Meeting-The-Challenge-Making-a-Difference-Practitioner-Guide

What are the
principles of good
service user
involvement?
1) SUPPORT
It’s important not to make
assumptions, but to have an
open, honest conversation
about what someone might
need to enable them to
participate. Ask yourself and
those involved:
• What support might
someone need? This might be
emotional support, but may
also be practical support.
• Who is the best person to
provide emotional support,
related to the involvement
activity, if needed?
2) CLEAR EXPECTATIONS
Provide realistic expectations
for involvement – both to
professionals and service/
ex-service users. It may be
helpful to consider;
• Why do you want to involve
service users?
• Why does the service user
want to get involved?
• What does the role entail?
For example what is the time
commitment, responsibilities,
details of the role? It is often
helpful to write a role
description to ensure that
everyone has a shared
understanding of the role.
• What skills are needed? Most
involvement activities require
skills of some sort – if you can
identify this at the beginning
you can help people decide
whether they are right for
the role, or go through a
recruitment process, to avoid
difficulties later.
• What can be changed/
influenced and what are the
limits of the involvement? Be
honest about the limits of
service users’ influence.
3) PAYMENT
It is widely accepted as good
practice to pay people for their
involvement (except in their
own care). This demonstrates
that the work of service users
is valued and on a more equal
footing with the views and
opinions of staff.
A good starting point is the
report produced by the Mental
Health Research Network (see
Appendix 2)
4) WHO TO INVOLVE?
Careful consideration needs to
be given to the question of
who to involve. It might be
helpful to consider:
• What type of personal
experience is important?
Some involvement activities
are directed at those who are
currently using a particular
service; for others it might be
helpful if someone has
moved on or graduated from
the service.
• Beware of ‘cherry picking’
individuals, and instead
identify what experience
people need to have to
undertake the role.
5) DIVERSITY
In thinking about who to
involve ensure you consider
the diversity of the population
you work with and try to
ensure involvement activities
reflect this. It might be helpful
to ask yourself:
• Who uses our service? Who is
eligible to, but does not
access our service?
• Consider people from minority
ethnic communities, those
who identify as lesbian, gay
or bisexual, gender, including
those who identify as
transgendered, religious
groups and those with
physical disabilities/
sensory impairments.
• Often it is helpful to adapt
involvement activities so they
are more appealing to those
who might not generally join
in, for example, consider the
location, linking in culturally
appropriate creative
workshops, collaborating
with community groups.
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