Citizen Advisors - Turning Point

Turning Point Connected Care Report 12
1.3 Turning Point
In 2004, the Ippr conducted research in conjunction with Turning Point 3 to
explore the reasons why some support services were failing to meet peoples’
complex needs 4 . They reported that health and social care services often fail to
recognise the inter-connected nature of people’s needs, thus resulting in a gap
in service provision.
In this report Turning Point and the Ippr set out a strategy for responding to this
issue and meeting complex needs. One element of this reform involves
developing new ways of working for health and social care professionals.
The report recommended that a role be developed to support people with
complex needs to navigate their way through services and around the health,
social care, housing and employment systems. A ‘service navigator’ or ‘Citizen
Advisor’ would have knowledge of mainstream and specialist services and
would work with the service user to develop a sustained pathway of care.
The Citizen Advisor would assist individuals to coordinate the provision of
support and services and to navigate their way around the health, social care
and housing systems. Their role will include facilitating and making connections
between individuals, agencies and the community, thus enabling people to
access the support they need. The report suggests that Citizen Advisors would
require knowledge of issues such as substance misuse, mental health, learning
disability, housing, benefits and employment law, as well as an insight into
different cultures and the particular problems of people of different ages,
offenders and the homeless. As well as having excellent knowledge of the range
of services and groups operating locally.
The following chapters review a range of different approaches to providing
Citizen Advisor services. These are summarised and reflected upon in the
concluding chapter, where a number of recommendations that build on these
examples are also outlined.
3 Turning Point is the UK’s leading health and social care organisation, providing services for people
with complex needs, including those affected by drug and alcohol misuse, mental health problems and
those with a learning disability.
4 Meeting Complex Needs, The Future of Social Care, Turning Point/ippr April 2004