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Responding to global shifts in social work through the language of service user and service user involvement
Author(s) -
Heffernan Kristin
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
international journal of social welfare
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1468-2397
pISSN - 1369-6866
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-2397.2008.00614.x
Subject(s) - service (business) , citizenship , social welfare , social work , public relations , service provider , internet privacy , social citizenship , business , service design , point (geometry) , political science , computer science , marketing , law , politics , geometry , mathematics
‘Service user’ advisory representation is required by law and/or regulation in British social, health and educational programmes. This is similar to client counsels or consumer groups in the USA, which are required in some, but not all, US social service sectors. Often users of welfare services are excluded from citizenship – both formally and in terms of actual restraints on their citizenship rights. There remains uncertainty, however, about how best to identify and enable such individuals to participate in service user involvement without continued marginalisation. This study seeks to contribute to our emerging understanding of service user initiatives by exploring preferred terms of reference and service user involvement from the point of view of persons often categorised as service users by social policy, health and social care providers and academics, but who do not necessarily take part in self‐organised service user groups.