The Impact of Service User Involvement in Health and Social Care Education: A Scoping Review

Figures & data

Figure 1 PRISMA flow chart for a scoping review. From: Page MJ, McKenzie JE, Bossuyt PM, Boutron I, Hoffmann TC, Mulrow CD, et al. The PRISMA 2020 statement: an updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ 2021;372:n71. doi: 10.1136/bmj. For more information, visit: http://www.prisma-statement.org/

Table 1. Review of studies that evaluated the impact of service user involvement in higher education programmes.

Study	Study focus	Sample	Methods/techniques	Findings
Barnes, Carpenter, and Dickinson (2006)	Interprofessional Education – Post-qualifying programme evaluation in community mental health over 5 years	Eighteen groups of first- and second-year students in the programme; 23 student workplace interviews; 13 manager interviews	Mixed Methods - Meetings and discussion with programme members, participant observation, group interviews, questionnaire, workplace interviews with students, individual interviews with managers, User-defined 16-item rating scale	Students reported positive learning outcomes, programme users reported service user-centred assessment and care planning, greater improvement in life skills compared to comparators. The study could be a model for systematic evaluation with users in education and training.
Burrows (2012)	Post-qualifying social work education programme collaborative partnership between service user educators, practitioners and academics in four local authorities	Thirty-three questionnaire respondents out of 300; consolidation portfolio numbers not listed; manager participants numbers not listed.	Mixed Methods – postal questionnaires, post-qualifying consolidation portfolio analysis, semi-structured interviews with team managers	Impact of service user educator input on candidates is both intrinsic and extrinsic. Integration of service user perspectives increased understanding of practice development. Gaps were uncovered in manager supervision of the practitioners’ development needs.
Furness, Armitage, and Pitt (2011)	Interprofessional Education – Health and social care – Evaluation of Trent Universities Interprofessional Learning in Practice Project	Ten individuals from service user group (2 facilitators, 1 manager, 4 service users, 2 practitioners and 1 student). Seventeen individuals from a care setting (2 facilitators, 2 managers, 4 service users, 2 parents, 5 practitioners and 2 students).	Qualitative methods - Focus groups and individual interviews with service users/parents and carers, practitioners, and students	Direct contact between service users and practitioners and learning opportunities for students were beneficial for all parties. Long-term benefits of service user involvement need to be assessed further.
Hughes (2017)	Undergraduate and graduate social work programmes and practitioners	20 participants (6 students, 2 newly qualified social workers, 6 social workers who qualified in the last 10 years, and 6 social workers who qualified prior to 2005).	Qualitative methods – Written narrative, focus group or individual interview	Four main areas of impact: Enhanced awareness of the lived experience, Taking on board suggestions of good practice from service users and carers; Developing a more critical ‘real life’ understanding; A culture of recognizing service users and carers as experts.
Khoo, McVicar, and Brandon (2004)	Post graduate mental health programmes – PGDip Mental health innovation and MA Mental Health	26 out of 41 questionnaire respondents (15 completed PGDip or the MA course and 11 were currently on one of the courses); 10 of the 26 respondents took part in a semi-structured interview.	Mixed methods – attitude questionnaires and semi-structured interviews	Perceived values of the contribution of service users were good to excellent. Service users provided insight, clarity and a challenge to conventional practices. A majority of respondents reported personal or professional benefits of attending the course.
Rhodes (2013)	Pre-registration nursing programme	1 pre-registration nursing student	Case study with in-depth narrative interviews. One interview on completion of nursing program and a 12-month follow-up interview.	Participant reported increased self-awareness, greater awareness of others, reflection of the influence of service user involvement and how reflections guided actions in practice through transformative learning.
Rush (2008)	Diploma nursing programme	26 mental health nursing students (21 females, 5 males, 21–55 years)	Focus group interviews	Participants reported benefits of hearing lived experiences; learning is grounded in reality and the participants felt moved emotionally; the emotional content of the experiences; role as a learner, rather than a nurse; reflection on practice; training and support for service users. With the interaction of the listed mechanisms, transformative learning can take place.
Tanner et al. (2017)	Undergraduate social work programme – final year students at Universities of Birmingham and Queen’s.	Phase 1 (Pre-registration):14 out of 59 questionnaire respondents at Birmingham; 21 out of 79 questionnaire respondents at Queen’s Phase 2 (Follow-up 6–9 months into employment): 4 questionnaire respondents from Birmingham and 5 responses from Queen’s; 7 interviews (Birmingham) and 3 interviews (Queen’s)	Mixed methods – pre-qualification questionnaire and focus groups interviews; follow-up questionnaire and interview 6–9 months after employment	Students had exposure to experiential knowledge and felt an emotional impact from service user experiences. They learned about resilience and reflection on their own experiences of practice. Service users with diverse backgrounds could be recruited to the programme and service user involvement should be across the whole programme.
Turnbull and Weeley (2013)	Pre-registration nursing programmes	185 adult, 84 mental health and 15 children pre-registration nursing students	Evaluative case studies	Students were asked to identify one significant area of learning they could apply to their future clinical practice as a ‘student pledge’. The pledges were evaluated. Of 219 pledges, 171 were about care and compassion, communication, and fluid and nutrition. Over three-quarters of the pledges were fulfilled. Service user involvement provides raw experiences that minimizes the theory-practice gap.

Table

Search number	MeSH terms	Title	Search results
1.	Service* NEAR/2 user* or carer* or family NEAR/2 carer" or patient* or client* or consumer*	Title	2771664 results
2.	Participat* or involve* or engage* or collab* or partnership*	Title.	522277 results
3.	Impact or effective* or effect* or outcome* or evaluat*	Title	6750881 results
4.	Educat* or train* or teach*	Title	1073900 results
5.	1 and 2 and 3 and 4	Title	148 results

Barnes, D., J. Carpenter, and C. Dickinson. 2006. “The Outcomes of Partnerships with Mental Health Service Users in Interprofessional Education: A Case Study.” Health & Social Care in the Community 14 (5): 426–435. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2524.2006.00661.x

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Burrows, H. M. 2012. “Evaluation of the Involvement of Service Users in Post-Qualifying Social Work Education.” Social Work and Social Sciences Review 15 (3): 44–56.

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Furness, P. J., H. Armitage, and R. Pitt. 2011. “An Evaluation of Practice-Based Interprofessional Education Initiatives Involving Service Users.” Journal of Interprofessional Care 25 (1): 46–52. https://doi.org/10.3109/13561820.2010.497748

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Hughes, M. 2017. “What Difference Does It Make? Findings of an Impact Study of Service User and Carer Involvement on Social Work Students’ Subsequent Practice.” Social Work Education 36 (2): 203–216. https://doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2016.1274725

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Khoo, Richard, Andrew McVicar, and David Brandon. 2004. “Service User Involvement in Postgraduate Mental Health Education: Does It Benefit Practice?” Journal of Mental Health 13 (5): 481–492. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638230400006742

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Rhodes, C. A. 2013. “Service User Involvement in Pre-Registration Children’s Nursing Education: The Impact and Influence on Practice: A Case Study on the Student Perspective.” Issues in Comprehensive Pediatric Nursing 36 (4): 291–308. https://doi.org/10.3109/01460862.2013.830161

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Rush, B. 2008. “Mental Health Service User Involvement in Nurse Education: A Catalyst for Transformative Learning.” Journal of Mental Health 17 (5): 531–542. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638230802053383

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Tanner, D., R. Littlechild, J. Duffy, and D. Hayes. 2017. “Making It Real’: Evaluating the Impact of Service User and Carer Involvement in Social Work Education.” British Journal of Social Work 47 (2): 467–486.

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Turnbull, P., and F. M. Weeley. 2013. “Service User Involvement: Inspiring Student Nurses to Make a Difference to Patient Care.” Nurse Education in Practice 13 (5): 454–458. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2013.03.012

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