I was involved as a service user and carer (I am both) in looking at workplace reports which had been written as part of their ongoing assessment by three social work students who have one more year to go in their course.
The reports had already been marked as passes; my primary job was to read them, plus the comments of the supervisors who had overseen the work, and say whether or not I agreed the students should have been given a passing grade or not.
Each student had to describe three cases in which he/she had been the primary worker; what each case was about, what tasks were involved and what action they took. In addition they also had to describe when and how they worked with other agencies where necessary, and what legislation they had to use, as well as what course material was relevant.
What struck me was the breadth of work each student was involved with – everything from crisis intervention to community projects; e.g. one student was involved with a community support group for carers, another was dealing with immigration and the third in school support.
Each report was set out in the same way under a variety of headings, such as what legislation was used, what other agencies were involved, what course material and theory informed the work. There was also always comment on how service users felt they had been treated. This layout made it easy to follow the reports. In addition, guide questions from the lecturer for me as a reader were particularly helpful in helping me to create my report on what I read.
I was given excellent feedback from the lecturer who asked me to do the task. I got support by phone and by email and was free to contact the lecturer at any time should I need. In addition, I was given a phone call to tell me how my comments were received, as well as being sent the minutes of the meeting at which my comments were discussed. This made me feel valued.
I feel that any service user or carer should be involved if she/he chooses because it is in our best interests that a service reflects what service user/carer really needs. In some ways I consider it a duty; if I want a service that suits my needs then surely I have some responsibility to take the opportunity to comment in a meaningful way. Reading the reports took time, but I was reassured by the fact that I was not being asked to produce an ‘academic’ report. I was asked to give my genuine reactions to what I read. It is something any service user or carer can do, I feel – the support offered by the lecturers certainly boosts confidence and is very helpful.
Support to carry out the task is readily available, as I discovered. For any organisation seeking to involve service users and carers I would suggest more forums to disseminate information about the possibilities for service user and carer involvement, such as the one I attended and where I got the opportunity to carry out the task I did. Making it clear that support is available to help carry out the task is vital. In addition, a clear statement of the fact that service users and carers are being asked to contribute their own experiences, not to take on the work of a lecturer or trainer, is vital.
Many people are put off by the fact that they feel they do not have the right ‘qualifications’; they need to know that it is their experience of and thoughts on the services they use and the training that is given is what is important. Also, anyone who feels that she/he would have difficulty in carrying out the task – e.g. learning difficulties, visual impairment, etc. should be assured from that start that support is available to carry out the task. In effect, the emphasis should be on ability, not disability, which is what I discovered was the fact.