Does your service provide advocacy to your patients and residents? Do you regularly engage the Local Authority Statutory advocacy services to support them?
A Generic Advocacy service works with services to ensure all patients and residents are helped to have as much control as possible about choices and matters that effect their lives. For some people this support is provided by the Local Authority Statutory advocacy service but for many others, Generic Advocacy is the only service available to them.
Advent Advocacy provides independent, quality assured Generic Advocacy to people in services who recognise the benefits of inclusive advocacy for all. Using an 'opt-out' model of delivery, everyone has the opportunity and time to get to know their advocate, developing a trusting relationship, helping individuals work at their own pace to understand their rights, their treatment and make choices.
There are no referrals or thresholds for working with our advocates, no time delays or problems reaching us. We visit services each week and become a regular and familiar visitor.
Benefits of Generic Advocacy for individuals
- Having a trusted independent person they can get to know and someone who can get to them.
“The development of a trusting relationship between the person who accesses support and the advocate is essential and requires frequent face-to-face contact and communication, particularly in the early stages of the relationship.” (Palmer et al, 2012). (Palmer et al, 2012).
- Being provided with sufficient time to talk to someone who will not judge and will support them to take control of what matters to them.
- Help to express their wishes, views and opinions at meetings with professionals and other organisations.
- No referrals or waiting times – a Generic Advocate will visit clients each week to offer our ‘opt-out’ service.
"A trusting relationship built up over time promotes increased participation. Continuity, familiarity and consistency are crucial to this." (Townsley et al, 2009; Palmer et al, 2012)
Benefits of Generic Advocacy for their families
- Providing reassurance that their loved one has someone who is independent from the care providers, social care and the NHS, to listen to their views and supporting them to express themselves to others.
- Giving them an extra voice to stand up for their rights.
- Offering a regular visitor who wants to get to know them and help them to be heard by those around them.
Benefits of Generic Advocacy for services
- The benefits of advocacy is far reaching in helping clients to have more positive experiences and outcomes.
“It is clear that people who access support can benefit as much from the process of having an advocate as they do from the outcome.” (Townsley et al, 2009)
- Good advocacy will encourage clients to self-advocate.
“This sense of empowerment can result in an increase in self-reported well-being, as well as increased self-efficacy and improved confidence.” (Palmer et al, 2012)
“Clients report high levels of satisfaction when they receive help and support. These include practical tasks such as interpretation and translation of information.” (Newbiggin et al, 2011)
Message from a Hospital Manager
‘Frances is one of the best advocates we have had here. She always raises issues on patient’s behalf in such a professional way, listens to rationale and challenges issues appropriately, in a polite and measured way. All the patients speak highly of her, and she works hard to get their voices heard. She’s a really good one!’
A high quality Independent Generic Advocacy makes sense to everyone at the heart of caring for individuals.