The participation of adult service users, including older people, in developing social care
Practice - Action points
- Good practice involves making sure that service users feel valued and welcomed.
[It’s difficult] when people [that is, professionals] all know each other but don’t introduce themselves to you so you feel left out. [It’s important that people without learning difficulties] treat you as an equal and don’t talk down to you. (Service user)
- Use different and more imaginative approaches to help prevent service users feeling excluded and encourage them to become involved.
- Identify which groups of service users have been under-represented in participation and see what steps need to be taken to reach out to them.
No one [without a learning difficulty] understands people with learning difficulties. People with learning difficulties understand how you feel, because they are the same as you. (Service user)
