Service Users in Social Work Student Supervision: A Scoping Review

The imperative for participation in social work education has led to consideration of the ways in which service users’ and carers’ voices can best be heard by students. At Glyndŵr University, this debate has resulted in the development of a service user and carer-led module which will introduce students to a variety of creative approaches as a way of telling narratives of experience. In preparation for the module, a pilot project was run to assess the particular benefits of using animation for this purpose. This reflective case study describes the experiences of a social work student who worked with a carer to make a short animated film. It articulates the ways in which theoretical teaching was brought to life by working intensively. It demonstrates that creative approaches can offer a constructive means of addressing the need to cater for diverse learning styles. In addition, it adds weight to the argument that service users’ and carers’ experiential knowledge should be taken as seriously as other forms of knowledge.

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Purchasing Power and Self-Determination: Social Worker Perspectives

The British Journal of Social Work ◽

10.1093/bjsw/bcab015 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Charlotte Bailey ◽

Debbie Plath ◽

Alankaar Sharma

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Social Work ◽

Social Workers ◽

Work Practice ◽

Social Work Practice ◽

Self Determination ◽

Purchasing Power ◽

Service Users ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Management Approaches

Abstract The international policy trend towards personalised budgets, which is designed to offer people with disabilities purchasing power to choose services that suit them, is exemplified in the Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). This article examines how the ‘purchasing power’ afforded to service users through individualised budgets impacts on social work practice and the choice and self-determination of NDIS service users. Social workers’ views were sought on the alignment between the NDIS principles of choice and control and social work principles of participation and self-determination and how their social work practice has changed in order to facilitate client access to supports through NDIS budgets and meaningful participation in decision-making. A survey was completed by forty-five social workers, and in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with five of these participants. The findings identify how social workers have responded to the shortfalls of the NDIS by the following: interpreting information for clients; assisting service users to navigate complex service provision systems; supporting clients through goal setting, decision-making and implementation of action plans; and adopting case management approaches. The incorporation of social work services into the NDIS service model is proposed in order to facilitate meaningful choice and self-determination associated with purchasing power.

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A scoping review of the literature on the involvement of service users in personality disorder services

Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/ipm.2014.46 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 31 (4) ◽

pp. 233-243

Author(s):

L. Montgomery ◽

M. Donnelly

Keyword(s):

Health Policy ◽

Personality Disorder ◽

Scoping Review ◽

Service User ◽

Mental Health Policy ◽

User Involvement ◽

Service Users ◽

Service User Involvement ◽

Review Of The Literature ◽

Policy Makers

BackgroundService user involvement is receiving increasing support from mental health policy makers, service planners and research commissioners. However, we lack a good understanding of the nature and extent to which service users are involved in personality disorder (PD) services and the effects of involvement in these services.ObjectivesTo review and appraise published sources; increase understanding about service user involvement in PD services; and highlight knowledge gaps and related issues.MethodsA scoping review methodology was adopted. Data were ‘charted’ to illustrate the landscape of writings and views and a qualitative analysis synthesized the results in terms of key emergent themes.ResultsOnly a small amount of published work was identified with significant gaps in the literature. Effects were reported mostly in terms processes and emotional and practical benefits for service users. Emergent themes were wellness and health, recruitment and support for service users.ConclusionsThis scoping review uncovered a lack of published work despite service user involvement being a key strand of health policy. There is a need for outcomes-focused research regarding service user involvement. Successful user involvement in PD services requires attention to be focused on the context, recruitment, support and ‘wellness’ of service users.

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