Service User and Carer Involvement in Health and Social Care ─ A Retrospective and Prospective Analysis

Written by a collection of experts in the field, this important new text provides a critical and constructive analysis of the ways in which service users and carers engage with health and social care services.

Covering topics such as the importance of terminology, wellbeing and resilience and the notion of tokenism, and enhanced by a wealth of first-hand experiences and creative work by a range of service users and carers, the text examines how different forms of collaboration, participation and involvement (or lack of it) have contributed, and continue to contribute, to service development and the expansion of participant movements. With a strong focus on retrospective as well as prospective analysis, it encourages the reader to learn from both historical and current developments in service user and carer involvement in order to anticipate and inform future directions.

This engaging and inspiring text is key reading for students on undergraduate and postgraduate Social Work programmes, as well as practitioners looking for a fresh new perspective. 

Barbara Fawcett is Professor of Social Work (Adults and Communities) at the Institute for Applied Social Studies in the School of Social Policy, University of Birmingham, UK

Joy Fillingham is Service User and Carer Co-ordinator at the Institute for Applied Social Studies in the School of Social Policy, University of Birmingham, UK

Dawn River is Lecturer in Social Work at the Institute for Applied Social Studies in the School of Social Policy, University of Birmingham, UK

Maureen Smojkis is Lecturer and Associate Director of the Centre of Excellence in Interdisciplinary Mental Health at the University of Birmingham, UK

Nicki Ward is Lecturer in Applied Social Studies at the Institute of Applied Social Studies in the School of Social Policy, University of Birmingham, UK.