Advocacy support for carers
What is advocacy?
Advocacy is when a person, called an advocate, speaks or acts on your behalf and would be independent of the council. Advocacy means having someone who will express your views and wishes, secure your rights and represent your interests.
Most people will never need an advocate as they will be able to speak up for themselves, with or without support or will have family or friends who are able to represent them according to their wishes.
Advocacy safeguards people who are vulnerable by speaking up for them and is there to represent your interests. It enables people with physical or learning disabilities, older people and those with mental health needs to make informed choices and decisions about their own health and social care.
What advocacy support is available for carers?
Carers Trust Heart of England provides advocacy support to carers as part of their information, advice and support service. If you think you might need advocacy support you can contact them to discuss how they may be able to help you.
If they feel that you need a different type of support, such as legal help, they will be able to signpost you to the appropriate services.
They also provide advocacy support to help carers of adults participate fully in their carer’s assessment and support planning. This will only be needed if the carer has substantial difficulty taking part and there is no one else appropriate to support them. In this case, the worker carrying out the assessment would make the referral for this support.
Find out more about the Adult Carers’ Assessment process.
You may want more information about advocacy support for the person you care for.
What does it cost?
The advocacy services explained here are provided free of charge.
Self-Advocacy
Self-Advocacy is the ability to speak up for ourselves, our rights, responsibilities and the person we care for. Carers UK has developed a self-advocacy guide called "Being Heard" to help carers develop the skills to navigate some of the complex processes they may encounter when they care, like speaking out in an assessment, attending meetings and making a complaint.
