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The City of Edinburgh Council and NHS Lothian have asked organisations that are not part
of the Council in the city to provide independent advocacy services.
Advocacy is a process whereby another person helps you to express your views about the
service you receive.
The support is to try and speak up for a person where they're having difficulty. That might
be down to their mental health problem or the situation. So we can be assisting with
a persons money, their housing situation or their care and treatment.
An advocate can support someone to make sure that they are being taken seriously and that
their views are being heard but also that they are informed about the difficulties that
they may have.
AdvoCard and Partners in Advocacy are two organisations that help people who use the
NHS and City of Edinburgh Council services.
We're not part of social work, we're not part of the Council, the NHS or any other provider
of services. So that means that we can confidently speak up and assist people without any conflict
of interest.
Independent advocacy is for people who have support needs. Partners in Advocacy support
older people and also adults who have a learning disability and/or a physical disability.
We are issue based advocacy, which means that somebody wouldn't bother coming to see us
and wanting us if they didn't have an issue.
Not everyone who uses services will need to have advocacy support but there are some occasions
where this will be necessary. For example; healthcare, housing, money, disability issues
or when you need someone to speak up for you.
I think the first difference we make is we're somebody that's on their side, we listen to
them.
Independent advocacy is there to help you. It helps you to speak up, to have a say in
how you are treated, and have more control over your life. Advocates will accompany you
to meetings, help you to write letters, make phone calls, and also find out about things
so you can make choices. Well I think Advocards are really good, you
get moral support, I've got a lot of information from what goes on, if you have to go to a
tribunal, what qualifies you to stay on certain benefits. I wouldn't have been able to organise
myself basically.
Independent advocacy is not about giving you advice or making decisions for you. Advocates
do not tell you what you should do. Advocates will not speak for you if you are able to
speak for yourself and they might not agree with everything you say. Advocates might not
do everything you ask or give you legal advice, but can help you access specialist advice
services.
Advocacy service has helped me so much, I get a lot of help, I get a lot of options,
so without that information I think I may have been in a very very serious situation.
Collective advocacy is where you can meet with other people that have the same concerns
as you. These meetings are where you can share views or different ideas about policies or
services with others in the group.
We can also have someone who can come along with them to any meetings to Social Work,
housing, benefit meetings, so there is someone there who is fighting their corner.
We want to be realistic and point out to people it's not guaranteed that we will facilitate
successfully everything that they want. The thing we do is, we are on their side.
If you would like to find out more about advocacy services in Edinburgh search Advocacy on the
Council's website or you can contact the Advocates direct.