Effective Interventions Unit: Advocacy for Drug Users: A Guide
Introduction
'Integrated Care for Drug Users: Principles and Practice' (EIU 2002) identified the potential importance of advocacy as part of the overall process of treatment, care and support for drug users. More recently, the 'Mind the Gaps' report (SACDM, SACAM 2003) identified advocacy as one of the key features of service provision for people with co-occurring substance misuse and mental health problems.
The purpose of this EIU guide is to help DAATs and local partners to consider whether, and how, advocacy could be incorporated into the development of Integrated Care. However, there is currently only limited advocacy provision targeted specifically at drug users and little evaluation or research evidence. It is important, therefore, that we emphasise that this guide aims to offer a first step towards the development of advocacy services for drug users.
Advocacy is widely recognised as an important way of enabling and empowering people to make informed choices and to gain, and remain, in control of their own lives. It helps people to have access to the information they need, become aware of the options open to them and make their views and wishes known. Advocacy safeguards people through encouraging good practice and preventing neglect or abuse. It can help to prevent crisis, support people during crisis and ensure service users and their families achieve the best outcomes from the range of services they use.
This document aims:
to consider what advocacy is and to outline the different types of advocacy
to set out the role of advocacy in ensuring accessibility and best outcomes for drug users and their families
to present information on who currently provides advocacy to drug users
to look at who is best placed to deliver advocacy
to consider the types of advocacy that are most appropriate for this client group.
This document also sets out some of the issues and questions that DAATs and their partners may need to think about when setting up or extending advocacy services. It goes on to consider briefly the specific issues involved in setting up advocacy provision for young people and for service users in rural areas.
Research and Consultation
The process of gathering evidence to inform this document confirmed that only a limited amount of evidence and information is currently available on advocacy for drug users. To help us extend the evidence base for this guide we have conducted:
a review of available literature
a survey of a selection of treatment and care service providers ( see appendix 2)
a one-day consultation event with a range of key individuals from advocacy and treatment and care service providers ( see appendix 1)
four focus groups with service users in four different areas throughout Scotland designed and led by the Scottish Drugs Forum (for a copy of the full report contact EIU).
THANK YOU The EIU wishes to thank all those who have participated in the survey and the consultation event, and all those who helped by contributing examples, information and views. In particular we would like to thank the service users who participated in the focus groups and provided us with valuable information and SDF for organising and running the focus groups. We would also like to thank the Advocacy Safeguards Agency and The Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance for their detailed advice and information on independent advocacy. |