Service user and carer involvement in social work training: a long and winding road?

Abstract

In recent years the imperative to involve service users and carers at every level of care, service and policy development has been extended to include involving users and carers in the training of health and social care professionals. Guidance on how this is to be achieved in practice is, however, limited. This paper describes work undertaken to explore how an Approved Social Work Programme in the north of England could involve service users and carers more fully and develop an integrated approach to service user and carer involvement in this and other social work programmes. Following a review of the literature in this area, the results of a series of meetings with individual and groups of service users and carers are presented, together with a survey of ASW programmes. It then goes on to consider the implications for service user and carer involvement in the new social work degree.

Keywords:

• Service Users
• Carers
• Social Work
• Education
• Training
• User Involvement

Notes

Correspondence to: Jeanie Molyneux or Julie Irvine, School of Health, Community and Education Studies, Northumbria University, Coach Lane Campus, Benton, Newcastle upon Tyne NE7 7XA, UK.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jeanie Molyneux

Correspondence to: Jeanie Molyneux or Julie Irvine, School of Health, Community and Education Studies, Northumbria University, Coach Lane Campus, Benton, Newcastle upon Tyne NE7 7XA, UK.