles of advocacy.

Click here to go to our advocacy services.

Types of Advocacy

Citizen Advocacy

A citizen advocate is someone who is unpaid and supports a person who wants to speak up. It’s a partnership between two people, the citizen advocate and the advocacy partner, which is usually long-term. The volunteer is usually recruited, trained and supported by a co-ordinator.

The citizen advocate will support a person to take part in their local community and will work with their advocacy partner to ensure that the person’s views are heard and decisions respected.

Independent Professional Advocacy

The advocate will support a person with specific issues.

The aim is to provide support which will enable a person to speak up for themselves. If this is not possible, the advocate will use non-instructed advocacy and will seek to ensure that a person’s rights are upheld, that they are treated fairly and have access to the services they need.

The advocate will enable people to gain access to information, explore and understand their options, and make their views and wishes known.

The person should feel empowered through the support of an advocate to express their needs and make their own decisions.

IMCA

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 introduces a new type of advocacy - the Independent Mental Capacity Advocate known as IMCA.

Local Authorities and NHS bodies have a duty a duty to refer a person who lacks capacity to make decisions about a long-term change of accommodation or serious medical treatment when there is nobody other than paid staff who can be consulted about the decision. In addition, Local Authorities and the NHS have powers to appoint an IMCA in adult protection/safeguarding procedures where protective measures are proposed and it is felt that it will be of benefit to the person who lacks capacity to involve IMCA.

Speaking Up IMCA referral line number: 0845 650 0081

Self Advocacy / Group Advocacy

A group of people who come together with a shared interest or shared experiences. Often the group will offer support to individuals in the group which will enable them to speak up about issues which are affecting them. The group may focus on particular collective issues and will want to raise these to bring about change.

Peer Advocacy

Peer advocacy is about individuals who share significant life experiences. The peer advocate and their advocacy partner may share diagnosis, for example, or be of a similar age and ethnic group. Peer advocates use their own experiences to understand and empathise with their advocacy partner. The peer advocate will support their advocacy partner with the aim of increasing their confidence, ultimately empowering the person so that they can speak up for themselves.

Principles of Advocacy:

• Independence
• Inclusion and Respect
• Empowerment
• Loyalty
• Confidentiality - but within identified limits
• Getting regular feedback / evaluation from our service users and from external sources
• A free service to those who meet the relevant criteria

Code of Ethics

Speaking Up’s independent advocates follow a strict code of ethics, they must:

• Act in accordance with the service user’s wishes and instructions;
• Act independently, without any conflict of interest;
• Act in a professional, timely way, carrying out instructions with competence and vigour;
• Keep service users well informed of progress and setbacks;
• Maintain confidentiality (see confidentiality policy for exceptions);
• Offer independent information, suited to the service user’s comprehension and communication abilities and mental or physical health needs;
• Act in an anti-discriminatory, non-judgemental way;
• Working to the principles of the eight domains contained within the watching brief, act for those who cannot instruct you, involving them as far as possible and ensuring a service tailored to their individual needs;
• Act honestly and respectfully at all times.

Information for Advocates and potential Advocates

• Contact your local advocacy organisations to find out if there are any opportunities for volunteering or if they are currently recruiting new advocates.
• Gaining experience in working with a range of different people who may need support to express their views can be valuable.
• Find out which organisations are recruiting advocates and download job descriptions and person specifications to become more aware of the skills required to become an advocate.
• Find out about advocacy training courses.
• Contact Action for Advocacy, an advocacy umbrella organisation. They have information on courses and other information related to becoming an advocate.
• The Advocacy Resource Exchange (ARX) is also a source of information.
• There are some National Open College Network accredited advocacy courses that can be sourced using the internet.
• A few advocacy organisations run their own accredited advocacy courses.
• OPAAL has information about older people and advocacy.

www.actionforadvocacy.org.uk
www.advocacyresource.net
www.opaal.org.uk

Click here for IMCA (Independent Mental Capacity Advocates)
Click here to go to our advocacy services
Click here to see further information for Commissioners

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